TEN DAYS AND COUNTING, Dakota thought. The August heat had become oppressive, unusual for this part of the country. Or maybe it was his mood. He missed Sid. He talked to her every evening, texted her when he could dream up something to say, sent her a picture of his newly repaired Jeep. He tried to stay upbeat and positive. But she’d said she’d be gone a few days, then a week or two. It took her hours to answer his texts and, more often than not, he had to leave a voice mail and she’d call him back late.
He was afraid he was losing her, afraid she wasn’t coming back.
That was tremendously difficult with all that was going on. Sunday dinner with the family had become dark and sad. Sierra and Connie were nursing broken hearts and would be for a long time to come.
On Monday he got a text from Stan asking him to stop by the police department when he had time. He braced himself for more bad news. That seemed to be the trend in his family right now.
“She’s gone, Dakota,” Stan said. “Apparently Neely decided this wasn’t her ideal place, after all.”
“How do you know?”
“We’ve been keeping an eye on her. Not surveillance exactly. But it seemed in everyone’s best interest to at least have her license number and home address. Seems like she skipped out on her lease a few days ago. She registered her new car in Dallas.”
“New car?” Dakota asked dumbly.
Stan just shook his head. “She had some cockamamy idea there was a GPS tracker on her car. Can’t imagine where she got such an idea.”
Dakota smiled in spite of himself. “Remind me not to doubt you again.”
“Why, thank you,” Stan said. “I’m not going to spend a lot of time following her movements. Angry as it makes me at the stuff she was capable of doing, and much as the good people of this town think I’m just on paid vacation, I do have real police work to do. I might have Tippin or Castor see if they can locate her in a few months. Just because.”
“Thanks,” Dakota said.
“If you see her around here, even at a safe distance, you best tell me. I think the woman has an evil streak.”
“Obviously,” Dakota said. “Trust me, if I see her coming, I’m running in the other direction. Now, you think you ran her off just by embarrassing her on some social media network?”
“Not exactly,” Stan said. “In fact, I doubt she has the capacity to be embarrassed. She’s really cold as ice, isn’t she? But the woman likes an audience for her stories and just about everyone around here is all done believing anything she says. Poor thing can’t even get a club soda at the bar down the street. She needed a fresh field to plow.”
“What the hell do you suppose she wants?”
“I bet she doesn’t even know what she wants. I suspect she enjoys keeping people off balance and the attention she gets from stirring things up. I suspect a personality disorder.”
“You ever run into anything like this before?” Dakota asked.
Stan laughed. “In law enforcement?” he asked. “Hell, boy, liars and troublemakers is just about all we got!”
When Dakota left the police department, he walked down the street to the bar. It was almost lunchtime and Rob was watching the bar. “How’s it going?” Dakota asked.
“Not bad. How about you?”
“Up and down. I just got some good news from Stan. It seems Neely has blown Dodge. Looking for new friends and playmates.”
“That is good news,” Rob said. “Something to drink? Eat?”
“How about a Coke,” he said. “Have you talked to Sid lately?”
“A couple of days ago. She sounded kind of tired.”
“But happy?” Dakota asked. “She sound happy to you?”
“I don’t know that I’d characterize it as happy. She did sound kind of, I don’t know, satisfied? I’m just guessing here, but I think that work makes her feel more self-confident than slinging drinks and packing lunches for the boys. Haven’t you talked to her?”
“Not as much as I’d like,” Dakota said. “I’m surprised. Busy as she was while she was here, she seemed to have plenty of time. Are they working her to death?”
“While they have her,” Rob said.
“And she likes that?” Dakota asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Rob said with a laugh.
“She said that kind of work overwhelmed her,” Dakota said. “She said she ran into big trouble not having balance. It takes her longer and longer to answer a text or call me back. I’m wondering if she’s coming back. Did she tell you she’s coming back?”
Rob leaned on the bar. “Dakota, I didn’t ask her.”
“Okay, I need a little enlightenment,” Dakota said. “I want her to be happy. I want her to have whatever she needs to be happy. But I’d sure like to know if I fit into that plan.”
“Ask her,” Rob said.
“Ask her to choose between computer programming or us?”
“Yeah, that was romantic,” Rob said. “It’s not computer programming exactly.”
“Then what is it? Exactly.”
Rob just stared at him for a long moment. “What do you know about Sid?” he finally asked.
“That she worked in computers. That she was overworked in computers. Writing code, she said. Software not hardware. That it could be intense and lonely. I guess I just don’t get why it had to be her for this project. Don’t they have plenty of programmers in California? This Faraday—he have a special interest in her?”
Rob looked at him in shock. Then he stuck his head in the kitchen. “Trace,” he yelled. When the boy came from the kitchen, Rob said, “Man the bar. Do not serve alcohol. I’ll only be ten minutes.”
“Okay,” Trace said.
“Dakota, my office. Come on through.”
Dakota followed. Rob’s office was very small. He had to move a chair out of the way to close the door. “Sit,” Rob told Dakota.
“Why do I get a bad feeling?”
Rob didn’t answer. “Listen, I don’t know why the two of you haven’t talked about this but Sid is special. She’s a genius.”
“I don’t have a problem believing that,” Dakota said. “She must be the best programmer in the west.”
“She’s a physicist. A PhD. A Rhodes scholar. She might be writing some code but it’s far more complicated and exceptional. They’re working on quantum computing, the sort of high-speed, complex, intuitive computing that can lead to artificial intelligence. The computer they’re working on is processing and analyzing DNA. It can process millions of pieces of information in seconds. Less than seconds. She can explain this much better, not that you’ll understand it any better than I do. Molecular genetic research will change the world, save lives, wipe out disease, and they’re creating and constantly refining the quantum computer that’s doing it. She’s working with a Nobel laureate. Do they have a lot of people with her qualifications? I don’t think so. She is so important in this field it’s mind-boggling.”
Dakota gulped. “Hang on,” he said. “Let me scrape my chin off the floor.” He shook his head as if to settle the pieces in place. “Man, look at what can happen when a kid is in an accident and can’t go out and play.”
“Nah, she was born that way. She has an IQ that puts a lot of geniuses to shame.”
“Now I really have no idea where this leaves me. Us.”
“I hate to break it to you but she was this smart way before she met you. She didn’t explain all that to you?” Rob asked.
“Not the way you did,” he said.
“Let me tell you what else she is,” Rob said. “A flesh and blood woman with a huge heart and a very soft center. Even geniuses can get their hearts broken. She has a very intimidating brain but around here people just think of her as Sid the bartender and they don’t treat her like she can’t be a friend, can’t be loved. She’s fun and funny and loyal. I didn’t kill the last man who used her and dumped her but I might kill the next one.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Dakota said. “I’d never hurt her.” Dakota stood. “Is there anything else I should know?”
“That should do it, I guess.”
Dakota grinned. “Damn, who knew I had such magnificent taste in women.”
“Yeah, who knew,” Rob said. But he wasn’t smiling.
* * *
Trace had been eavesdropping. Not exactly on purpose. Only for a minute. He had gone to fetch Rob because someone wanted a glass of wine with their lunch and he heard that little speech. He didn’t know all that about Sid. She’d helped him with physics but he just thought she was good at math. He hadn’t even suspected...
It had a pretty strange effect on him. Not the part about her being over-the-moon brilliant. About her being made of flesh and blood and feelings. He was pretty quiet the rest of the day. When he was done with work, he didn’t go straight home. He went to the diner. His mom was working.
“Well, hey there, Trace,” she said, smiling. “Do you want some dinner?”
“Nah, I ate something at the bar.”
“Going to play ball tonight?” she asked.
“Yeah, I might hit a few with some of the guys, if I can find anyone. So, I broke a promise.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I promised Tom I was going to talk to you about my worries about us all moving in together and I didn’t.”
“That’s okay, honey. He told me you two had talked. I thought you might get around to it eventually. We don’t want to rush you out of your comfort zone.”
“Yeah, that’s nice. I’m, like, the only one who still has a comfort zone. Sid’s off working in California, Dakota misses her, Rob really misses her—he’s working some long hours and so am I. Sierra... I don’t even want to think about Sierra...”
“She’s in a lot of pain,” Lola said. “They love that baby.”
“So I was thinking about stuff. I think it’s nice of Tom to make sure I feel okay about things. And to offer me space in his house. And I think it would make you really happy.”
“Only if you’re there, Trace. If you decide to try to live with your dad, I’m worried it would be a strain on you. And I’d just miss you too much.”
“No, I’m not going to live with him. Why would I go live with a guy who can’t even make it to one of my baseball games? You or Tom or both of you made it to almost every one this year. Look, Mom...I think I was being a little selfish. I guess we’ll all have some adjustments but you found yourself a good guy. I think he’ll take good care of you.”
“What are you saying, Trace?” she asked with a slight frown.
“I want you to be happy, Mom. Let’s do it. Let’s move in together.”
“It’s important that you be happy, too,” she said.
“Yeah, I know, Mom. I appreciate it. Pretty soon I’m going to have to stop expecting my mother to take care of me being happy all the time.”
She got that look on her face, like she was very touched and might cry. “I’ll always do everything I can to make you happy.”
“I’m going to miss our house,” he said.
“Maybe for a little while,” she said. “But I bet we have some good times at Tom’s house. Last time we all got together, you and Cole and Jackson hung out around the fire pit and it sure sounded like you were having a good time.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Mom? Did you know Sid is, like, a genius?”
Lola lifted her eyebrows. “In my mind she was if she could help you with physics. I stopped being able to help you with math years ago.”
“The things you don’t know about people, huh?”
“Who told you that?” she asked.
“Oh, I kind of overheard it, so maybe we shouldn’t spread it around.” And his cheeks took on a pink stain.
Lola looked at him slyly, smirked and said, “Gotcha.”
* * *
Sam had been gone for a week and Sierra had cried her heart out every day. The day after he left she went to Mrs. Jergens’s house with a box of toys he liked to play with and it looked like everything was working out for them. The cousin, Sandy, seemed pleasant and thoughtful. And Sam waved his arms like propellers he was so excited to see Sierra, so she held him for a while.
She wasn’t sure if seeing him and holding him made her feel better or worse. She went back two days later, bringing an offering of brownies for the women and a bag full of baby food for Sam. Again he was excited to see her and she snuggled him so close he squeaked. The house was a little messy; perhaps Sandy was having a hard time keeping up. And Sierra cried all the way home.
She went again two days later. No one answered the door and she left disappointed, so she went back the very next day. She knocked and she could hear Sam crying so she stayed at the door. She had cookies this time and a couple of new teething rings for Sam. She knocked again and again; Sam continued to cry.
She’d played this scenario in her mind but she thought she was just kidding herself, that it was never going to happen, but what was she to do if she found him hurt or neglected? She wasn’t the child welfare department. But she would call the social worker or the police, if she had to, and that would guarantee that Mrs. Jergens would never let her in the door again.
She knocked again and the door swung open. “Mrs. Jergens!” she gasped. The woman looked bloody awful and was leaning on a walker. “What’s the matter?”
“I’m having a hard day.”
“Let me help with Sam,” Sierra said, pushing her way gently past the older woman and walking into an extremely messy house. “Where’s Sandy?” Sierra asked on her way to the bedroom where Sam’s crib was kept.
“Who knows,” Mrs. Jergens said.
Sierra thought about that walker. How do you carry a baby with a walker? And if you need a walker, does that mean that without the use of it you could fall? Hurting yourself and the baby?
Sam was sitting up in his crib, crying pitifully, his face wet with tears and snot. “Oh, sweet boy, what’s wrong, huh? Come here, it’s okay, come here...” She lifted him into her arms and held him close. She kissed his neck. He didn’t smell very good. And he was wet. “Let’s get you fixed up. Are you hungry? We can fix that, too, yes, we sure can.” She cooed to Sam as she put him on the changing table—a rickety changing table—and took off his sagging, soggy diaper. “Oh, honey, that’s better. Let’s clean that up and get you comfortable.”
Sierra cleaned his bottom and put some diaper rash ointment on him. She cleaned his face with a fresh wipe, put a new dry diaper on him and a shirt, though she couldn’t find a clean one. Or maybe it was just an old, stained shirt, but she didn’t think so. With Sam on her hip, she went back to the living room. Sierra looked around—the kitchen was a mess of dirty dishes and glasses, shoes and clothing and other debris such as magazines, food wrappers, disposable diapers rolled up and taped closed, empty soda cans and all the rudiments of living scattered everywhere. Mrs. Jergens’s medication sat on the table beside the couch. Not exactly babyproof. Thank goodness Sam wasn’t walking yet.
“Mrs. Jergens, he has a diaper rash. It looks kind of bad. What’s going on? Where’s Sandy?”
“She said she needed a break, asked me for forty dollars and left.”
“Good Lord!”
“Two days ago,” Mrs. Jergens added.
“My gosh, how did you manage?”
“It wasn’t exactly easy,” she said. “And now I’m in so much pain from lifting and carrying the baby yesterday I can hardly move today.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” she asked.
“I was fine. I thought she’d come back. Just take him. Take him,” she said with a wave of her hand. “He won’t stop crying, anyway.”
Sierra was stunned for a second. Then her heart began to pound. Then she felt genuine terror. “And so in a couple of weeks you’ll change your mind again? And come without warning to snatch him away again?”
“I doubt it,” she said drily.
“Or you’ll find another cousin...”
“Definitely not that,” she said.
Sierra thought about it for a second. She wondered if she just snatched Sam with the clothes on his back, if she could get away and never be found. And have a baby without Connie?
She prayed. God, I have never in my life needed You this much. God, I am powerless. This is in Your hands.
She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her brother Cal. He didn’t pick up. She texted him 911 and he called her back directly.
“Sierra?” he asked, worry in his voice.
“Cal, I came to Fairplay to visit Sam and found Mrs. Jergens in a terrible fix. Her caregiver and helper has run out on her, her house is upside down, she’s in too much pain to pick up the baby and she told me to just take him.”
“Do not,” Cal said emphatically. “Can you call the social worker?”
“I didn’t think to take her number.” She lowered her phone. “Mrs. Jergens, do you have Jeanne Blasette’s phone number?” Mrs. Jergens poked around in her purse and produced the card. “I have the number,” Sierra said.
“Give it to me,” Cal said. “I’ll call. Don’t take the baby home. Wait there for me. I just don’t want anyone to ever imply that you took him.”
“Can you hurry?” she asked with tears in her voice. “I don’t know if he’s okay. He’s just lying on my shoulder...”
“Do you need an ambulance?” Cal asked in a breathless voice. She could tell he was on the move. She heard his car door slam and the engine of his car start.
“Let me find out from Mrs. Jergens what he’s eaten. I’ll call an ambulance if I need one.”
Cal got the address from Sierra, said he was on his way and disconnected.
“The only person needs an ambulance is me,” Mrs. Jergens said.
“When did Sam eat last?”
“He had a bottle a couple hours ago,” she said.
“How long ago since he was changed?” Sierra asked.
“He hasn’t been starved or neglected but after yesterday I was in too much pain to pick him up, so I changed him in the crib, gave him a bottle in the crib and that’s the best I could do today. That damn Sandy! I should’ve known! Those people were always irresponsible!”
“So he hasn’t been held? Since yesterday?”
“But he was taken care of!” she said. “Just go and leave me alone.”
Sierra stepped outside the house and took a deep breath of fresh air. Sam wrapped himself around her like a little monkey. She walked up and down the sidewalk between her car and the front door and just hummed to him. And cried.
She called Connie. “Oh, Connie, I’m in Fairplay at the Jergens house. I have Sam. She told me to just take him!” Then she explained what she had found and that Cal was on his way. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way home and you can meet us.”
It was almost thirty minutes before Cal pulled up but right behind him was Jeanne Blasette. Cal went to Sierra immediately, pulling her and Sam into his arms. “I talked to her lawyer,” Cal said. “The adoption process hasn’t been stopped but he recommended she sign a short statement saying she turned the baby over to you. Jeanne and I will witness it.”
“Are you all right, Sierra?” Jeanne asked.
“Not really,” Sierra said. “Can I take him home?”
“Give me one second,” Jeanne said. She nearly ran up the walk to the front door and opened it. She didn’t even go inside but just talked to Mrs. Jergens. Then she was back. “I’d like you to take Sam to the doctor. I’m sure he’s fine, but just to take precautions, have him looked over. Your brother and I will finish this business together. It will be all right.”
“But she still has every right to call it all off,” Sierra said.
“We’re just going to take this one day at a time,” Jeanne said. “I think I can honestly say that everyone involved wants Sam to be in your safe and loving home.” Then she leaned close and said, “Mrs. Jergens can’t do it. She wants to and can’t. Treat her with mercy. But take Sam and go now.”
Cal nodded in agreement.
* * *
Connie was waiting for her when she arrived at the urgent care office with Sam. Dr. Culver, all calm and beautiful, took them all right back to an exam room, but Sierra was not letting go of the baby, her son.
“Tell me what happened,” Dr. Culver asked, while slowly and gently pulling Sam to her. He whimpered at being parted from Sierra, but she stayed close while she described what she had found. While Sierra talked, Dr. Culver took off Sam’s shirt, listened to his heart, his chest, looked in his mouth and his ears.
“He’s all right, Sierra,” she said. “He’s a little upset. Let me get you a dry diaper.” She opened the exam room door and spoke to someone and a disposable diaper appeared. “Is that two wet diapers in the last hour?” she asked.
“He was soaked when I got there.”
“He’s certainly not dehydrated,” she said with a small laugh. “Keep putting this cream on him until the rash is gone.” Dr. Culver flipped that wet diaper off and the clean one on like an old pro. “You’re going to be fine, aren’t you, Sam. You want your mommy.”
Sierra reached for him, but the second he was secure in her arms, he reached for Connie.
“He’s kind of stinky,” Sierra said.
“He needs a bath,” Connie said.
“And clean clothes.”
“Did you bring anything out of there?” Connie asked.
“It was so messy and dirty I didn’t want anything.”
“Good,” Connie said. “We start fresh.”
“He’s got a sad look in his eyes,” Sierra said. “I think he was left to cry.”
“Take him home,” Dr. Culver said. “Clean him up and hold him. When he smells your house and his sheets and is back in familiar territory, he’ll be his old self.”
Sierra told Connie she wanted a quiet day, just the three of them. Texts kept coming in, asking if everyone was all right. They tried to hold off on visitors but it was impossible. First it was Maggie and Elizabeth, then Cal came over to check on them, then Rafe and Lisa, then Sully. In no time at all Sam was laughing and playing and being licked by Molly over and over, like she was checking to make sure he was all right.
The only one not present was Dakota, who Cal reported had left town suddenly. On a mission.
* * *
Dakota was able to get on the campus, no problem. He even located a campus map; it just wouldn’t tell him where Sid was. He texted her. What building are you working in?
Why?
I’m here, but I don’t know where you are.
You’re here?
I’m stalking you. Can you give me ten minutes?
She gave him the building number and name of the building and told him he should just park in front—she’d come down to meet him. Once he got there, he could see why. There was limited parking and entry required an ID badge. Upon closer inspection of the large glass-and-steel front doors, there was a keypad and key slide for entry there, as well.
The students around this group of buildings looked a little different. They were older, for one thing. Instead of shorts and flip-flops, they were wearing slacks and shirts. He pushed his sleeves up and leaned back against his rented car.
“You can’t park here, sir,” a security officer on a bike told him.
“I’m not parking,” he said. “I’m waiting for my girlfriend.”
“Then you can’t wait here,” he said.
Just then, Sid came out. She was dressed like one of the older students—pressed tan pants, white shirt, leather flats, hair in a bun. Her ID badge hung on a lanyard around her neck. In fact, there were several ID badges. He stood from his leaning position.
“Cody?” she asked, totally perplexed. And to the security guard, she said, “It’s okay, Gary. He’s with me.”
“Okay, Dr. Shandon,” the young man said, riding off on his bike.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
He opened his arms. “Is that any way to greet an old lover?”
She stepped into his arms. “You’re not that old.”
He burrowed his lips into her neck. “I had to see you. Had to. Kiss me.”
“In front of all these people?” she asked, looking around. There were only a few people, all walking with a purpose to their next destination or to the parking lot.
“You can give me a more meaningful kiss later, but for now...” He kissed her lips and tried to keep it brief and discreet. “Sid, I’m proud of you,” he said. “I love you and I’m proud of you.”
“What’s this all about, Cody?”
“You didn’t really explain what you were doing here,” he said. “Your brother did. This isn’t just some computer programming, as you led me to believe. This is mind-blowing, futuristic, world-changing, quantum computing. And here you’re Dr. Shandon.”
She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling. “Do you know what quantum computing is?”
“It’s not bartending, for one thing. There was a part of me that thought you were running away from me, but you weren’t. You were running to your field of study, at which, I’m led to believe, you are one of the rare experts. I thought you were having a fling with Dr. Faraday.”
She chuckled. “He’s seventy-four and has a lovely wife and many smart grandchildren.”
“And this stint—this consulting job. You’ve been working so hard. How does it feel?”
“Important,” she said. “Vital. Valued. They needed me and I was useful. Taking a break and going to Colorado to get my footing in life was a good idea. Doing this work is also a good idea.”
Dakota shook his head. “How did that idiot you were married to ever let you get away?”
“He said I was dull. Antisocial, boring, incredibly flat in the personality department and arrogant.”
“God,” Dakota said with an incredulous laugh. “You are none of those things! You’re social, exciting, interesting and, if anything, self-effacing. When did you get your PhD?”
“Six or seven years ago. Or eight,” she added.
His hands were on her hips. Her hands on his arms, looking up into his eyes. “You’re the most exciting woman I know. I never once heard you mutter the words doctor or scientist or Nobel.”
“Well, I certainly was never considered for that!” she said.
“If you’re so boring and unappealing, why do I just want to get you naked right this minute?”
“Shh,” she said, but she laughed. “You are a very strange man, Mr. Jones. Who ever heard of wanting to make love to a geek?”
“I bet Mrs. Gates does it all the time.”
“Is this why you’re here? To tell me I’m not boring to you?”
“Yes. No. To tell you I’m proud of you, proud of the sacrifices you’ve made to do something this important. And to tell you I’ll support you. If you’ll have me. If you need to be here in LA, I’ll come to LA. If you need to live here to do your work, I can live here. The important thing is that you know I respect your dedication and I’m behind you.”
“Our families are in Colorado...”
“I know—quick flight. But I checked, Sid. There’s no world-famous quantum computing lab in Timberlake. If this fulfills you, you should do it. It’s about time the seas parted for you. I can be happy anywhere if I’m with you.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment that stretched out.
“And if you don’t want a man in your life, you have to say so. Or if you just don’t want a specific man following you around, say, for example, me, you tell me. Just say you don’t want me and I’ll go. I’ll probably be terrible about it... It could kill me, now that I think about it... But...”
“Cody, I’ve never wanted anyone in my life the way I want you,” she said. “And I don’t want to be in LA. I may come back here to this lab if I’m needed, if it’s convenient, but two weeks away from you is way too long. My heart has been aching for you. If you’re happy in Colorado, that would be perfect for me.”
“What about this, Sid? This is important work and you love it.”
“It is and I do. But there are research and development labs in Colorado that would be happy to have me. We could be close to Timberlake. We could talk about us.”
“You ready for that?”
“Yes. I’m in love with you, too. Couldn’t you tell?”
“I wanted to believe that’s what I felt. Will you let me spend the night tonight? Then tomorrow I’ll get out of your hair...”
“You can spend the night, and then tomorrow let’s both get back home. Together.”
“Just to be clear, I want to marry you, Dr. Shandon. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I’ve never wanted anything so much. Will you say yes?”
“I’ll absolutely marry you. I’ll have to. It’s the only way I can keep all the women back.” She got on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. “I want you all to myself.”
“I think we’re definitely on the same page.” He hugged her close.
“Am I going to have you all to myself or are we still being harassed by Neely?”
“Nah, Neely has found greener pastures. Oh, so much has happened in the two weeks you’ve been gone, it’s mind-boggling. I have a lot to tell you. Then we can go home and help celebrate all the happy endings.”
“Mine will be the happiest of all,” she said.