Savannah held out her hand. “Can I have my phone back?”
Trista’s eyes grew wide. “Are you kidding me? We’ve had this talk. No contact with Trey.”
“Why? You don’t know him.”
“I know enough.”
“Just because your guy sucks doesn’t mean that mine does.”
The judgmental tone in her daughter’s voice stung. But she was right. Tuck was not a good man. Putting him in Savannah’s life for the past two years was something she was going to have to find a way to deal with, but Trey was no good either, and she couldn’t sit back and watch her daughter make the same mistakes she had made. Trista tucked the phone in her back pocket.
“That’s mine!” Savannah demanded.
“Oh, really? Then you can start making the monthly payments.”
“I will. As soon as I get a job. Now give it back.” Savannah cocked her head to the side and dropped her hand. “Please?” she asked, her tone suddenly a million times more pleasant than before.
Trista had never thought of herself as a pushover kind of mother. Or one of those moms who gave in to her kid in order to avoid an argument. That wasn’t to say that Savannah couldn’t manipulate her into something she wanted from time to time. Of course, this time was not one of them. Keeping her from Trey had become a priority. One she took seriously, whether her daughter understood or not. “Listen, you can’t talk to that boy. I’m not going to change my mind about it.”
Savannah crossed her arms and sat back in her seat. Trista recognized the beginnings of a tantrum when she saw one and knew that Frank and Seth would be returning soon, so she chose to let her daughter cool off. They’d have to finish this conversation later.
The snow had started to cover the windows, which had fogged up. Probably from the steam rising from the angry teenager next to her. Trista used the sleeve of her jacket to wipe her window, but it did little to clear her vision with the snow covering it from the outside.
“I hope we make it out of here before we get snowed in.” Her words fell on deaf ears.
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
Trista turned to Savannah, who still refused to look at her. “That’s fine. The guys are still inside.”
Savannah grabbed her small red purse, the one they had spent an entire afternoon shopping for during one of their happier moments together when Trista could actually do something right by her little girl. She got out of the car and slammed the door shut, knocking the snow from both of their windows.
Trista watched the blurry vision of her daughter walk into the gas station. The phone in her back pocket vibrated, and she was immediately hit with the sting of failure. As hard as she tried, she just couldn’t seem to make it work between them. Sure, they had their good moments, but it seemed the older she got, the farther apart they grew. And that made Trista sadder than anything.
She wiped the foggy window with her sleeve again, this time without any snow to block her view. The empty shops looked like a painting, one of those wintry small-town scenes. One her mother would’ve liked and hung on the wall. Then she saw something that stopped her breathing. A truck. A large white truck in an empty parking lot facing their car. She tried to clear the window again to get a better look, but it was no use. The truck was too far away, and it was too dark. What if it was Tuck? What if he had found them just like he said he would if they tried to run?
Trista opened the car door. The cold wind nearly took her breath away and blasted her with an arsenal of large snowflakes. She paused to get a better look at the truck, but the blinding snow and wind made it impossible to focus on anything. She ran inside the gas station and saw Seth and Frank talking to the attendant at the counter. “Have you seen Savannah?” she asked, not bothering to hide the panic in her voice.
“She’s in the restroom,” Seth replied, pointing to a door in the back. “Is everything okay?”
Trista didn’t try to explain. The idea of Tuck putting his greasy hands on her little girl sent her running into the restroom. “Savannah!”
Silence.
Trista pushed open the first stall door and found nothing but a dirty toilet. She opened the second and found the same. Only one left. Her hand shook as she placed it on the door and took a deep breath while closing her eyes. “Please, please, be here,” she whispered. She opened the door. Empty. By this time, Seth and Frank had made their way inside, not bothering to observe the word WOMEN on the door.
“Where is she?”
Trista couldn’t hold the tears back anymore. Fear had taken hold and shattered what was left of the delicate hold she had had on sanity.
“Is this her purse?” Seth asked, picking up the small red purse resting beneath a partially opened window.
“Yes!” Trista pushed the window open, letting the cold freeze the tears on her cheeks. “Savannah!” she cried.
“Come on,” Frank said, grabbing her arm. “Let’s go find her.”
“He’s got her. I know it. I saw his truck. He took my baby!”
“Who’s got her?”
“Tuck. I think he’s been following us. I saw his truck. It had to be his.” Trista followed Frank and Seth out of the restroom and then out of the gas station. She ran away from the building, looking for the white truck in the parking lot, but it was gone. Her gut wrenched. She bent over, pushing into it, trying not to get sick.
“Where’s the truck?” Frank yelled. Most of his words were carried away with the wind.
“It was right there.” Trista pointed to the empty spot where the truck once was.
Seth looked in every direction. “I don’t see anything.”
“It’s gone. He took her!”
Trista’s legs grew weaker with each passing second. Her little girl was in the hands of a monster. She drew in a deep breath, the cold air heavy in her lungs. Seth took out his cell phone. “I’m calling 9-1-1.”
“Wait!” Frank shouted, grabbing Seth’s arm. “I think I see someone.”
Trista followed Frank’s line of sight. It looked like someone was walking through the storm away from the shopping complex parking lot. “Is that Savannah?”
Frank shrugged. “Can’t tell from here. But there’s only one way to find out.”
Trista reached the car first. She knocked the snow from her window before climbing in. She sat forward, placing her hands on the headrests of the front seats. Frank wasted no time backing out, although it was slower than Trista wanted to go. If that was Savannah, she had to get to her. Even if that meant getting out of this car and running after her.
Seth turned around and placed a hand on Trista’s. His cool blue eyes penetrated hers, calming her just enough to keep her in the seat. “We’re going to get her back. Trust me.”
“What did you say?”
“Trust me.” He flashed a smile and then turned back toward the road.
Frank sped up the car until it started to slip and slide. He let up on the accelerator, slowing down a bit. The snow and sludge sat piled on both sides of the road with a fresh coat resting on top. The pedestrian came into focus the closer they got. Trista let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding as relief washed over her. “I can’t believe she…I’m going to kill her,” she said as she opened the car door—the car not even at a full stop.
“Maybe you should wait here.” Frank’s face looked softer than usual.
The parent side of him
, she thought. Without putting up a fight, she closed her door and sat back in the seat.
Frank came to a stop about ten feet behind Savannah. He nodded to Seth, who opened his door. Savannah never bothered to turn around, not that Trista thought she would. The girl was as stubborn as they came. And she held out little hope for Seth negotiating her return.
“I’ll be right back.” Seth shot from the car and jogged over to Savannah. At first, he walked next to her for what seemed like another fifty feet. Frank turned to Trista and offered a comforting smile. She forced one in return, biting back the tears that came from a mother’s broken heart.
Savannah stopped and turned to Seth. Her arms flailed in the air, and Trista wished like hell she could read their lips. After a few minutes of pointing at the car, Savannah’s arms dropped and her head fell into Seth’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her and turned back toward the car. Trista couldn’t believe it. Other than Anthony, she had never seen her daughter lean on another man that way. No longer able to keep them at bay, tears welled in her eyes.
What was it with that man?
He had been so rude when they had bumped into him at the airport, and he clearly had some issues that he didn’t want to discuss, but he also had this side to him, this gentle and caring side, that made Trista want to know everything about the enigmatic country star.
After Savannah got back in the car, she crossed her frozen arms and stared out the window. She didn’t even glance at her mother, and Trista didn’t say a word either. She didn’t need to. Tuck hadn’t taken her little girl. Instead she was safe and sound right next to her, and that was all that mattered right now.
She rested her head against the cool glass of the window and let out a sigh. And just like that, her worst fear was confirmed. All the feelings of safety were erased as she stared at the heart with T & T in it drawn on the glass.
Tuck had been there.
Chapter 13
Seth
Frank pulled into the parking lot of a quaint bed and breakfast at the top of a hill. They were at the edge of a tiny town that made an even tinier dot on the map. Cupid, Tennessee. Seth stared at the great distance that still separated them from Fort Wayne. He looked out at the large flakes of snow that continued to fall from the abyss of darkness, a reminder of the impossible journey he had before him. And the storm was the least of his obstacles. He still had to convince a stranger that a washed out country singer fresh from rehab was ready to raise his seven-year-old little girl. He closed his eyes and pushed his fears to the back of his mind. First things first, he thought. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“You heard what the gas station attendant said. This is the only real town for fifty miles. He’s going to call his mechanic and have him come in on his day off to repair our flat tire. I think this is about as good as it gets.” Frank stared at the bed and breakfast and smiled. “Besides, did you even see this place? It’s out of a Thomas Kinkade painting.”
They parked at the back of a small parking lot surrounded by snow-covered pine trees interlaced with street lamps. It looked like something straight out of a 1950s movie. The bed and breakfast stood four stories tall. Its gray wood siding had white shutters bordering the windows and stone bricks stacking halfway up. White pillars stood at the top of wooden stairs and supported a large gable that sheltered a spacious deck lined with rockers that looked inviting even in this brutally cold weather.
“It’s gorgeous,” Trista said. “The parking lot seems pretty full though. I hope they have some rooms.”
“Only one way to find out.” Frank turned to the girls. “I’ll leave the car running if you two would like to sit tight while we ask about rooms.”
“Thank you,” Savannah replied before giving her mom a chance to speak.
Trista looked at her daughter. “I guess we’re waiting here.”
“Then it’s settled.” He turned to Seth. “Well, cowboy, you ready?”
Cowboy. Was this guy serious? Seth looked at the girls. Both looked exhausted and as separated as they could get in the back seat of the car. Savannah stared out her window with her arms crossed, and Trista kept looking over at her as if contemplating what she was going to do with her next. “Why not?” Seth replied. Besides, the estrogen in this car was getting to be more than he could handle.
The wind held a bite that chilled them to the bone as soon as they opened their doors. Seth squinted to avoid getting hit with a snowflake in the eye. A wooden sign at the top of the steps had the words A SLICE OF COUNTRY carved into it. A set of double doors greeted them and Frank opened one for Seth. A gentleman to the core, Seth thought.
The smell of cinnamon and freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies filled his nose, causing his stomach to grumble. They shook wet snow off their feet onto the large welcome mat and took a look around. The place looked to be more than a hundred years old. High ceilings, restored wooden floors, and large crown molding gave it plenty of character. It reminded him of the farmhouse after he and Lexi had had it restored. She would have loved this place, he thought. A large Christmas tree sprinkled with ornaments that looked as though they had been collected over the years and from all over the world was the first thing to grab Seth’s attention. A bright star shone at the top of the tree, which rose nearly to the ceiling. Next to the tree stood a large brick fireplace displaying a welcoming fire. A man perusing a newspaper and a woman reading a book sat on the couch in front of the warm flames.
They looked up at Seth and Frank, smiled, and said, “Hello.”
“Hello,” Frank said, nodding.
“It’s terrible out there,” the woman said. Chestnut brown hair fell in curls onto her red sweatshirt.
“I still can’t believe this weather,” Frank replied. “Can you tell me where we check in?”
The man pointed to a small desk area at the back of the room. “Deana’s in the kitchen, but she’ll be back soon.”
“Thank you,” Frank said, taking off his coat.
“You’re quite welcome,” the woman said. “Happy almost Valentine’s Day.”
“Happy almost Valentine’s Day back at you,” Frank said, laughing.
Seth couldn’t believe it. This place was straight out of a country magazine. They walked over to the counter. It had one of those mail-filing compartments on the back wall.
“This place is something else,” Frank said, taking in the scene.
“It sure is…something else.”
“Hey,” Frank placed a hand on Seth’s shoulder and leaned in. “I was hoping the girls would wait in the car because we need to talk.”
“You mean about all of the time-delaying melodrama? I’m glad you said something. Do you think maybe we should leave them here tomorrow?”
“What? No, I don’t think that at all,” Frank said, staring at Seth as if he’d just suggested they bury some bodies in the backyard.