She knew that Dillon was worried about his daughter who had been missing since yesterday, and more than anything, she wished she knew what to do in order to help him find her—that is if the girl really had run away the way her mother said she had.
There was the very real possibility that Maura was blowing all this way out of proportion. Secretly Hailey was still holding out hope that the girl had decided to just go to one of her friends’ houses to either teach her mother a lesson or just get some time away from her mother who seemed like she could be somewhat overbearing.
Piecing things together from just one side of the conversation as she listened to Dillon attempt to talk to Maura, Julie’s mother was apparently bent on making father and daughter pay in their separate ways for daring to forge a relationship behind her back. To Hailey, the woman came off sounding extremely insecure.
Just as Hailey was about to start pacing the floor, she heard the doorbell ring. She instantly snapped to attention and ran out of the kitchen.
Throwing the door open, she cried, “I was beginning to really get worried that you—”
The rest of her sentence died, unspoken, on her lips when she saw who was on the other side.
It wasn’t Dillon standing in her doorway, it was a young girl with straight dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes. Caught completely by surprise, Hailey blinked, and then looked at the girl again, this time a little more closely.
Even if she hadn’t seen a picture, she would have known her, anyway. “Julie?”
It was more of a greeting than a question. The moment she said the girl’s name, she knew she was right. The angry-looking girl on her doorstep looked like a young female version of Dillon.
Julie raised her chin as if she was expecting some sort of challenge from the woman who had opened the door. In a voice that sounded entirely too grown up, the girl asked, “Is Dillon Fortune here? I can’t find him.”
Hailey couldn’t help wondering how Julie had gotten her address—had Dillon given it to her, thinking that another woman might make the girl somehow feel safe if she ever decided to come here?
That had to be it, she decided. Either that or he had mentioned her by name as a friend and the resourceful little girl had looked her up when she didn’t find her father at his place. There was time enough to delve into that later. Right now, there were more pressing things to address. Like how she had gotten here.
“No,” Hailey answered the girl, “but I’m expecting him any minute now. C’mon in,” she invited, opening the door as wide as she could. When Julie made no effort to budge, Hailey added, “Please.”
“Okay,” Julie finally grudgingly agreed, walking in with some reluctance. “But you are expecting him here, right?”
“Actually, he should already be here,” Hailey told Dillon’s daughter.
She looked over the girl’s shoulder, expecting to see whoever had accompanied Julie here from Fort Lauderdale. But there was no one with the girl nor did she look as if she was waiting for someone to catch up to her, like a person who was still parking a car perhaps.
This was really unusual, Hailey thought.
She had to ask. “Did you come all this way by yourself?” Hailey wanted to know, finally closing the door behind her.
Julie straightened her shoulders. “I used my mother’s credit card. What of it?” Her tone sounded as if she was ready for a fight.
“Nothing,” Hailey told the girl mildly. “You’re just a little young to be traveling all that way by yourself,” she observed.
Julie’s eyes narrowed into small lethal laser beams. Hailey could have sworn the girl’s nostrils flared, as well.
“I’m twelve,” Julie declared as if that totally negated any question of her being too young to make the trip. “I just said my mother was sending me to stay with my father. Nobody asked any questions,” she said proudly.
It wasn’t her place to say anything about lying, Hailey thought. She didn’t want to antagonize Dillon’s daughter. Instead, she asked, “Does your mother know you’re here?” she asked, even though she knew the answer to that was a resounding no. She wanted to see what the girl had to say in response.
The answer was typical of a preteen. “She took away my phone, so it’s her own fault she can’t find me. Besides, my mother doesn’t care about anyone but herself,” Julie declared dismissively.
Hailey caught herself feeling sorry for both mother and daughter trapped in this dance with no music. “I happen to know that’s not true, Julie. Your mother is very worried about you.”
Julie sniffed and tossed her head, sending her hair flying over her shoulder. “How would you know? Did she tell you?”
“No, but she told your father,” Hailey said. “Your mother called yesterday looking for you and she was frantic.”
Restless, Julie began roaming around the living room and kitchen. Her eyes darted back and forth as she took in every single detail. When it came to Hailey’s assessment of her mother’s reaction, Julie shrugged dismissively. Instead, she looked at Hailey more closely, as if she was passing judgment on her.
Growing wary, Hailey observed Julie frowning at her. There was an edge in the girl’s voice as she asked, “Are you my father’s girlfriend?”
She hoped that was what he thought. But she knew better than to reach that conclusion before anything had been said. And she definitely didn’t want to risk alienating Julie.
“You’re going to have to ask your father that. What I can tell you is that your dad’s been beside himself ever since your mother called to tell him that you ran away. He’s been calling everyone he knows back in Fort Lauderdale, asking them to
