He lifted me off the desk a few minutes later and sat me back in his lap. Sweaty and exhausted, I lingered in his arms.
He kissed my forehead and I allowed my heart to hope that maybe there could be more between us.
Then my brain reminded me that when he found out my secret, he would likely want nothing to do with me.
I would have to tell him soon though and deal with the consequences of my dangerous choice.
Still, I stayed in his arms, having no
other place I would rather be in that moment.
Chapter Fourteen: Hailey
The next day I received another phone call from my father.
He was panicked and I barely understood what he was saying but when I did, I felt my face lose color and my heart began to beat with dismay.
Joe was missing… And he was wanted by the police for questioning in connection to drug case that was currently under investigation.
What. The. Fuck.
I had just arrived on the college campus when I got the call. I had been sitting in my car, prepared to walk Noah across to daycare and head to biology lab where I would see Wyatt.
I had been on cloud nine too. Wyatt and I had separated on a high note yesterday and even though I knew the news I would reveal to him would be hard to swallow, I had convinced myself I was blowing the fallout out of proportion in my head while I laid in bed last night.
I knew he had feelings for me. It was there in his touch. In the way he looked at me. In the way he said my name.
How deep those feelings were I didn’t know yet, but I had hope that we could bury the mistakes of the past and build better, happier future.
I was nervous but I was also hopeful. It was a weird jumbled up feeling.
I had made up my mind to tell him today and have faith that it would turn out for the best.
My little bubble of sunshine burst with that call from my dad. Telling Wyatt the secret I kept from him was now the last thing on my mind.
I listened Dad as he explained that he and mom were currently at Joe’s school helping the police in locating him.
“I’ll be right there,” I promised him and hung up the phone, throwing it onto the passenger seat.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” came Noah’s voice from the backseat.
I turned to him, trying to clear the anxiety from my expression.
“Nothing, honey. Let’s get you to daycare,” I answered him with a false bright smile and overly cheerful tone.
He gave me a skeptical look and looked like he was going to question me further but I distracted him by mentioning the new students that would be welcomed into his class today.
His attention was immediately diverted and he started chatting about how he would be really nice to the new girl. He was a very social little person and loved meeting new people.
I couldn’t bring Noah with me into the drama that centered around my brother so I hurried from the parking lot to the daycare in a half run with him in my arms. He thought the mad dash was fun and giggled in a way that would have brought a smile to my face any other day.
Not today. My mind was a mess of worry for Joe.
A few minutes later, I was driving like a bat out of hell to get to Joes’ high school. Horns blew and curses followed me as I cut off other drivers. I even almost ran over a pedestrian, only just hitting the brakes. The old woman threw me the bird then took her cool time crossing the road, sending me a spiteful look almost the entire way.
I tried to be more careful after that but still reached the school in record time. Even though I was trying to suppress them, thoughts of all the worse possible consequences of today’s events on Joe’s life played in my mind.
I couldn’t imagine my sweet little brother doing drugs but then I hardly recognized the person he was these days.