Page 16 of Two Hearts' Accidental Heroes

Eric had been right. Mrs. Weldon appeared to care deeply about her daughter, judging by the look of concern on her face. “Shanna has been so rebellious, you know. She’s always been a daddy’s girl, and I’ve had so much trouble getting through to her. She won’t talk to Anya either. You’re right, Rick. Something is wrong, but I can’t get her to open up.”

“There’s more,” he admitted gruffly.

She paused before turning on the coffee pot.

“I rode my bike the night before last to Dragonfly Pointe, the same day I saw her at the school parking lot,” Rick said. “Shanna was there, listening to the concert, alone and just soaking in the water. When she stepped out, she had bruises all along her arms and around her wrists. Later, when I walked her home, I noticed that she had bruises inside her thighs too. She was wearing that really short skirt that she had on earlier, but I’d given her a towel when she got out of the water, so I didn’t notice right away.”

Mrs. Weldon had gone pale, holding her hand to her mouth. Finally, she whispered, “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you came here to let me know. There were things that I saw in the past that worried me and I didn’t want to admit that something terrible could be happening under my own roof. When Shanna started rebelling against her father, I was relieved. I thought that meant she was finally becoming her own person and had grown less starry-eyed about her so-called perfect father.”

Mrs. Weldon’s hand was shaking when she reached for a coffee cup, pouring some coffee into it.

Finally, she said, “I hope that this can stay between us—at least for now, Rick? I need to figure out the best way to approach Shanna away from her father.”

“Sure,” he replied. “I just couldn’t let it go.”

Reaching out, she squeezed his hand. “You’re a good kid. In fact, I’ve always been happy about Anya and Eric, although I do worry sometimes about how serious they are when they’re both so young.”

Rick nodded his understanding. “Mom and Dad feel that way too. But as long as the two of them are both hanging out with the family, they don’t say too much because they don’t seem to be trying to hide anything.”

“That’s how I look at it too. Thanks again, Rick,” she said as he headed toward the door.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, opening the door and heading outside, giving her a quick wave of his hand as he left.

It was only about six-fifteen when Rick got back on his bike, heading home. With any luck, no one would even know that he’d been gone since the earliest anyone got up during the summer was around seven.

When Rick reached the bike path and sped past the intersection, the car that he’d seen earlier no longer appeared to be there. Glancing down the street, he noticed that the other two vehicles were still parked at the end of the driveway.

He’d better take the bike path back to the house, he decided. It looked like someone was going to be watching the house throughout the day and not just at night.

But as he sped along the pathway on his bike, he realized that his absence hadn’t gone unnoticed when none other than Jake Loughlin came strolling up to him when he stopped and got off from his bike.

“Your brother and father are worried to death about you, Rick.” Jake looked at him sternly. “I hope that whatever you had to do was important?”

Rick was hesitant. He hated to betray a confidence, yet again, he was worried about Shanna and the fact that she was somehow being abused, apparently without her mother or her sister’s knowledge. He had no idea if he was right to be so suspicious of her father.

And since Rick would be leaving town, there would be no way to check up on her to see if her situation got better or not.

But it was as if Jake read his mind when he said, “I heard that you’ve been keeping an eye on Shanna Weldon.”

Rick frowned. “Says who?”

In an obvious effort to get Rick off the defensive, Jake held up a hand. “I’m not saying that I don’t think you should be. Someone needs to be looking out for her. She’s been out past curfew at Dragonfly Pointe more than once during the past year.”

Rick was still on guard.

That’s when Jake seemed to soften up. “Let me tell you something that not too many people know, Rick. I was abused by my dad while I was growing up and I don’t mean just physically, in terms of slaps and punches.”

Rick’s eyes went wide. “You don’t mean…”

Jake’s eyes met his. “I do. That’s why I’ve suspected that something might be going on with Shanna. Can you tell me anything at all without breaking a confidence?” He sighed. “I’m thinking that if you’re not here in town, I might need to follow up.”

“I just went to talk to her mom, and she didn’t seem to realize that it was that bad, although she’s known something was off. I think there might have been issues in the past, but from what she said, she thought that whatever had happened was behind them.”

Jake nodded, appearing thoughtful.

“What makes you think that she might have been abused?”

“The bruises that I saw on her the other night. They were pretty much everywhere, except on her face,” Rick admitted.

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