Next Door Secrets (Secrets Series Book 2) (3 page)

CHAPTER
FIVE

As soon as Beth
got home from work the next day, someone knocked on her door.

Holding a box of
thin mints,
Kaylee
stood on her stoop, looking up at
her with those lonely blue eyes. “
Wanna
cookie?”

Oh, yes. Beth
desperately wanted a cookie. It was a crime how much so. “Are you selling Girl
Scout cookies?” If so, she’d buy some and leave them in the break room at work.

“No. I thought
maybe we could watch some more Star Trek together.”

“Does your dad
know you’re here?” Beth suspected he did not.

Kaylee
shook her head. “He’s at work. After school, I
usually eat my snack, watch TV and wait for him to come home.”

Beth was starting
to understand why
Kaylee
had put on a few too many
pounds. She was eating to fill the void. Part of her wanted to help the girl
discover healthier alternatives, but it wasn’t her place. “I’d love to hang out
with you, but I don’t think your dad would like that.”

“He won’t even
know. He works all the time.”

“What about your
aunt? I thought she watched you.”

She put her free
hand on her hip. “I’m a big girl. I don’t need a babysitter.”
 

Her
moxy
brought a smile to Beth’s face. “Aren’t there other
kids your age in the apartment complex? I bet they’d like to play.”

Kaylee
looked down at her feet. “None of them like me.”

Beth’s heart cracked
open a little more. “I didn’t have many friends when I was growing up, either.”

“Were you fat,
too?”

A lump formed in
Beth’s throat. “You’re not fat. You’re
just.
. .a
little. . . .” She couldn’t find the right words.

“That’s OK. I know
I’m fat.” She shoved an entire chocolate cookie into her mouth and chewed with
her mouth half-open.

This poor girl
really needed a mother. “Fat is such an unkind word. Don’t call yourself that.”

“That’s what the
other kids call me.”

Beth closed her
eyes for a moment in sympathy. “
Kaylee
, you have to
ignore those kids. What matters is what's on the inside.”

Shrugging,
Kaylee
clearly did not believe that was all that mattered.
She bit into another cookie. “Can I come in or not?”

“I’d love to spend
time with you but I’m afraid your dad wouldn’t like that.” Did she dare risk
it? She hated to make
Kaylee
feel rejected once
again. She also didn’t want her to go and polish off that box of thin mints. “The
sun is shining. Why don’t you play outside? That will make the time go faster.”
The complex had a little jungle gym across from the parking lot and the
sixty degree
temperature felt amazingly warm after
yesterday's storm.

“Nah. I’ll talk to
ya
later.” She headed next door.

“If you need
anything, let me know. I just don’t want to make your dad mad. It’s important
to respect your parents.” She winced at the fact that she’d made the word
plural.
Kaylee
didn’t seem to notice.

After she closed
the door, Beth walked into her tiny kitchen, suddenly ravenous. Cookies, ice
cream--she needed something sweet. But she knew she wouldn’t find any of those
things. She decided to microwave some popcorn. While she waited for it to pop,
she changed out of her work clothes into a yellow T-shirt and capris. Ninety seconds
later, the timer beeped and she took her snack to the living room.

Without even
thinking, she looked out the double windows to see if
Kaylee
had decided to go play. But she wasn’t there. The swings sat empty. The
climbing wall vacant. Knowing she had some time to kill before Parker stopped by
for their dinner date, Beth flipped on the TV. In her peripheral vision, she
noticed movement outside. She looked up to see
Kaylee
riding a little turquoise bike around the parking lot, her dark hair blowing
behind her in the wind.

Beth put down her
bag of popcorn and opened the front door. “
Kaylee
,
don’t you have a helmet?”

The girl smiled
sheepishly. “I forgot.” She pedaled up to the stoop and ran inside her place. A
moment later, she walked out with a pink helmet latched on her head.

Standing in the
doorway, Beth called. “Watch out for cars.”

“Okay.”

Beth returned to
her seat where she could watch
Kaylee
. She turned off
the TV and focused on the little girl. Too bad
Kaylee
didn’t have anyone to play with. She clearly needed a friend. No friends, no
mom, a father who worked all the time. Beth shook her head.

Kaylee
took one hand off the handlebars and waved at Beth.
Surprised, Beth grinned and waved back. She didn’t realize
Kaylee
had noticed her watching. Beth needed to do something to reassure Jim that
Kaylee
was safe and welcome at her place. He wasn’t easy to
talk to. When they’d met at the mailboxes, he’d helped her with the lock and
she’d asked if he liked living there. He’d said he and his daughter had been at
the apartments for a couple of months and were satisfied. Satisfied.
Kind of an odd choice of words.
He’d walked away and she
could tell he wasn’t much of a talker. She supposed driving a truck didn’t give
him much opportunity to practice conversation.

She couldn’t help
but wonder what had happened to his wife. And where was this aunt that was
supposed to babysit?
Kaylee
appeared to be an
official latchkey kid, as far as Beth could tell. And eight-years-old seemed
too young to be left on her own.

Now that
Kaylee
knew she had an audience, she started showing off.
She pedaled faster past Beth’s window, then down the length of the sidewalk,
jumped the curb and circled back onto the parking lot. She straightened her
legs and stood up while rolling by. Next time she stood and took her hands off
the handlebars to wave. Beth waved back, cringing at the little girl’s risk
taking. After a few more passes,
Kaylee
lifted her
front wheel a few inches from the ground. She practiced and practiced as if
determined to pop a wheelie that would impress.

Beth’s chest
filled with tenderness for
Kaylee
. Too bad her father
wasn’t home to witness this. The girl seemed hungry for attention yet Beth had
been told to mind her own business. Maybe it was wrong of her to let
Kaylee
climb into bed with her. Beth wasn’t her mother or
even a relative. Yet it had felt so natural. Was that a crime?

A silver sedan
pulled into the lot and sped toward
Kaylee
. Beth
stood up and held her breath, hoping the driver would slow down. “Look out!”
she yelled into the window. The car swerved and so did
Kaylee
,
causing the child to plow into a parked car. Her body flew over the handlebars,
rolled over the hood and crashed onto the pavement.

Beth ran out her
front door, not bothering to close it behind her.
Kaylee’s
wailing burned her ears. She rushed to her and stroked her head. “Are you
okay?”

Tears flooded
Kaylee’s
face, her nose scraped raw. She cradled one arm
with the other. “It hurts! It hurts!”

Beth studied the
bloody forearm. “Can you move it?” She demonstrated bending and straightening.

Shaking her head,
Kaylee
didn’t even try.

“I know it hurts,
but I need to know if you can move it. Just a little?”

“
Owww
!” The arm didn’t appear to move.

Scanning the area,
Beth realized the silver car had left the scene. Jerk! An old woman walking her
beagle looked at them with concern. Beth’s focus returned to
Kaylee
. “When’s your dad coming home?”

“I don’t know.”
Her sobbing had quieted, but hadn’t stopped.

Beth’s pulse
thudded inside her head. Think. Jim Stein told her to stay away from
Kaylee
. He would be mad if she stepped in. But she couldn’t
ignore this. “Let’s go inside and put ice on it to see if that helps.”

Kaylee
stayed locked in place. “It hurts too much!”

That was it. “I’m
taking you to the hospital. I’ll be right back.” Beth dashed through her open
door and grabbed her purse. As quickly as possible, she returned to
Kaylee’s
side. “Let me help you up.” Careful not to touch
the injury, she wrapped her arm around
Kaylee’s
waist. Once they stood,
Kaylee
limped her way to
Beth’s Chevy.

After Beth opened
the back door,
Kaylee
looked at her with a furrowed
brow. “Where’s your booster seat?”

“I don’t have one.
Just wear your seatbelt.”

“But it’s against
the law. Dad said never to break the law.”

“I know, but this
is a special circumstance.” Beth waited for the girl to climb in,
then
buckled the belt for her. Fifteen minutes later, they
arrived at Methodist Hospital. Parking as close as she could, Beth escorted
Kaylee
into the ER, where a few patients sat in chairs
waiting for their turns. A man hacked with a smoker’s cough and an old couple
sat bickering over whose fault it was that he fell off a ladder.

Overall, the place
didn’t look too swamped, which brought Beth a little relief as she headed
toward the check-in desk.

A middle-aged
woman with her hair pulled back into a bun offered a tired smile to them. “May
I help you?”

Beth took charge.
“She fell off her bike and I think she may have broken her arm.”
Kaylee
leaned against the desk as if she didn’t have the
energy to stand.

The woman
assembled some papers onto a clipboard. “I’ll need a copy of your insurance
card.”

“Well, I have
insurance, but she’s not covered. I’m her neighbor and her dad’s at work.”

“We need a parent
to consent to treatment. Do you have written consent?”

“No.”

The woman shook
her head disapprovingly. “All babysitters should have a Medical Treatment
Authorization and Consent form signed by the parents for situations like this.”

“I’m not her
babysitter.
. .” Who was Beth to
Kaylee
anyway? “I live next door and I witnessed her almost get run over by a car. Are
you going to deny this poor child treatment because I’m not her legal
guardian?”

The receptionist
held up her hands as if to calm Beth down. “Can you call her parents?”

Beth glanced at
Kaylee
, whose tears had finally subsided. In fact, the
child was staring at the TV across the room. Was Beth overreacting? Was
Kaylee
fine now? She didn’t know. Maybe parents had a sixth
sense about these kinds of things, but Beth was completely naïve. When she’d
helped
raise
her ex’s niece, they’d never once ended
up at the hospital. She touched
Kaylee’s
shoulder
lightly to get her attention. “Do you have your dad’s phone number?”

Kaylee’s
eyes glistened in the fluorescent lights as she
nodded. “It’s in my back pocket.”

Beth carefully
reached in and pulled out a slip of notebook paper. Stepping aside from the
counter, she dialed the cell phone. Mr. Stein didn’t answer. It went straight
to voicemail. Great. “Uh, this is your neighbor, Bethany. I’m afraid
Kaylee
fell off her bike today and I think she may have a
broken arm. We’re at Methodist Hospital.”

Squaring her
shoulders, she approached the counter. “I’ll be glad to pay for her treatment.
Can we get an X-ray now?”

“Fill out these
forms and bring them back to me.” She handed Beth the clipboard and a pen.

“But can’t she see
a doctor now? She’s in pain.”

“I’m sorry, but
you need to fill out the forms, then we’ll get to her as soon as we can.”

Beth rolled her
eyes as she and
Kaylee
walked to nearby seats.
Kaylee’s
attention honed in on the TV mounted across the
room, set to ESPN. Maybe she wasn’t that bad after all. How much would an
unnecessary visit to the ER cost?
Hundreds of dollars, no
doubt.
Thousands, maybe?
Beth pushed the
thoughts aside. If
Kaylee
didn’t have a broken arm,
at least she’d have peace of mind. It would be worth it either way.

The first line of
the paperwork already stumped her: Patient’s full name. “
Kaylee
,
what’s your middle name?”

“
Um.
. .Skye. With an e.”

Beth consulted
with
Kaylee
about every question. She had to skip the
social security number.
History of headaches, allergies,
chicken pox, etc.
All nos.
Did
she have
up-to-date vaccinations? Yes. Did anyone in her family have diabetes or heart
disease or depression? Yes. Her mom had been depressed.

Although
Kaylee
answered each question with confidence, Beth didn’t
know whether to believe her or not. Beth certainly didn’t know her complete
medical history when she was eight. Finally, she completed the paperwork as
best she could and she left
Kaylee
watching TV as she
headed back to the counter.

The woman took the
paperwork, her smile long gone. “Who are you again? You said you’re not the
babysitter?”

“I kind of watch
after her, but not officially.”

“And you still
haven’t gotten a hold of a parent?”

Stealing a glance
at
Kaylee
, Beth lowered her voice. “Her mom is dead
and her father works a lot. I left him a message that we’re here.”

“Is she allergic
to any medications?”