The Icing on the Cake (23 page)

She sighed.  If only her beloved bakery
hadn’t caught fire, she would still be working there from morning to night. 
She had known her place in the world when she was at the bakery.  She had found
her niche.  If it hadn’t burned down, and she was still there, she wouldn’t be
in the position of second-guessing her every move.

She suddenly felt weary and decided to
take a nap…

She woke with a start. 

“Kristine!” Lori cried from downstairs. 
“Please come here!”

Disoriented from sleep, she sat up in
bed and perked her ears.  Had someone just called her name?

“Kristine!  Please!”
Lori cried.

This time, she registered it was Lori
calling her and not her imagination at work.  She pushed off the bed and
hurried downstairs, holding the banister to assure she didn’t take a tumble.  A
fall was the last thing she needed.

She found Lori in the kitchen, holding
the phone to her ear.  Her eyes were wide, her mouth formed in an ‘o.’ 
Kristine read abject terror on her face.

“Lori!  What is it?”

Her sister stared at the phone in her
hand.  She returned the antiquated phone to its cradle with a shaky hand.  “It
was Devon’s school,” she relayed.  “He didn’t return to his class after
recess.”

“What?”

She nodded.  “He’s gone, Kristine!  The
principal told me they’ve searched everywhere!  What if someone took him?  Oh,
God, oh, God,” she murmured.

Kristine ran to her sister and wrapped
her arms around her.  “Lori, take a deep breath.  We’re going to find him.”

She pulled back, her features contorted
with fear.  “But…  What if…?”

“Has the school called the police?”
Kristine asked, her own heart pounding out of her chest.  If something happened
to her precious nephew… 

Lori shook her head, uncertain whether
law enforcement had been called.

Kristine forced away the thought that
Devon may have come to harm and prayed for his safe return.  “Lori, listen, you
wait here,” she said.  “Wait—where’s Mom?”

“Grocery shopping.”

“Okay, um, call her and tell her what’s
happening.  I’m going to start searching for Devon.  Even if the school called the
police, I need you to call them too.  Find out what’s happening as far as a
search.”

“Okay.  I’ll do that.”

Kristine ran out of the house and to her
car.  She drove right to school.  She spotted several adults, including a
police officer, milling around out front.  She pulled to a stop and ran toward
them.  “I’m Devon’s aunt,” she said.  “When was he last seen?”

“He went out for recess a half hour ago,
but didn’t return to his class with the other children,” a woman told her.

“Did any of the other children see
anything?”

“No one,” a man said.

Kristine swallowed over a lump in her
throat.  “Is, uh, Pete Williams in his class?”

“No,” the woman told her, “but they are
friends.”

“May I speak to him, please?”

The woman hurried to find the boy. 
Kristine soon spotted them exit the building together and she hurried to meet
them.  “Pete,” she said, attempting to keep her voice even, “do you remember
me?  I’m Devon’s aunt.  We met at the barbecue at Joe’s house.  You know,
Gracie’s new owner.”

He nodded.  “I know who you are.”

“Sweetie, do you have any idea where
Devon went?”

He shook his head, averting his gaze.

“Honey, please.  Did you see anyone
approach him?  Or try to talk to him?”

“No,” he said, failing to raise his face
and make eye contact.

She gently lifted his chin.  “Honey,
please, if you know anything, you have to tell us.  He’s only six…”

“I’m seven!” he declared.

“I know, but you see, Devon isn’t as old
as you, or as big as you.  He shouldn’t be walking around alone, without an
adult with him.  You do understand something bad could happen to him?”

“I told him that!” he cried, and then
realized he’d said it.  He shuffled awkwardly.

Kristine took both his hands in her
own.  “Sweetie, please tell me where Devon went.  If you know, you must tell
me…”

“I don’t know where he went!” he cried.

“But did he
say
anything to you?”

“But I pinky sweared I wouldn’t…”  He
sighed with frustration.

“Honey, I understand you don’t want to
break a promise, but if something happens to Devon, won’t you feel bad then?”

He nodded.

“Will you tell me what you know? 
Please.”

He finally looked up and sighed again. 
“He was mad because the kids were telling him his mama is bad.  They said she
burned down her own bakery.”

Kristine nodded.   “Okay.  I understand
why he was upset.  But he didn’t tell you where he was going?” she clarified.

“No.  He just said he was leavin’ ‘cuz
everybody is so mean to him now.  He said he won’t come back to school, because
nobody will leave him alone anymore.  The other kids say he’s going to burn
down the school and they call him mean names.  I don’t call him names, ‘cuz
he’s my friend.”

Kristine’s heart broke for her precious
nephew.  “Thank you for telling me, honey,” she said, and then spun on her
heel, intending to begin searching for Devon.  She found Lori standing behind
her.  She had heard everything Pete said.

“Mom’s at the house,” she said, her lips
trembling.  She met Kristine’s gaze, her eyes filling with tears.  She shook
her head, unable to speak now. 

Kristine took her hand and pulled her to
her car.  “Come on.  We’ll look for him together.”

Inside the car, Lori broke down crying. 
“It’s my fault,” she said.  “I should have figured Devon was having trouble at
school.  He pleaded with me not to make him go this morning.”

“We’re going to find him, Lori.”

“But, what if…?  He’s just a little
boy,” she moaned.  “This is all my fault.”

Kristine wondered what she meant that it
was ‘all’ her fault.  Was she indicating she had started the fire?  Regardless,
she reached for her sister’s hand.  “Don’t think the worst.  Devon’s a smart
little guy.  He’s going to be fine.  We’ll find him.”

They drove the nearby streets, but saw
no sign of him.  “Let’s go by the park,” Kristine suggested.  There, she parked
and hurried to search the playground.  He was nowhere to be found.  When she
spotted an overturned tunnel, she hurried to look inside.  No Devon.

She jogged back to the car.  “He’s not
here,” she said, as she started the ignition.

They continued driving around,
searching—to no avail.  When Kristine’s cell phone rang, she nearly leapt out
of her skin.  She snatched it off the seat beside her.  “Hello!”

“Kristine?”

“Yes?”

“It’s Maeve…”

“Oh, hello Maeve.  I’m sorry I didn’t
recognize you.  I’m having a family emergency right now.  You see, my nephew is
missing…”

“Is he about six, adorable little
fellow, with blond hair?”

“Yessss,” Kristine said, relief
cascading over her like a shower of warm water.  “You’ve seen him?”

“Indeed I have.  I heard Gracie
barking—making a bigger fuss than is usual for her—and I went next door to
investigate.  Suffice to say, she’s not the only one occupying her dog house at
the moment.”  She chuckled.  “I spotted the little guy, but I’m fairly certain
he didn’t realize I saw him.  Regardless, I’m outside now, watching him through
a gap in the fence.”

“Oh, Maeve, thank you,” she said, so
relieved.  “You can’t know how grateful we are to you.  We’ll be right there.”

When they arrived at the house, Maeve
greeted them out front.  Kristine made hasty introductions and then perked her
ears.  She noted all was quiet. 

“I think Gracie is pleased to have
company,” Maeve said with a chuckle.

As the women dashed through the house
and out back, Kristine spotted Devon peering out the door of Gracie’s
doghouse.  He spotted them and hurled himself deeper into the space.  Gracie
turned and watched him and then scooted backward to join him.

“Devon!” Lori cried.  “You scared me!  I
thought something awful had happened to you.”

He remained silent.

“Devon?” Kristine prompted.  “Come on
out of there.  Honey, you scared me too.  Please don’t ever run away again.”

“But, the kids at school are mean to
me.  They said Mama burned down the bakery.”

“Sweetie…”

Lori began to cry.  “It’s all my fault,”
she sobbed.  “If I wasn’t so…”  She couldn’t manage to get the words out.   

Kristine sensed she was about to
collapse and hurried to her side.  She wrapped an arm around her and helped her
to a chair on Joe’s back patio.

To her surprise, Joe burst through the
back door.  His eyes were wide with fear.  “Maeve called me…” 

“I wasn’t sure what to do,” she said
with a shrug.  “I knew Joe was out-of-town but…”  She furrowed her brow and met
Joe’s gaze.  “Anyway, I called you first and it turns out, you’re …  in town
after all.”

He nodded in reply, and when he spotted
Devon, his expression relaxed.  “Thank God he’s all right,” he said, turning to
Kristine and Lori.

He smiled at Kristine, but she watched
him wearily.  He noticed and frowned.

She hurriedly averted her eyes and
walked away to deal with Devon.  He was still in the doghouse.  She resisted
the urge to join him.

She opened the gate to the dog run and
hurried to him.  “Devon, come out of there,” she said firmly.  She was
desperate to put distance between her and Joe.  He was definitely in town.  The
proof was standing a mere few feet away.

Why had he lied to her?  Her heart broke
anew, as she experienced the betrayal a second time.  She glanced back at him. 
He had an arm over Lori’s back and was speaking softly to her.  She was
nodding.  No doubt he was comforting her.

She refused to dwell on it and made a
grab for Devon, who had crawled toward the opening of the dog house.  “Out of
there, young man,” she said.  “You have no idea how scared we’ve been.”

“But…”

She hauled him out and escorted him to
his mother.  “Lori, we should get Devon home,” she said, continuing to avert
her face from Joe’s.

She felt his hand on her arm and glanced
his way.  “Are you all right?”  He smiled.  “Stupid question.  You had to have
been terrified.  Devon…”

She nodded, but didn’t try to speak. 
She didn’t want him to hear that her composure was tenuous at best, and largely
because she was reeling from his betrayal.  Her heart was breaking.  He loved
Lori and was sneaking around with her behind her back. 

“Krissy…,” he prompted.

She shook her head, but spotted Maeve
watching her with concern.  Her friend took a step closer, her hand extended
toward her.  Kristine smiled her way, but she had to get away from Joe and his
home, and all that it represented to her.  Somehow, some way, his home had
begun to feel like her home.

But it had all been a fantasy—a fairy
tale—a ruse.  Joe had used her.  He’d used Lori, as well.  She couldn’t help
herself.  She gave him a dirty look.

His face registered his confusion.  He
glanced around at the faces around him, uncertain what was happening and what
he’d done wrong.

“We need to go,” Kristine repeated, and
reached for Lori’s hand.

Joe surprised her when he intercepted
her hand.  “We need to talk,” he said firmly.

She shook her head and attempted to tug
her hand out of his grasp.  He wouldn’t release her and to her horror,
practically carried her into the house.

“Krissy,” he repeated, “we need to
talk.”  His eyes lit on the sofa.  “I thought you said Gracie…”  His words
trailed off.  He had bigger fish to fry.

“I’m leaving, Joe,” she said, lifting
her chin haughtily.  “I know you’ve been seeing Lori behind my back.  I know
you’ve been playing me for a fool.”

“I’ve been …
what?”
  He watched
her, his mouth agape.  “I’m really confused.  Tell me how I’ve been playing you
for a fool.”

“You said you were coming to town today,
but then you canceled.  But then you came anyway, so you could spend time with
Lori.  You’ve been seeing her all along.”

He laughed without humor.  “Krissy, I
didn’t come home to spend time with Lori, but I did come home to
talk
to
Lori.”

She shook her head, confused.  “What’s
the difference?”

Suddenly, Lori stepped into the house. 
Apparently she could hear them talking through the partially opened door.

“The difference is, Joe came to me because
he wanted to straighten some things out between us.  He’s in love with you,
Kristine, but he’s very perceptive and discerned that, despite how awful I’ve
been to you, you couldn’t be in a healthy, happy relationship with him if you
believed it would cause me pain.”