Read Online The Forgotten Girl by David Bell - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: David Bell
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my job. Pretty typical stuff for a couple at a certain point. Nobody cheated. Nobody did anything weird. We just . . . kind of lost our way. We’ve been doing better back here in Ednaville. Who’d have thought it . . . Ednaville is for lovers. I’m not sure if having a kid would have made our marriage troubles better or worse.”
“I don’t know,” Sierra said. “Mom acts like you guys are the perfect couple.”
“Hardly. But we figured it out. We’re still kind of figuring it out, but it’s good. We love each other. That’s all that counts. And I think you have plenty of time to figure out if you want kids or not,” Jason said. “But we’re glad you’re staying with us.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Because you didn’t seem that cool with it last night. You looked at Mom like she was throwing a grenade into your lap.”
“You’re an only child, right?” Jason asked.
“Sure.”
“Imagine if you did have a sibling, and you hadn’t seen that sibling for five years, and then she just shows up on your porch. Out of the blue. Would that freak you out a little?”
“Point taken,” Sierra said. She looked around. More families were arriving. Fathers carried multiple ice-cream cones and stacks of napkins. Mothers wiped at faces and shirts while thekids squirmed and fussed, their voices squeaky and thin. “I missed this whole scene when I was growing up. Dad was gone when I was five. Mom was . . . You know how Mom was.” She started gathering up their wrappers. Before she could take them away, her phone dinged. She quickly put the trash down.
Jason waited, watching Sierra as she read the screen.
“It’s from Mom,” she said.
Sierra kept staring, as though it was a long message. She raised her index finger to her mouth and started nibbling on the nail. Jason tried to keep quiet, but finally he couldn’t wait anymore.
“What does it say?” he asked.
Sierra turned the phone around so Jason could read the message.
Remember—I love you, baby!Always!
Chapter Eight
Jason drove with no destination in mind. He considered going home but decided that Nora was right and what Sierra needed more than anything else was distraction. She didn’t speak as they drove away from the Owl and back toward downtown. She stopped commenting on passing sights. She didn’t say anything. She pulled her feet up onto the seat and stared out the window, her fingernail in her mouth again.
“Do you want to see the house your mom and I grew up in?” Jason asked.
“Always,” Sierra said.
“You’ve always wanted to see it?”
“Why did she say ‘always’?” Her voice was hollow. She kept her head turned away from Jason. “It would be one thing if she just wrote and told me that she loved me. She does that kind of stuff all the time. But why did she say she’d
always
love me? Isn’t that what you say to someone when you think you’re never going to see them again?”
Jason couldn’t dismiss Sierra’s concerns. When he saw the text, he too thought it sounded like a farewell. If Hayden had ended up in some kind of danger, some situation she wasn’t going to be able to get out of on her own, then why not ask for help inthe text? Why not dial 911? And if she wasn’t in danger, what did the message mean? Had she chosen some other path in her life, one that Sierra couldn’t be a part of?
“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” he said. “She probably just meant it like a regular ‘I love you.’”
Sierra whipped her head around. “I think we should go to the police. I think she’s in danger.”
Danger?
Jason thought.
Or trouble?
There was a huge difference between the two.
“Hold on now,” Jason said. He had made two turns away from downtown, and they were now on Park Street, heading into the residential neighborhood where he had lived as a child. “We have no reason to get the authorities involved. I think you’re just nervous and worried, and that’s fine. But what
“I don’t know,” Sierra said. “Mom acts like you guys are the perfect couple.”
“Hardly. But we figured it out. We’re still kind of figuring it out, but it’s good. We love each other. That’s all that counts. And I think you have plenty of time to figure out if you want kids or not,” Jason said. “But we’re glad you’re staying with us.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Because you didn’t seem that cool with it last night. You looked at Mom like she was throwing a grenade into your lap.”
“You’re an only child, right?” Jason asked.
“Sure.”
“Imagine if you did have a sibling, and you hadn’t seen that sibling for five years, and then she just shows up on your porch. Out of the blue. Would that freak you out a little?”
“Point taken,” Sierra said. She looked around. More families were arriving. Fathers carried multiple ice-cream cones and stacks of napkins. Mothers wiped at faces and shirts while thekids squirmed and fussed, their voices squeaky and thin. “I missed this whole scene when I was growing up. Dad was gone when I was five. Mom was . . . You know how Mom was.” She started gathering up their wrappers. Before she could take them away, her phone dinged. She quickly put the trash down.
Jason waited, watching Sierra as she read the screen.
“It’s from Mom,” she said.
Sierra kept staring, as though it was a long message. She raised her index finger to her mouth and started nibbling on the nail. Jason tried to keep quiet, but finally he couldn’t wait anymore.
“What does it say?” he asked.
Sierra turned the phone around so Jason could read the message.
Remember—I love you, baby!Always!
Chapter Eight
Jason drove with no destination in mind. He considered going home but decided that Nora was right and what Sierra needed more than anything else was distraction. She didn’t speak as they drove away from the Owl and back toward downtown. She stopped commenting on passing sights. She didn’t say anything. She pulled her feet up onto the seat and stared out the window, her fingernail in her mouth again.
“Do you want to see the house your mom and I grew up in?” Jason asked.
“Always,” Sierra said.
“You’ve always wanted to see it?”
“Why did she say ‘always’?” Her voice was hollow. She kept her head turned away from Jason. “It would be one thing if she just wrote and told me that she loved me. She does that kind of stuff all the time. But why did she say she’d
always
love me? Isn’t that what you say to someone when you think you’re never going to see them again?”
Jason couldn’t dismiss Sierra’s concerns. When he saw the text, he too thought it sounded like a farewell. If Hayden had ended up in some kind of danger, some situation she wasn’t going to be able to get out of on her own, then why not ask for help inthe text? Why not dial 911? And if she wasn’t in danger, what did the message mean? Had she chosen some other path in her life, one that Sierra couldn’t be a part of?
“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” he said. “She probably just meant it like a regular ‘I love you.’”
Sierra whipped her head around. “I think we should go to the police. I think she’s in danger.”
Danger?
Jason thought.
Or trouble?
There was a huge difference between the two.
“Hold on now,” Jason said. He had made two turns away from downtown, and they were now on Park Street, heading into the residential neighborhood where he had lived as a child. “We have no reason to get the authorities involved. I think you’re just nervous and worried, and that’s fine. But what
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