A Wish For Love (Gates-Cameron 2)

He opened one of the little packages of white powder he had stored so carefully in his backpack. He needed something to warm him, to keep him going for another night. Something to help him think, help him plan.

He needed a plan if he was to have his revenge.

She hadn’t taken him seriously, and now she had to pay. Soon. If innocent bystanders happened to get in the way, they would pay with her.

Nothing mattered to him now. Nothing but the bittersweet vision of vengeance.

ON MONDAY EVENING, Bailey, Mae, Cara and Casey loaded into Dean’s car for the short ride to the Destiny Elementary School. The annual Fall Festival was to be held that night, and Casey was to sing with her fifthgrade class. She seemed delighted that Bailey and Mae wanted to attend. For the first time, Bailey saw the child so excited she was almost bouncing with energy.

“I hope I don’t mess up,” she fretted as Bailey pulled into the already-crowded parking lot of the school.

“You won’t mess up,” Cara assured her daughter patiently. “You’ve been practicing for weeks. You know these songs, honey.”

“What if I have to sneeze or something right in the middle?”

Mae chuckled and patted the girl’s cheek. “Then you just go right ahead and sneeze, sweetie. And do it with panache.”

“What’s pan—pan—”

“Panache,” Mae repeated. “Flair. Style. Cool, as you kids would say.”

“How can a sneeze be cool?” Casey asked, baffled.

Mae grinned. “Darling, cool is definitely in the eye of the beholder.”

“You’re confusing her, Aunt Mae,” Bailey said, turning off the engine. “You’ll do fine, Casey. I have full faith in you.”

“Thanks, Bailey.”

Cara looked even more nervous than her daughter as she gave her a final inspection before sending her backstage. Bailey thought the little girl looked adorable in her frilly pink dress, a matching pink bow restraining her white-blond curls. That now-familiar wistfulness gripped her as she watched Cara lean over to kiss her daughter’s cheek for luck.

Bailey wanted very much to believe that someday she’d be attending a school program with her own child.

They were just taking their seats in the noisy auditorium, when Mark appeared beside them. “Mind if I join you?” he asked cheerfully..

Bailey and Mae promptly moved down, leaving an empty seat next to Cara. Mark took immediate advantage of the opening. Cara gave Mae and Bailey a look of reproach, but accepted Mark’s presence with resignation.

Bailey hid a smile, noting Mark’s smug expression as he settled more comfortably into the hard wooden seat. She noticed that he “accidentally” brushed Cara’s arm a few times. Cara must have noticed, too, judging from the blush that stained her cheeks.

Looking more closely than she should have, Bailey decided that Cara didn’t appear to be repulsed by Mark’s touch. She believed Cara had deeper feelings for Mark than she allowed herself to show. If not, surely Cara would have been more resolute about putting an end to his tenacious pursuit.

Bailey was highly amused by the school program. It was hardly a flawless production, but it was sweet and sincere. The children were adorable—even the ones who squirmed and scratched during their performances. She had a much better time than she’d expected. And she only thought about Bran once every ten minutes or so during the evening.

Knowing how nervous Casey had been, Bailey held her breath all the way through the child’s two songs, particularly when Casey stepped forward for her brief solo. She noticed that Cara, Mark and Mae also tensed, all of them wanting Casey to feel good about her performance later. They needn’t have worried. Casey came through like a pro, singing with a confidence Bailey wasn’t sure she could have managed had she been the one up there facing an enthusiastic audience.

Bailey and Mae applauded loudly at the end of the number. Cara slackened in relief, murmuring, “Thank heaven she didn’t sneeze.”

Mark grabbed the excuse to give Cara an exuberant, one-armed hug—strictly out of congratulations on her talented daughter, he assured her when Cara gulped a remonstration.

Bailey studied Mark out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he’d taken her advice seriously. Maybe he’d decided it was time to be a bit bolder with Cara. To make it just a little harder for her to politely elude him.

Casey’s face lit up when she saw him waiting with the others after the program. “Hi, Mark!” she said. “Are you going to put my picture in your newspaper?”

“You bet,” he assured her. “Maybe on the front page.?

??

“No!” Cara protested quickly, a quick flare of panic in her eyes.