Protecting the Single Mom Read online

  “Really?” Cate replied with wide eyes as Sarah passed the mug.

  Sarah chuckled. “Timmy’s class is learning geography by campsites. His teacher is a camping and hunting buff, so he has slide shows of his camping trips.”

  “Yeah, Mom!” Danny said with oatmeal dribbling out of his mouth. “Timmy knows a lot about camping and fishing, and his dad said he would take me sometimes, too.” Danny turned to Timmy. “Didn’t he?”

  “Yep,” Timmy said, shoveling a huge piece of baked apple into his mouth.

  Danny beamed. “His dad is the best.”

  Cate felt something sharp stick in her chest. This was the day she would tell Danny about his real father. About Trent’s plan. About the danger. About his new schedule for after-school pickup. None of it could wait. Cate had telephoned Danny’s teacher this morning and explained that Danny wouldn’t be in school for the first hour, perhaps even two. Cate knew that she’d have to take the teacher and the principal into her confidence. Danny’s safety was paramount.

  Trent had suggested that she give the school officials Brad’s description in case he showed up at the school. Cate intended to do just that. But not until after she talked with Danny.

  The kids finished their breakfast and cleared their dishes.

  “I took the liberty of making a lunch for Danny,” Sarah said. “He told me last night he likes turkey and mayo. I hope that’s okay.”

  Lunch? Cate had forgotten an ordinary part of their everyday routine—making lunch. Already Brad was making too many changes in their lives. She didn’t like it. At all.

  Cate sighed. “Thank you, Sarah. I completely forgot.”

  “Understandable.” Sarah put her hand on Cate’s shoulder, then whispered, “Just let me know what else I can do. And good luck this morning.”

  “Thanks,” Cate replied quietly. “I’ll need it.

  “So,” she said brightly, turning to her son. “You kids ready to go?”

  Timmy was petting Beau. “I’m never ready to leave.”

  “Tomorrow is Saturday, and you can play with Beau for two days straight. Maybe we’ll take a ride in the country. Look for some apple cider. I might even make doughnuts,” Sarah said.

  The kids jumped up and down and shouted, “Yay!”

  “Come on, you guys,” Cate said, ushering Danny out the back door. “Thanks for everything, Sarah. I’ll call you later.”

  Sarah winked at Cate. “I’m always here.”

  Cate went back and hugged her. “Thank God for you, Sarah. I don’t know what I’d do.”

  * * *

  CATE DROVE THE kids to school. Annie, who was nine, rode in the passenger’s seat, preening because she was old enough not to have to sit in a kid’s seat anymore. Danny and Timmy sat in the back.

  “I can’t wait to be big,” Danny muttered to Timmy, who rolled his eyes.

  “Too soon for me,” Cate said as she parked the car. “You two go on inside. I want to talk to Danny for a minute.”

  Annie and Timmy jumped out, closing car doors behind them.

  “I can get out myself,” Danny said, unhooking the shoulder straps.

  “Hang on, Danny. You aren’t going in to the school just yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “I have to talk to you about something. I told your teacher you’d be a little late today.”

  “You did?” Danny’s smile was born of pleasure. Then he looked at his mother’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “What’s wrong, Mom?”

  “I’m going to park in the police station parking lot. It’s only a block away, and Trent said it was okay.”

  When Cate had parked the car again, she got out and helped Danny out of his seat. Then they both sat in the front seats of the car.

  “Danny, I have something to tell you that in a way, I’m not very proud of, but I hope you’ll understand.”

  “Mom—”

  She put her hands on his cheeks and looked into his aqua eyes, her eyes, thinking that it couldn’t be possible to love a child any more than she loved Danny. From before his birth, she only wanted one thing...for him to be safe. And now, they were both in more danger than she could ever have imagined. And it was her fault.

  Her fault she hadn’t faced up to Brad back then. But how could she have done that when he came at her with his fists and enough venom to annihilate anything and anyone in his path?

  “Sometimes adults do things that aren’t right, but they’re necessary. We mean well and we’re hoping for the best, but in some cases that doesn’t happen. Am I making any sense?”

  The look in Danny’s eyes was blank. “No, Mom.”

  “Okay. I was trying to be diplomatic, but that’s not working. The truth is Danny, that your father isn’t dead,” she said in a rush.

  There. She’d said it. Amazing that it came out at all. She’d had it locked away for so long.

  “He’s not?” Danny asked, then fell silent as he processed what this meant. “But you said he died.”

  “He didn’t. I—”

  “Then I can meet him. I can have a real father like Timmy. He can take me camping, and he can teach me to fish. I can get a real fishing pole and lures like Timmy and his dad—”

  “No, Danny. Your father isn’t like Luke.” Danny’s mind had landed in a magical place that didn’t really exist.

  “He’s not? How do you know? Did you talk to him?”

  “No, I haven’t seen him since before you were born.”

  “Then Trent found him, right?”

  “No, sweetie. It’s not like that.”

  Danny’s eyes darted around the car like they always did when his mind was going faster than a motorboat. “Do I look like him? Is he a big guy? Will I be big like him?”

  Cate felt a rush of tears, but she fought each and every one back. This wasn’t the time for her to be emotional. She needed to go slow.

  “Actually, sweetheart, you look like me. Except your hair is like your father’s.”

  “Uh-uh. It’s black like yours.”

  “Danny, my real hair color is blond. I’ve been dyeing it black for a long time. It’s been so long I barely remember what I really look like.”

  “You dye it?” Danny inspected Cate’s head with probing eyes. “Did you want it to look like my dad’s?”

  The sigh Cate expelled was filled with angst and worry. “Sweetie, it was part of my disguise. I’ve been running away from your father for years. He wasn’t very nice to me.”

  “How? How was he not nice, Mom?”

  “I shouldn’t tell you everything—”

  “Why not?” he asked with a defensive jerk to his chin. “Because I’m just a kid? Because I’m not big?”

  She dropped her jaw. Awestruck at his astute perceptions. He was exactly right. “Yes. Because you’re a child. But it’s also wrong of me not to explain everything. Danny, your father was violent. He hit me, and one night I was afraid he would kill me. So I ran away. And that’s how I came to live here.” She smiled at him, hoping to soften the blow.

  Danny didn’t smile back. He was silent for a long moment. “Since he was so mean and bad, then I have bad blood in me. That means I’ll grow up to be like him.”

  Cate grabbed his face and touched her nose to his. “No, it doesn’t. Don’t ever think that. Your father made choices, and those choices were bad. He wanted to be mean and hurtful.” She drew back. “And he still does.”

  “He does?”

  “Yes, Danny. You see, he took drugs and after I left, he kept on taking drugs. Then he made more bad decisions. Illegal decisions. He sold drugs and now he’s graduated to being a drug lord, and the police want to put him in jail.”

  “Mom.” Danny started picking at a piece of lint. “The teachers tell us that drugs ar
e bad for us. I didn’t know they made people mean.”

  “Yes, Danny, they do. And hateful and crazy. Those people will do anything to get more drugs. They’ll lie. Steal. Murder. I want you to promise me that you will never, ever take any drugs.”

  “I won’t.”

  “And if any big kids come to you and offer you drugs, you tell me or Sarah or Luke right away.”

  “I promise,” he said solemnly. “But, Mom, it would be better if I told Trent.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because he’s a cop. And he can arrest the bad guys and keep them away from little kids.”

  “That’s very true, Danny. I’m glad you see that.” She looked at her son, who was doing an extraordinary job of absorbing so much information.

  “Danny, I want to ask you a question.”

  “Okay.”

  “Do you feel safe when you’re around Detective Davis? Trent, I mean.”

  “I bet he’s the best cop ever. I want to be just like him someday.”

  “Wow. I didn’t know you thought that much of him.” She ruffled his hair. “That’s a good thing, because he’s promised to protect you and me from your father.”

  Danny straightened in his seat. “He thinks something bad is going to happen?”

  “I’m afraid it’s possible. You see, the man that we saw on our back porch was your father.”

  “Mom!” Danny’s eyes widened. “Why is he here?”

  “Trent tells me that he has a new name now and is the leader of a very dangerous drug gang. Trent and the Chicago police want to arrest him and all his gang members and put them in jail. They’ve come to Indian Lake to sell their drugs.”

  “How can Trent stop them?”

  “He needs our help, Danny. Yours and mine.”

  Instantly, Danny’s chest puffed up and he squared his shoulders. “Trent needs me to help him?”

  “He does.” The way that Danny was looking at her, she knew no action hero had ever had a more determined, fierce look in his eye. She was proud of her son. For the first time, she was seeing the man in the boy.

  “Trent has a plan, Danny, and we have to follow his rules to the letter. This is not a time for games. Trent fears that your father may try to kidnap you or me. Or both of us. You have to be careful. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Mother. I do,” he said, sounding too adult.

  Cate explained to Danny about their move to the apartment in Mrs. Beabots’s house, the new schedule for going to and from school, and that anytime he wanted to go anywhere, even to walk Beau around the block with Timmy, Sarah, Luke or Cate had to accompany him.

  “Promise you’ll do all these things?” Cate asked.

  Danny threw his arms around her neck. “Yes. I will. I don’t want any bad men to take me away from you. Ever.”

  “I don’t, either, Danny.”

  He sat back and was silent.

  “Have I frightened you too much, sweetie?” Cate asked.

  “No. It’s not that.”

  “Then what is it?” She held his hand. “Tell me.”

  “I was just thinking that I don’t really know what it’s like to have a dad, but I’ve been hoping—lately, I mean—that it’s good, like when I’m with Trent.”

  Cate pulled Danny into her arms and kissed the top of his head. “I think it would be just like that.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  A POLICE ESCORT to a wedding had never been on Cate’s bucket list. In fact, the entire idea was almost enough for her to decline going to Jack and Sophie’s wedding. Almost.

  Mrs. Beabots mentioned at least half a dozen times that she needed Cate or Trent—or both—to drive her there and back. Cate happily agreed. It was the least she could do for her friend who was putting herself at some risk to rent the fabulous apartment to Cate and Danny. Cate had to admit, though, she didn’t think any perpetrator would dare take on Mrs. Beabots. From what Cate had witnessed, nothing intimidated the woman. Her nerves were so steady, Cate was certain the octogenarian was capable of leading armies.

  Perfect. I’m in the war of my life. I need a general like her. And an archangel like Trent.

  Whether it was Mrs. Beabots’s influence or her air of imperviousness, Cate didn’t know, but since moving into the big Victorian house and spending more time with Mrs. Beabots, Cate actually felt bold, if not brazen.

  At moments, she imagined being courageous enough to spit in Brad’s eye if he showed up. She’d lived in fear for too long.

  As small a stand as it was, Cate wanted to go back to her natural blonde self and discard her brown contacts completely.

  The session at the hairdresser was a strategic maneuver. She had to clear it with Trent.

  “I’ll be there four hours,” Cate had told Trent on the phone.

  “What kind of barber is that?”

  “I’m having my color done,” was all she’d said. She didn’t want him to know what she was doing because this was about her. About being Susan and Cate at the same time. She couldn’t believe any man would understand.

  “Cate, we had a report earlier that Le Grande was spotted at the toll road booth. They’ve got our APB flyers with his photograph. I’m on my way to check it out. I’ll have one of my best men watching you.”

  “He can come inside and sit with me if he wants.” Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t keep the quaver from her voice.

  “As long as I know where you are, and that we have you in plain sight, I’m okay with that. How about you?”

  “I wish Brad was behind bars.”

  “So do I. Look, since you’ll be a while, I’ll tell my man to pack a lunch.”

  * * *

  AS IT TURNED OUT, the session took four and half hours to get her expertly highlighted and low-lighted.

  What she had to ask herself, as she got in her car and checked her reflection in the visor mirror, was whose skin was she more comfortable in? The old Susan? Or the new Cate? Before she had a moment to dwell on her thoughts, her cell phone pinged with a text message.

  “Danny.” She smiled as she always did whenever she thought of her son.

  Danny had been instructed by Trent and Cate to have his teacher text her when he was ready to leave school. If she was in the vicinity, she would pick him up. Otherwise, Trent would meet him at the school yard and take him to the police station.

  Today, Cate had finished both work and her hair just in time. She texted him.

  Stay inside the school. I’m on my way. Five minutes.

  She pulled away from the curb, reflexively glancing in the rearview mirror. Earlier, Trent had texted her that Brad had indeed been seen at the toll road, but he was on his way out of town. This time he was in a Cadillac SUV. The black Mercury had been abandoned. However, this was a white Malibu she knew to be an unmarked Indian Lake police car.

  Four minutes later, she pulled up to the school. She texted Danny to come out.

  “Hi, Mom!” Danny waved as he raced toward the car, then slammed to a halt as he looked at her. He nearly toppled over. He rushed toward the driver’s door. His hands splayed on the window. “Mom. What did you do to your hair?”

  She lowered the window and he backed up, inspecting her with very critical eyes.

  “Do you like it? It’s for the wedding tonight.”

  Danny gaped. “It’s—different. But you still look pretty.”

  “That’s good.” She smiled. “Notice anything else?”

  “You’re not wearing your brown lenses! Our eyes match now!” he gasped.

  “They do,” she agreed. “I’m not going to wear them anymore. I thought they’d make me look older and that people would trust me more. Kinda dumb, huh?” She jerked her shoulder.

  “I’ve been noticing that adults
do a lot of dumb things,” he said, sighing.

  “They do,” she replied. “Get in. We have to get ready.”

  Danny climbed in the backseat and buckled himself in. “I gained another pound, Mom.”

  Cate couldn’t stop the guffaw. Here they were in the most tension-filled time of their lives, and all Danny cared about was getting out of his child’s seat.

  “And so that would—”

  “Put me over the top, Mom,” he said forcefully.

  “Okay. You got me. I cave. When we get to Mrs. Beabots’s house, we’ll take the child seat out, but you still have to have a booster seat.”

  “Yes!” He raised his hands over his head. “I thought the day would never come.”

  Cate laughed. It felt good. “You are so dramatic.”

  “I know. I was thinking I should try out for the school Christmas pageant. Timmy said he thought I could get a part.”

  “How would he know?”

  “He’s been a shepherd three years running. He wants to be a wise man because he’s getting old.”

  Cate’s eyes flew to the rearview mirror. Danny was looking out the window, serious eyes trained on nothing in particular. She wished to heaven he would stop growing up so fast.

  “Do you think I’ll fit in my suit?” Danny asked. “After all, I am taller than I was when we bought it last summer.”

  “If the pants are too short, you can wear those new black ones we got. Those will look good with the navy jacket. And you haven’t gotten so big that it won’t fit,” she assured him.

  “Good.”

  “So, what’s the sudden concern with how you look?”

  Danny’s face spun from the window and glared at her in the rearview mirror. “Mom. Are you kidding? This is important!”

  “How’s that?”

  He looked at her like she was an alien. “Mom,” he said in that indulgent tone that made her feel completely uncool. “It’s my first wedding. I think Mr. Carter is so super. He came to our school and talked about not taking drugs. And Miss Sophie. She was with him. She’s a very important nurse. Dr. Barzonni told me so. Besides, my friends are going to be there, and they’ll be all dressed up, too.”