Page 35 of Silent Deception
“This is Kristin. Tell Ryan I found Cody walking home. I’ll have a talk with him about not running off like this, I promise you.”
“Uh...good. That’s good.” He ended the connection abruptly, leaving her to wonder at the odd note in his voice.
The Gallaghers were all probably thinking Cody was impulsive and undisciplined, but that didn’t matter now. All that mattered was seeing her son ahead. If he’d tried to cut across the pastures... She shuddered, imagining rattlers and scorpions and envisioning him lost through the heat of the day.And it’s my fault,she said to herself as she pulled to a stop.He didn’t want to come over here, and I made him anyway.
She rolled down the electric window on the passenger’s side and leaned across the seat. “Hey, buddy—need a lift?”
He stopped walking, but he kept his eyes forward, his hands clenched tight at his sides. She could see dusty tracks down his cheeks where he’d been crying, and without a ball cap to shade his face, his nose was already turning pink.
Without a word, he climbed into the truck and fastened his seat belt.
“Kind of a warm day for a hike, isn’t it?” She checked the odometer. “You walked a whole mile and a half, honey.”
He made some sort of unintelligible sound in response.
“You know that the Gallaghers have been looking for you? They’ve been searching all of their barns and corrals in case you went hunting for those kittens. When Ryan called me a few minutes ago, he was worried about you.” She considered how much she should say. “It was very nice of them to ask you to come over, and it was wrong of you to just take off like that.”
He stared out the side window as if he didn’t even hear her.
“If you don’t think this is a problem, maybe we’ll need to look at grounding you for a while.” When he still didn’t respond, she added, “And that would include riding and video games. I’m sorry, but—”
The cell phone on the seat jingled, and she grabbed it on the second ring.
“Kristin? This is Ryan. Garrett tells me you found Cody.”
“On his way home, without a word to any of you. I’m really sorry.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line, and then Ryan cleared his throat. “I’ve been talking to Garrett. I need to talk to you privately. Can I stop by your place in a half hour or so?”
A lecture, perhaps, on her lack of parenting skills? A tactful discussion regarding the end of any further visits to the Four Aces? “Sure. Why not.”
There’d been a time when her world had revolved around Ryan Gallagher, but what he thought about her didn’t really matter. Not anymore.
The sooner they got this little discussion over, the better.
* * * *
KRISTIN SENT CODY ONup to his room until lunch, then settled in at her newspaper-covered dining-room table with her shoebox of acrylic paints.
She’d just opened the container of midnight blue when she heard heavy footsteps on the porch steps and a familiar voice calling her name.
“Come on in,” she said, selecting a brush from the assortment soaking in a Mason jar. She dried it against a paper towel and dipped it in the paint, then began touching up the shadows on the bluebonnets she’d painted around the edge of a weathered board.
Maybe Ryan had some things to say, but she didn’t need to give him her full attention.
He walked through the living room to join her at the table. “Nice,” he said, as he studied the sign. “I’d forgotten this place was called Cedar Grove Farm. I don’t think there’s been a name sign out on the road for years.”
“There is one—but it’s old and faded and hidden by some scrub cedars.” She touched up another flower, then held the brush aloft. “But I’m sure you didn’t come over to check out my beginner artwork.”
He frowned, a muscle in his jaw flexing. “It’s about Cody. We need to talk.”
Sighing inwardly, she set her brush aside, and capped her jar of paint. “And?”
“I thought it strange that Cody took off like he did, because I knew he’d been looking forward to some extra football practice.” Ryan cleared his throat. “I feel much of this is my fault, really. If I hadn’t had those phone calls to make before noon...”
This wasn’t what she’d expected at all, and a sixth sense sent a chill across her skin. She glanced toward the stairs leading up to the bedrooms, where Cody might still be able to overhear, then nodded toward the kitchen. “Maybe we should go in there to talk.”
She bustled over to the coffeemaker and started a pot brewing, while Ryan stood looking out the windows by the kitchen table, his thumbs hooked in his back pockets.
