Page 28 of The Fear
He got lonely sometimes, no denying that. A woman he could trust…
Not that that was going to happen.
Most women around Barratt County hit the road the instant they realized he shared two kids with Jessica Curtis. His ex had a reputation around here with other women and it wasn’t positive at all. And being with Jessica showed a serious lack of judgment on his part. He’d even had a woman tell him that six months after he and Jessica had split.
He’d fallen for the hot body and theskillin the bedroom. Before he’d realized how stupid he’d been, they’d had two kids—and she’d had two other guys on the side. After they’d split, she’d remarried in two weeks.
That marriage had lasted all of seven months, until Jessica had been found out cheating onhim,too.
Jessica just couldn’t keep out of other men’s beds.
Ifthiswoman in front of him was a virgin, though—it wouldn’t have shocked him at all. Hala Hanan just had thatpurekind of air about her. In his next life…he hoped he deserved a woman like her.
“You’re here early today, Miss Wynnie. I’m glad to see you. I was needing someone to help me with the shelves.” She waved a hand to a shelf stacked with wooden toys. There were a dozen more toys on the floor.
“I like helping with the shelves. Can my brother help, too?” Wynnie had dumped her backpack on a small desk that had a name tag with her name in big pink letters. Near the teacher’s desk.
“He sure can, if he wants. Can you show him how we do it?”
“Only for a minute, Wyn. I want to talk to your teacher then I have to take BJ to the sitter’s.” He had to make it clear to this woman that he wasn’t a total loser for a father. He sat BJ down on the floor and Wynnie took him by the hand. That was all it took—BJ followed his sister around everywhere. They were close, at least.
Then he turned back toher.
Big, beautiful dark eyes were watching him. She had the pinkest lips of any woman he had ever seen. For the first time in a long while, Brenton didn’t know what to say to a woman at all.
“Hello again, Deputy Ryce. How are you this morning?”
“Has…she been telling you her mother doesn’t give her breakfast?” the words just came out. Far harsher than he intended. Wynnie’s teacher stepped back quickly. A look of fear went through the big brown eyes. Making him feel like a damned toad. “Excuse me, I didn’t mean to be rude. Wynnie told me this morning you’re giving her fruit because her mother hasn’t been giving her breakfast. I’m trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on. I buy the kids breakfast foods every week and make sure Jessica has them. And she was supposed to be filling the lunch account. I just found out she wasn’t last week.”
“I have fruits and small snacks for the kids in the Early Birds program. The school provides them from a federal grant. Some kids need a little extra, and some kids are just hungry by thetime they get here. Some have an hour bus ride. Wynnie isn’t the only one. I handle the Early Birds every Tuesday and Thursday morning in the cafeteria now. Is there something you don’t want Wynnie to have?”
“No. I just want to make sure their mother is actually feeding them for once. Jessica…can be a bit neglectful, but I can’t seem to get the judges around here to give me custody. No matter what Jessica does.”
She just looked at him, wet her lips nervously. And waited.
Hell, what was he supposed to say now?
19
Hala had had a long day.Elanna, the school’s other kindergarten teacher, hadn’t been feeling well. She’d tried to stick it out after lunch, but she’d obviously been turning green. Luis had put his foot down and sent herhome.
That meant Luis had called in a sub—his own younger sister, but until she’d been able to get there from Finley Creek, Hala had had forty kids in her classroom and only two teachers aids. She didn’t know how teachers who had that many kids on a regular basis with no help in some schools managed. They were saints, goddesses and gods, heroes. All of them.
She’d grabbed dinner from the diner—take-out, of course—and she was going to spend the rest of the nightsleeping.
It had been a really long week, and it was only half over.
She took her dinner out to her favorite part of the townhouse: her patio. Her last apartment in Finley Creek had been on the third floor. All she’d had was a two by four balcony with that one. And that had been knocked off in the tornado that had hit the city a few years ago. She loved her little outdoor space.
She’d decorated in bold, bright flower colors. Yellows, reds, and oranges mostly. Except…her pillows were missing. She’d put some waterproof pillows out there.
They were nowhere to be found.
It was possible the wind had blown them away, but…or maybe stray dogs?
She wasn’t going to think about it now. All she wanted to do was relax.
The sound of kids giggling drew her attention. There were three apartments behind her that had kids. Wynnie Ryce was one of those kids. The rest of the kids were all too young to be school-aged.
