Storm Walk Page 9

  “Mr. and Mrs. Firecloud?”

  Lacey turned toward the voice. She was surprised—and pleased—to see Tori hurrying toward them.

  “Hi, Tori,” she said. She gave the girl a quick hug. “How are you?”

  Tori smiled grimly. “Oh, I’m okay. But… can I talk to you for a minute? Both of you?”

  “Sure.” Lacey set her pack on the car’s hood while Sam leaned against the fender. “We’re just going… you know,” Lacey said. She waved toward the activity center.

  “I know,” Tori said. “I won’t keep you.”

  Lacey sighed. “We were sure sorry to hear about what happened with you and Daniel.”

  Tori glanced away, embarrassment pinking her cheeks. “Actually,” she said, “we’ve been talking.”

  “Oh?” Lacey couldn’t keep a hopeful note from her voice.

  Tori nodded, her long light brown hair swinging around her shoulders. “After we had that fight, he wouldn’t, you know. Then one of his friends saw me at the mall with Kevin. Sent him that picture.” She shuddered.

  “We heard about that,” Lacey acknowledged.

  “I was talking to Kevin about Daniel!” Tori exclaimed. “Asking him, you know, for advice. It wasn’t what he thought at all. But he was so mad…” She looked away again, and Lacey thought she was blinking back tears. Tears of pain? Frustration?

  “Then,” she continued, “we started talking. I don’t know what happened, but he began to listen to me, really listen. And he asked me questions.” She peeked shyly at Sam. “You know he’s not usually like that.”

  “I know,” Sam said grimly.

  “Well, what I want to ask you is, do you think… I mean, do you think it’s possible…” She trailed off hopelessly.

  Lacey stepped closer and put her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Do you love Daniel?”

  Tori’s face flamed. “Yes. But I don’t know if he…”

  “He does,” Sam said.

  Tori gaped at him. Lacey could see how badly the girl wanted that to be true, but how afraid she was to believe.

  “I think he does, too,” Lacey said softly. “He asked me a couple weeks ago how Sam and I get over an argument. I could see that he had no idea how to even start that conversation with you. I told him that listening to each other, really hearing what the other had to say, was one way to start.” She smiled from Tori to Sam. “I guess he was paying attention after all.”

  “He… he asked you…?” Tori repeated.

  Lacey nodded. “And you know Daniel doesn’t often ask for help. That should show you how important this is to him.”

  Tori still looked unsure. She stared down at the ground and bit her lip, then glanced over at Roxx Plus. “What if he doesn’t want me?” she asked softly.

  Sam pushed away from the car and stood up straight. “We were just going to get a slice of pizza for lunch,” he said. “Care to join us? Our treat.”

  Tori looked up at Sam and smiled. “I’d like that,” she said.

  “Good.” Lacey linked her arm with Tori’s. “Come on. I’m hungry.”

  When they reached the activity center, Sam pulled open the door and let the women precede him into the frantic din of video games and multiple conversations. Lacey stepped inside and saw two tables shoved together to seat all the kids at once. Daniel sat at the head, and the other kids, boys and girls, filled the rest of the seats. Daniel glanced up and saw Lacey with his dad behind her. Then Tori stepped out from between them.

  A mixture of emotions played across Daniel’s face: surprise, happiness, uncertainty. His pizza forgotten, he stared at the trio as they moved to a booth set against the wall.

  Lacey pulled paper menus from a holder and passed one to Tori. “What do you like?” she asked.

  “Um, just pepperoni, I guess.” The girl barely glanced at the menu.

  “Okay,” Sam said. “I’ll be right back.” He headed for the counter to order for all of them.

  Tori had her back to Daniel, but Lacey could see him. He repeatedly glanced over his shoulder, then back at his friends. Some of the kids tried to have a conversation with Daniel, but he only seemed to answer with monosyllables. A couple of the kids, Lacey noticed, kept an eye on Tori.

  Lacey saw Ed talking with another man—another father?—at the climbing wall. She got an idea.

  “I’m, um, just going to go say hello to Daniel’s step-dad,” she told Tori. “Be right back, okay?”

  Tori nodded and worried a napkin with nervous fingers.

  Lacey walked past the long table, waving and saying hi to the celebrating kids. She made sure Daniel saw her, then went to Ed.

  “Hi,” she said as she approached the two men. “How’s it going, Ed?”

  “Good so far,” Ed said. He introduced Lacey. “This is Mike Hewlett, Jimmy’s dad.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Lacey said, shaking hands. “You guys going to tackle this wall?”

  “Not me,” Mike said with a laugh. “I’ll stick to video games.”

  “I might give it a shot,” Ed said. “How about you and Sam?”

  Lacey eyed the wall. “Pass,” she said. “I’d rather keep my feet on the ground.”

  Ed looked past Lacey. “Where’d you find Tori?”

  “She was waiting for us outside,” Lacey grinned. “So we invited her to join us.”

  “Well, don’t look now…” Ed trailed off.

  Of course that’s exactly what Lacey did. Covertly, to be sure, but she angled her head to one side and looked over her shoulder.

  Daniel was approaching Tori.

  “I thought they broke up,” Mike said.

  “They did,” Ed remarked.

  “Only because they couldn’t figure out how to get over their own pride,” Lacey amended. “It looks like Daniel may have a handle on that now.”

  As the three adults watched, Daniel stopped at the booth and spoke to Tori. The girl responded, glancing up, but then looking down again. She continued to shred her napkin as Daniel talked.

  Then Lacey saw Sam headed back that way, plates in hand.

  “Oh, gotta go,” she said. “Talk to you in a bit.”

  She and Sam arrived at the booth at the same time, and slid into the seat opposite Tori. Sam set a plate before her.

  “Here’s yours, Tori,” he said. “Hey, Daniel. How’s it going?” He and Lacey both bit into their pieces of pizza, totally nonchalant.

  Daniel frowned. “Uh, okay. I guess.” Now that his parents were there, he seemed unsure how to proceed. Tori only nibbled the tip of her slice of pepperoni.

  “Say,” Lacey said. “Isn’t that Jaycee over there?” Jaycee was Tori’s best friend, and sat with the other kids at the long table. Tori glanced over to see.

  “Yeah, it’s her,” Daniel confirmed. He hesitated for a moment, then plunged. “You, uh, you want to come over?”

  Tori lifted her eyes to Daniel, shy, unsure, but hopeful. He didn’t look away.

  “Yeah,” she said. “If that’s okay.”

  “Sure.” He shrugged, as if it was no concern to him, but the intensity of his eyes said differently. “Come on.”

  Tori slid from the booth, taking her pizza with her. She paused before getting up. “I hope you don’t mind…” she said to Sam and Lacey.

  Lacey grinned. “Go,” she said. “We’ll be around.”

  Tori broke into a wide smile and jumped to her feet. Together she and Daniel walked back to the long table and joined the others.

  “Well, played,” Sam said quietly to his wife. “You didn’t tell me Daniel asked you about that.”

  “Oh,” she said, passing it off. “I guess I forgot.”

  “Forgot, hell,” Sam grumbled.

  Lacey’s phone pinged. She pulled it from her pack and checked the screen. “It’s Dale,” she said. “I’m going to take it outside. It’s too noisy in here.”

  She hit the answer button just as she passed through the door.

  “Hi, Dale.”

  “H
i, Lacey. Hate to bother you on the weekend, but I heard some news I thought you’d want to hear.”

  “Oh?” She leaned up against the wall outside. “What’s that?”

  “Two things, really,” Dale said. “The District Attorney’s office has decided not to pursue criminal charges against Ray Gibbons. Not enough evidence, they say.”

  “That’s too bad,” Lacey said.

  “Yeah, it is,” Dale agreed. “But,” and his voice grinned, “I understand the Devlins and Raffertys have filed a civil suit in the name of all the victims and their families. Nothing’s confirmed yet, but I’ve heard that Gibbons has hired a lawyer to hammer out a settlement. That could be very good news for all the families.”

  Lacey laughed. “Yes, it could.” She thought of Mrs. Escobar. A fat check would help the widow immensely. “That’s definitely good news,” she said. “Thanks for letting me know.”

  “It wouldn’t have happened without you and Sam,” he said.

  “Just part of our friendly service,” she joked.

  “Right. Well, I’ll let you go. You’ll tell Sam?”

  “Oh, yeah. He’ll be glad to hear it. Thanks, Dale.”

  She ended the call and slipped her phone into her pocket as she re-entered the building. Sliding back into the booth next to Sam, she picked up her neglected slice of pizza.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “Some good news and some not so good. Looks like the DA’s office won’t file charges against Gibbons; not enough for an airtight case. But the families have filed suit, and Gibbons may be in the process of settling with all the families of the victims. They could all get some very nice financial restitution.”

  “Huh.” He let his gaze drift out the window. “Not quite like having their loved ones back again,” he said.

  “No,” Lacey agreed. “But it’s something. Some kind of justice. Better than nothing.”

  “True.” He motioned with his chin toward the kids. “Good news here, too, I think,” he said.

  Lacey looked over. Tori had pulled up a chair next to Daniel, and the two of them talked and laughed with all their friends. As Lacey watched, Daniel even leaned over and brushed Tori’s cheek with a quick kiss. The girl’s face flushed pink even as she grinned at him.

  “True love,” Lacey sighed. “Ain’t it grand?” She looked down at the congealing cheese on her pizza. “Ugh. I think I need a fresh slice.”

  “I’ll get it,” Sam said.

  She beamed at him. “You’d do that for me? You’re so sweet.”

  “True love,” he said. “Ain’t it grand?”

  ~~~

  Thank You for Reading

  I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, I would greatly appreciate a short review on Amazon or your favorite book website. Reviews are crucial for any author, and even just a line or two can make a huge difference.

  --MJB

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Melissa Bowersock is an eclectic, award-winning author who writes in a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres: paranormal, action, romance, fantasy, spiritual, satire and biography. She lives in a small community in Northern Arizona with her husband and an Airedale terrier.

  For more information, visit

  http://www.newmoonrising.net

  or

  http://www.melissabowersock.com

  Find Me Online on Twitter and Facebook or visit my blog at:

  http://mjb-wordlovers.blogspot.com

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