8
Sloane awoke to an email alert on her phone. This was it. She held her breath as she logged onto her student account. The final list of graduates was up. With her body shaking in excitement and her heart pounding, Sloane logged on and scrolled the long list of student ID numbers to find hers.
All her breath left her in a rush. It was there. She had earned her master’s degree in adolescent psychology. Now all she needed was a high school to take a risk and hire her as the school counselor. She had bookmarked web pages for twenty schools she was planning to apply to, but instead she pulled up the Internet and searched Keeneston High School. There, on her phone, was everything she had wished for.
The high school was small. It was beautifully placed on the outskirts of Keeneston among lush farmland. Horses looked over fences as boys played football to packed stands of parents, students, and townspeople. Sloane closed her phone. She wasn’t going to worry about it right then. She was going to brunch to celebrate her upcoming graduation.
Gabe waited as Draven strolled into Gabe’s office early in the morning. The police had just called. The college students were clear. They were on video camera at an all-night diner eating breakfast at the time of the shooting. So that left Draven, sporting a black eye and limping slightly.
“Your mother is a—”
Gabe cut him off. “Don’t finish that sentence.”
Draven snorted and then sneered at him. “You were my idol, and it’s so disappointing to learn your idol is the opposite of what you thought. You’re a disappointment. No better than any politician.”
“I’m not sorry. I love women, but I never abuse them. That’s where you’ve gone wrong. You should spoil them, pleasure them, and worship them. You don’t force them.” Gabe stood up and walked around the desk. He leaned against it, looking at Draven’s young face.
“And I certainly don’t shoot at the one person trying to help.”
“What are you talking about?” Draven asked, completely bored with the conversation already.
“Fine, pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. But listen to me, Draven.” Gabe handed him the thick packet he was holding. “You’d better watch your back or you’ll find out I don’t need anyone to fight for me. If you think my mom has a hard punch, wait until you see what I can do to you. And I won’t be a coward and send someone after you either. I’ll do it myself. Now, read this. It’s Idris and Suri’s proposal.”
Draven threw it onto the desk. “I want—”
Gabe had his hand wrapped around the knot of Draven’s tie and was hoisting him up before Draven knew what had happened. “And that’s the problem. It’s always about you, isn’t it? Well, this isn’t about you. It’s about your people and your country. Grow up. Take responsibility. Read the proposal. Make notes. We will discuss it tomorrow. Got it?” Gabe asked, accenting his question with a shake of Draven’s body before dropping him back into the chair.
“I’ve got it,” Drave said, his English heavily accented in his anger.
“You’ll be watched closely, Draven. If you want the world’s respect, you have to earn it. You need to do what is best for the people. Will you let me help you with that?” Gabe asked. It was so hard not to ruin him right there on the spot. Sloane had inspired Gabe to try to reform Draven, not destroy him. It’s what she wanted to do with her life, and it took courage to go that route.
Draven didn’t answer but simply gave a nod of his head. “I’ll look this over.”
“Let’s meet tomorrow morning to discuss your thoughts on it—just you and me. Then we can meet with the others after lunch. How does that sound?”
“Fine,” Draven said, pushing himself up from the chair.
Gabe wanted to talk to Sloane. He wanted her ideas on how to handle Draven. After all, he was only one or two years removed from adolescence, and you’d never guess that based on how he acted. Gabe got up and headed for the door only to stop. But then he’d have to tell her who he was. The urge to see Sloane had overridden his logic.
“Where are you off to this morning?”
Damn. His mom. She was worse than John Wolfe. He knew she was onto him.
“Running home to get some things,” Gabe answered as he kept walking down the hallway toward the door closest to the garage. He needed to borrow a car.
“You could always just invite her for dinner.”
Gabe didn’t answer as he closed the door on his mother.
“Tell me everything,” Dani whispered as she trapped Miss Lily in the Blossom Café right before lunch.
“Hmm?” Miss Lily blinked.
“You know what I’m talking about. You do know we have a security camera on the post of the gate, right?” Dani slid a still photo she had security print off for her. The black-and-white photo showed Miss Lily, ass up, over the side of the large garbage bin with each sister holding down a leg to prevent her from falling in.
“Sugar,” Miss Lily cursed. “Fine. I found a positive pregnancy test at Sophie and Nash’s wedding, and I thought it was Mila’s.”
“I wish it were,” Dani sighed, fighting off the illogical hope that somehow it could be. The desire for grandchildren had her feeling crazy. It was worse than baby brain when she was younger.
“You’re right. We didn’t find anything,” she said, sounding defeated. “We also didn’t find anything in Sydney’s trash before Robyn started barking. Dang little dog. Ahmed is right, she’s Satan’s spawn. She caught us almost immediately. We saw Deacon turn on the light and each of us grabbed a bag and sped away in the car. When we went through the trash, we didn’t find anything unusual. No pickles, no tubs of ice cream, no prenatal vitamins, no nothing.”
Miss Lily leaned closer. “We’re going to hit Riley’s house next. We know where the key is hidden,” Miss Lily whispered as Dani looked around at the group of friends sitting around the café. Matt and Riley were eating lunch with Sydney, Deacon, Sienna, and Ryan. One of Dani’s best friends, Tammy, had half of her kids in town. Her youngest child, Cassidy, who was twenty years old, had just returned from college right in time for the Rose sisters’ surprise birthday party. She sat at the table of married couples along with her sister, Piper, and her cousins, Greer Parker and Reagan Davies. Greer was Ryan’s younger sister. Reagan and Riley were twins.
“Let me know if you need a getaway driver,” Dani smiled and patted Miss Lily’s hand.
“Don’t say anything. We want to know even before John has any idea. I can’t wait to beat that old billy goat out on the biggest piece of gossip this town has had in years.” Miss Lily rubbed her hands together in gleeful anticipation of besting her husband.
“I promise,” Dani swore as she headed back to the tableful of her friends. One of them was about to become a grandmother. Dani let out a sigh. She had really hoped it was Mila, but since Dani had struggled with fertility herself, she felt for her son and daughter-in-law.
The café was full for lunch, and she was dying. Her stomach rolled and pitched. She broke out into a sweat as she tried to eat a bite of food. She set down her fork and sipped on her water. She pretended to listen to her friends, but her entire concentration was not giving into this morning sickness that was hitting way more than just in the morning.
“Excuse me,” she smiled at the table of friends and family as she calmly made her way to the bathroom, making sure to smile and stop to talk with people as she went. She didn’t want anyone to notice anything strange.
She closed the door to the bathroom and locked it. She fell to the floor and let the morning sickness come. She was clammy, hot, sweating, and miserable. Her body shook in the aftermath as she sat on the floor and wiped her mouth with toilet paper. How had this happened?
She rolled her eyes. Well, she knew how it had happened. But that didn’t stop her from asking this question multiple times a day. She was so embarrassed she hadn’t told anyone yet. She was old enough to know that by pretending that it didn’t happen didn’t mean that it would go away. The constant nausea made sure she never forgot.
She stood on wobbly legs as she splashed her face with cold water. She hated the term accident ,too. Yes, it was a bit of an accident. But that didn’t mean she didn’t already fiercely love the baby growing inside of her. She was ten weeks along now. She’d gone to the doctor as soon as that pregnancy test came back positive. She was taking care of herself and the baby. She just couldn’t bear the thought of the looks on people’s faces when she told them.
How was she to tell them? What would they think of her? Damn pregnancy hormones; she was already starting to cry. She pinched herself. She was going to be blessed with a child. That was nothing to cry over. So what if it wasn’t planned? So what if she thought she’d had a plan for the future? She looked at herself in the mirror. She could do this. She would do this. And she’d love this child with all her heart.