“Said what?” Sonia asked. “Can you remember Henry’s exact words?”
Jessica furrowed her brow. “He said, he’s not my real dad. Only he said weal instead of real.”
Sonia replayed the conversation in her head as she took another bite of her sandwich. Henry had clammed up after that, despite Jessica’s attempts to find out more. Sonia had talked it over with her mother later in the day, and they’d come to the conclusion that Henry might be adopted. Perhaps the adoption had only just been finalized when Ray’s wife passed away. It would make sense on several levels. It would explain why Henry had seemed so traumatized when they’d first met him, and why he didn’t display any affection for his father. If Ray’s wife had been the one to push for the adoption, Ray might even resent Henry now that he was stuck with a child he hadn’t really wanted to begin with, and certainly hadn’t planned on raising alone.
Sonia was halfway through her sandwich when her phone rang. An unknown number, but a local one, popped up on the screen. Anticipating a new client, she hurriedly swallowed the bite of turkey in her mouth and wiped her lips on a napkin. “Good afternoon, Masterton Designs.”
“Uh, yes, hello, is this Sonia Masterton?”
“It is,” Sonia replied, hurrying into her office to retrieve her appointment book. “How can I help you?”
“This is Trish Miller, the principal from Small Steps Preschool.” There was a brief pause before she continued, ”Ray Jenkins hasn’t shown up to pick up his son from school today and your name’s listed as the emergency contact. Is there any chance you could come and get Henry now?”
The hairs on the back of Sonia’s neck tingled. Her thoughts catapulted in several directions at once. Was Ray simply running late? Or had he actually forgotten to pick Henry up? Maybe Evelyn was right about him being a negligent father. She gripped the phone in her hand tighter, a foreboding feeling creeping over her. Surely, he hadn’t taken off again—bailed on his own kid. It might have been justified when he was sixteen, but he had responsibilities beyond himself now, no matter how broken he was over his wife’s death. She gritted her teeth, anger welling up inside. Whatever the case, Henry had suffered enough already. He didn’t deserve to be stranded at his preschool watching all the other kids go home one-by-one until he was left alone with the principal.
“I’m on my way,” Sonia said, gathering up her purse and keys as she sprang to her feet. She hurried out to the garage and retrieved Jessica’s old booster seat from the wire shelving at the back. It was covered in dust and she had no idea if it was suitable for Henry’s height and weight, but it would have to suffice for now.
Her fingers clenched the steering wheel like a vice as she drove to the preschool. What was she supposed to tell Henry? As little as possible would be best. She didn’t want him worrying that he’d been abandoned by his dad, on top of losing his mother. Sonia glanced at the clock on the dash. It was almost time to pick up Jessica. She might as well drive over to Broad River Elementary after she got Henry and wait rather than going home first. Besides, it would be a lot easier to keep Henry calm with Jessica in the car. She chewed on her lip as she went over what to tell the kids. Something simple—Ray had an appointment and had asked her to pick up Henry. Curiosity ran in Jessica’s genes, but hopefully she’d be too consumed with her plans for Henry for the rest of the afternoon to press for details.
Her mother, on the other hand, was another matter. She would see straight through her if she tried to fob her off with a lie. Sonia would have to explain the situation to her before picking her up. After dialing her mother’s number, she tapped her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. Evelyn wasn’t the best with technology, not to mention the fact that half the time her phone was on silent or buried at the bottom of her cavernous purse. She might even have left it behind at the house that morning. Sonia wracked her brains trying to remember if she’d reminded her mother to take her phone with her.
“Hello, dear,” Evelyn said, sounding flustered when she finally answered the call. “I hope you haven’t been trying to get a hold of me. Mary and I were sitting out in the garden. I totally lost track of time. Are you on your way?”
“No … I mean, yes. But I need to pick Jessica up first … and Henry.”
“Henry?” Evelyn echoed in a puzzled tone. ”Where is he?”
“The principal from Small Steps called me. Apparently, Ray forgot to pick Henry up.”
“See, what did I tell you?” Evelyn ranted. “He’s irresponsible. How could he forget to pick up his four-year-old?”
”Look, we can talk about this later,” Sonia answered, picturing her mother’s lips clamped in a disapproving line.“I just wanted to give you a head’s up so you don’t say anything in front of the kids.”
There was a long pause before Evelyn spoke, voicing Sonia’s own fear. “You don’t think he’s … disappeared again, do you?”
“We can’t jump to any conclusions, yet,” Sonia cautioned her. ”There could be a perfectly simple explanation. It’s possible Ray might even be at the school by the time I get there. Either way, I’ll swing by and pick you up afterward.” She ended the call, rolling her knotted shoulders to ease the tension. She hoped for everyone’s sake that Ray was at the school by the time she arrived. What was
