Authors: Cate Beauman
Hailey clammed up. The dull, overtired eyes, the cheap suit—it all screamed social worker. Ten years in the system told her she was about to be given her fate.
“You are Hailey Roberts, correct?”
“Yes. Where’s Helen? Where’s my brother?”
“Helen is away on vacation for the holidays. She’ll take over your case again once she returns next week, but in the meantime, you’re stuck with me. I’m Denise Schlotter.”
“Where’s my brother? Where’s Jeremy?”
“He’s down the hall. He just came from x-ray.”
“I want to see him.”
“You can’t right now. We’ve found you a place to stay until Helen comes back. It’s a good, Christian family. They have three young children of their own and two foster kids. They said they would be happy to have you for the time being.”
“What about Jeremy? Is he coming too?” That was all she cared about—her brother. She couldn’t lose her family. He was all she had left.
Denise glanced at her paperwork. “He has to stay here for now. He has a concussion.”
Hailey fiddled with the bandages covering her aching fingers, trying to keep her nerves at bay. “When will he come? Tomorrow? The day after?”
Denise blew out a heavy sigh. “Hailey, let’s be straight with one another here. You’ve been in the system a long time. You’ve been very lucky to have what you did. You’re a good girl. You make excellent grades. You never get in trouble. By some miracle, you’ve risen above your first four years. Your brother, however, has not. He’s a young man with several problems. Your parents have had their hands full with him.”
Instantly on the defense of her brother, Hailey sat up. “Jeremy’s making progress—that’s what his therapist said. You can’t take him away from me. We’re all each other has.” Fear clogged her throat as she saw the refusal in Denise’s dull brown eyes. Hailey cloaked her terror in anger. “If you take him away from me, he’ll only get worse. My parents would want us to be together.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t see that as an option.” Denise blew out another long breath. “Let me give you some advice. You have just over three years left in the system. You’re birthday’s next week. Play your cards straight; keep doing well in school. You might actually make something of yourself.” She gave Hailey’s shoe a pat. “Mrs. Frazier, your new foster parent—for the time-being—should be here soon. I need to speak with the doctor about your release. I’ll be back.”
The curtain snapped shut and she was alone. The carousel ride she’d avoided her whole life was about to begin. Her stomach clutched with nausea, not only from losing her parents—which she still couldn’t fully grasp—but from the loss of a brother who might as well be dead. What would being tossed from home to home like someone’s old trash do to him?
Hailey hopped to her feet, panicked, terrified. She had to see Jeremy, to tell him what was going on, to say goodbye before Denise told him with as little compassion as she’d told her. Lips trembling, Hailey sniffed and wiped at a tear threatening to fall. She had to be strong for him.
Hailey peeked from the side of the drab blue curtain. Denise was speaking with someone at the nurse’s station and Hailey made her escape.
Walking hurriedly down the hall, she prayed she was heading in the right direction. She gasped as the doctor who’d treated her turned the corner. Hailey whirled, rushed into the small bathroom, crossing her fingers he hadn’t noticed her.
Knees trembling, hands shaking, she twisted the lock. Closing her eyes, Hailey rested her back against the door, trying to get a grip on her shaky emotions. After three deep breaths, she still couldn’t settle.
She opened her eyes, stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her honey-colored eyes were wide with fear and sorrow. Pretty light brown ringlets hung at her shoulders. Mom had helped her curl her hair for the party.
You’re such a young lady now, Hailey, and so beautiful. I’m so lucky I have you.
Her mother had hugged her one-armed as she released the iron from a tendril of hair.
Hailey choked on a gasping sob, desperately wanting that moment back.
She shook her head, growing frustrated. She couldn’t go to Jeremy like this. How would she convince him everything was going to be all right if she couldn’t believe it herself?
Think of Jeremy, Hailey, only Jeremy. He needs you.
With a last steeling breath, Hailey turned away from the mirror. She opened the door a crack and left the bathroom when she was certain the coast was clear.
Hailey peered into each room until she found the little boy with his arm taped and boarded, an IV stuck in place, a brace snug around his neck. Shiny brown curls stood in wild tufts against bright white bandages. His eyes were closed, his sleeping face angelic and pale.
Hailey stepped forward, gathering her strength. She touched Jeremy’s warm little hand and his lids fluttered opened.
“Sissy?”
She smiled, brushing the hair from his forehead. “Hi.” How would she say goodbye? How would she tell him they couldn’t be together anymore?
“I can’t move my head.” He tugged at the brace.
“The doctors are keeping your neck safe. It’ll be okay.” She stared into Jeremy’s chocolate brown eyes, shades darker than her own, and his light beige complexion, so much like hers. If only they shared blood, the State would keep them together.
“Where’s Mom and Daddy, Hailey?” Jeremy clutched at her sore, bandaged fingers. “My head hurts. I want mom and daddy.”
She twisted the pretty pearl ring on her finger—the heirloom their mother had given her for her fourteenth birthday—desperate for the right words, willing their mother to send them to her. Mom had always known just what to say. “Mom and Daddy had to go away. They had to go to heaven and be angels.”
Tears leaked from the side of Jeremy’s eyes, coursing into the bandages wrapped around his head. “I want them to come back.”
“They can’t. They have to stay there.”
Jeremy’s lips trembled. “I’m scared.”
“Me too.” She had no choice but to admit it.
“I want to go home. When can we go home?”
“We can’t go home anymore, Jeremy. We have to live somewhere else now.”
Wild terror filled his eyes as he tried to sit up. “I want to go
home
.”
Hailey held him down. “We can’t. We’re going to live with different families. They’ll be nice to us and help us, just like Mom and Daddy.” She desperately wanted to believe it.
Jeremy started to wail. Hailey ran over and shut the glass slider. If they found her in here, they would make her leave. She hurried back, shushing Jeremy, trying to be patient. They didn’t have much time. “Hush now, Jeremy.” She stroked at his forehead again. “I have a plan, but you need to quiet down and listen.”
Jeremy’s crying turned into gasps of unsteady air. “Okay.”
“We have to go away from each other for awhile.”
He clutched her fingers again.
“I’m going to come back for you when I turn eighteen. That’s not too long from now. When I turn eighteen, I’ll find you and take you away. But you need to be good. You have to stop doing bad stuff at school and try hard. Mom and daddy are going to be watching you from heaven and they want you to be a good boy. It’ll make it harder for me to get you if you don’t behave. Do you understand?”
“Yes. But I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too, but I’ll think of you every day. I’ll never stop loving you. I won’t forget you; I promise.” She hooked her pinky with his. “I promise I won’t forget you. I promise I’m going to come get you. Do you believe me?”
He sniffed. “Yes.”
“Good.” She kissed his lips, then tried to smile.
The glass door slid open. Hailey whipped a glance over her shoulder.
“There you are, Hailey. I was afraid you’d run off.” Denise stood next to a tall, thin woman with black hair and a dower face. She clutched a maroon bible in her bony left hand.
Her time was up. Hailey ignored the tired looking women and turned her attention back to her brother. “I have to go, Jeremy. Remember my promise.”
Jeremy began to sob as he held her arm in a vise-like grip. Desperate to give comfort, frantic to stay, she stared down at her ring. It was her only link to Loraine, the only mother she would ever have, but she took it off. “Here. I want you to have this. This will help you remember me. Every time you look at it, think of me and know I’m thinking of you. Don’t forget that I’m coming for you. I love you, Jeremy.”
“I love you, too.”
“It’s time to go, Hailey.” Denise wrapped her arm around Hailey’s shoulder, tugging against the strength of the determined and frightened boy.
“Don’t leave me, Sissy! Please don’t leave me!”
“I don’t want to, Jeremy.” Her voice broke, as did her heart. “I don’t have a choice. I love you.” Denise dragged her away and out the door, shutting the glass, silencing the wails of her brother as Mrs. Frazier mumbled scripture from the Bible.
Hailey stared over her shoulder, looking into her brother’s shattered eyes, until she rounded the corner and lost sight of him. And lost hope.
Chapter 2
December 2013
H
AILEY BENT DOWN AND PICKED up the deflated remains of two pink balloons. She tossed them in the trash along with pale yellow streamers and white baby duck confetti.
“Thanks, Hailey. I’d do that myself, but...” Sarah shrugged and brushed her hands over her enormous belly.
“Take a load off, Sarah. I’ve got this.”
“You don’t have to ask twice.” Sarah blew out a breath as she settled herself in a dining room chair. “I’m ready for little Emma here to make her debut. I want to bend down again, to tie my own shoes. I can’t wait to be able to see my toes,” she chuckled.
Hailey grinned. “Three more weeks…or less,” she added quickly when Sarah’s smile faded. “I bet she’ll be here before your due date.” She swiped up another balloon, shoved it in the trash bag. “Are you still going away next weekend?”
“We’re planning to. Our last weekend away—just the three of us. We want it to be special for Kylee. Everything’s about to change. Can you still take care of Bear and Reece?”
“Yeah, absolutely. I just wasn’t sure. You seem really uncomfortable.”
“After Emma drops a bit I’ll feel better.” Sarah rubbed her palms in circles over her mound of baby. “How’s the new apartment? How are things working out with Jeremy back in your life?”
“So far, so good.” Hailey beamed. “He found a job—a pretty decent one, in fact. He already bought a car and hasn’t been late with his half of the rent yet. I think that baby face of his helps him clean up in the tip department. I want him to get back to school, but we’ll start with steady employment first.”
“
You’re
still going back to school next month, right?”
“Of course.” Hailey sat in the chair next to Sarah, met the worried look in her eyes. “This is a good thing, Sarah. Having my brother back in my life makes me happy. I know Jeremy’s had some trouble, but he’s trying to change. I have to give him a chance. He hasn’t had anyone.”
“Oh, honey, I know.”
Hailey picked up a piece of confetti, fiddled with the pink paper, feeling like a broken record. She’d had the same conversation with her old roommates yesterday at their once-a-month lunch bunch. “My parents died before Jeremy had an opportunity to turn himself around. I haven’t had a moment’s trouble with him over the last two months.”
“I just worry a little bit because I love you so much.” Sarah took her hand. “You’re so good at taking care of everyone else. I want to be sure you’re taking care of yourself, too.”
Hailey gave her fingers a squeeze. “I am. And I love you too.”
“Have you heard anything about Project Mexico?”
“No.” Hailey blew out a frustrated sigh. “I’m starting to think it isn’t going to happen. I really wanted to go, but the application pool is enormous. I could’ve made a difference, and the free credit hours wouldn’t have sucked either.” She jerked her shoulders, trying not to wallow in the gloom of a missed opportunity. “I’m going to sign up for two of the counseling classes I need when campus opens Monday morning. That’s what I can swing this semester.”
“Hailey, we can lend you—“
“No,” she cut Sarah off. “Sorry,” she smiled, her voice becoming gentler. “I appreciate the offer, but it’s important to me that I pay my own way. You and Ethan are more than generous with my wage.” She already owed them so much. They included her in holidays, birthdays, vacations. She’d been a bridesmaid in their late-summer wedding. She was always made to feel as if she belonged. For that she owed Ethan and Sarah everything.
“You’re excellent with Kylee and she loves you. We all do. As far as I’m concerned, you’re priceless.” Sarah jumped slightly, smiled. “Emma’s awake.”
“Can I feel?”
Sarah took Hailey’s hand, pressed her palm to her stomach. Emma jabbed and kicked about.
Hailey grinned, thrilled, fascinated. “Was that a foot, an elbow, or a knee?”
“I think a foot.” Sarah beamed.
Hailey felt the jab again and yearned to know the joy of a life growing inside her, to know the bond a mother feels for her child—or most mothers, anyway. “She’s spunky. Emma’s gonna give us a run for our money.”
“I think you might be right. She is a Cooke after all.” Sarah chuckled.
“Hey, I heard that.” Ethan entered the room, sweaty in his workout clothes. “Wow, look at all the loot.” He walked over, pressed a kiss to the top of Sarah’s head. “Did you have fun?”
“Yes, I did. Did you, Austin, and Hunter enjoy punching each other?”
“Boxing each other,” Ethan corrected. “And yes, we did. I’m just sorry Morgan and Hunter had to leave so quickly. I owe him a right hook to the jaw.” He gave his own jaw a testing wiggle as he smoothed a hand over his chin.
“Where’s Austin?”
That’s what Hailey wanted to know. It never sucked to get a good look at Austin Casey. His tall, powerful build, strong square chin, and firm lips on a killer face gave her heart a solid pitter-pat every time. Not only was Austin a hottie, but he was teddy bear-sweet with just a hint of bad boy to keep things interesting—a lethal combination in her mind.
He walked through the doorway, brown hair damp from a shower. “Hey, Sarah. Hey, Hailey.”
A slow smile spread across his face, and, as predicted, Hailey’s heart gave a good solid thwack against her ribs as butterflies danced in her stomach. She brushed a hand against her tummy, trying to quiet the flutter. “Hey,” she said casually as she reached for the black trash bag and stood.
Hailey had known him over three years, had spent weeks with him behind the walls of Ethan’s estate during Sarah’s nightmare stalker experience, yet Austin never failed to tie her stomach into knots when he grinned at her like that. Instead of standing and staring like an idiot, she stooped forward, snatched up more pieces of baby shower confetti, sneaking glances at his dark green eyes. She loved the color, could look into them for hours. They reminded her of a forest of pine trees.
“Wow.” Austin scanned the room, whistling through his teeth. “I think Emma has everything she’ll need.”