Sweet Surrender Read online

  “She painted her room orange,” Haley informed Pierce.

  Pierce’s eyebrow shot up. “Maybe I need to move up the sale date.”

  Beth playfully punched him in the arm. “You’ll love it. It’s an orange-sherbet color and then I’m going for lime-green accents.”

  “Very seventies.” He made a face at Haley as Beth left the room. “Did you help?” he asked softly.

  She shook her head. “All Beth’s idea and doing. If she had told me, I would have nixed it.”

  He kissed her nose. “Lucky for you that I’m sleeping with the lady of the house.”

  “Lucky for me that I have friends in high places. Have you heard of the great Dr. Masterson?”

  “No. Tell me all about him.”

  “He’s has a great bedside manner that makes me drool. The things that he can do with his stethoscope…” She patted his butt and winked.

  “Sounds like a man after my own heart,” he said.

  Beth came down the stairs. “Can I go with Sandy to the movies and spend the night over at her house?”

  “But we had an agreement to go to Pierce’s family reunion,” Haley said, reminding her daughter of their prior commitment.

  “That’s okay. It’s just a mini-reunion with just the relatives that live in the immediate area.” He could see that Beth wanted no part of being a happy threesome. He and Beth had a great relationship as long as he didn’t usurp her father’s position.

  “Mom, I really want to go with Sandy. Her parents won’t let her go to the movie alone.” Beth turned up the whine.

  “You’re being rude, young lady,” Haley said through clenched teeth.

  Pierce sensed the mood was about to take a nasty turn. “Haley, it’s not a problem. I’m sure Beth will be bored with all the old people reminiscing.”

  “See, even Pierce says it’s okay. Plus it’s his family.”

  Pierce cringed, not that he had any objections with the factual statement. It was Haley’s face that made him want to take flight. Beth, however, was not flustered by her mother’s furious expression. Pierce figured that Beth must be used to Haley’s disapproval.

  “We’re leaving now. Get your butt in the car. Pierce, we’re ready,” Haley stated in a stern, strained voice.

  Pierce rattled the car keys in his pocket and followed the mother and daughter, who argued all the way to his car.

  “I wish you would stop treating me like a child. I look after myself for the better part of the day. But when you are around, you act as if I don’t have any rights. Pierce, do you think that is fair?”

  “I…well, I think that your mother…” Pierce looked in the rearview mirror sensing the daggers that Beth threw his way. Considering that Sheena blasted him frequently for his skills at keeping the family together, he realized he was in a lose-lose situation. Haley hadn’t changed her expression to a kinder, gentler one. “I think that you should listen to your mother.” In the whole scheme of things, Haley was the one with the power.

  That comment earned him an approving nod from Haley.

  And from Beth, he scored a goose egg. Her eyes blazed her anger at him. He’d try talking to her later.

  They arrived at the family reunion in stony silence. It looked as if the entire city had been invited to Sheena’s home.

  “Beth, meet us back here in two hours, at three o’clock,” Haley shouted as Beth disappeared in the crowd.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have forced her to come. It could be a miserable two hours,” Pierce said.

  “I plan to have a good time. I won’t let her get away with acting like a spoiled brat,” Haley replied.

  “I understand, but we don’t have a normal situation here.”

  “Are you telling me that I handled this situation incorrectly?”

  “Nope. I wanted to know if you wanted a hamburger or fried chicken,” he asked.

  “Chicken!” She rubbed his back. “Fried chicken, please.”

  They headed over to the area where the food was being cooked. Over the next hour while they ate, different members of his extended family came up to be introduced to Haley. He knew that she would be the center of attention at the gathering, because he rarely brought women to meet his family.

  “You’ve got such a big family,” Haley said, her voice full of wonder.

  “Don’t be fooled. I don’t think most of these people are my relatives.”

  Haley scanned the crowd. “Haven’t seen Beth,” she said.

  “I’ve been keeping an eye on her. She was on the basketball court a few minutes ago.”

  “I hope she’s going to eat,” she said.

  “Stay here, I’ll go check on her,” he said.

  “Thanks.”

  He walked through the crowd. The basketball court and ensuing game attracted lots of teens. He was taller than most of the kids, so he could see over their heads and spotted Beth easily.

  Beth was standing with a couple of kids. They moved off to the side and around a building. He followed. When he turned the corner, he saw Beth raise a cigarette to her lips.

  “Put that down now,” he demanded.

  The cigarette jerked out of her hand as if someone had snatched it. Beth looked at him with horror.

  “Don’t you move,” he ordered as the others ran out of his reach.

  He approached Beth, not sure how hard to push. If it had been his sister, he would have dragged her to the car and driven home reading her the riot act all the way there, until her knees shook.

  Haley sat in the middle of Beth’s room on the floor. She pulled out each drawer, looked through her backpack and even opened her diary.

  The police had already come and taken a report. Since she hadn’t been kidnapped and she had voluntarily run away, the Amber alert system wasn’t a consideration.

  Haley had called all the friends she could identify out of Beth’s address book. She wanted to cry, but knew that wouldn’t help her find Beth.

  “Haley!”

  “Up here.” Thank goodness Pierce had gotten her message.

  She met him at the top of the stairs. “I drove around, but I’m afraid to leave. She hasn’t called either phone.”

  “Why did she leave?”

  “She was mad at me for not going back with Vernon,” she said.

  “Guess I did not help the situation,” Pierce replied.

  “You’re helping me.” She leaned toward him. They kissed.

  Suddenly Pierce pulled away. “I have a thought.”

  “What?”

  “Come with me.” Pierce ran out of the room, holding her hand. They headed to his car.

  “Talk to me, Pierce. What are you thinking?”

  “Don’t want to get your hopes up, but I may know where she is,” he said.

  “Then let’s go.”

  Haley held on to Pierce’s hand. She didn’t have much to say. They rode through the night. Everyone was going about their business. No one knew that her daughter was missing.

  “We’ll get through this.”

  “That’s what I have to believe to keep going.” She wiped away a tear and hoped that at the end of this night her daughter would be home.

  They turned into his office parking lot. Haley looked around, surprised that this was where Pierce had taken her.

  “Come with me.” She followed him and they walked to the door.

  “Why do you think she would be here?” Haley asked.

  “She worked here today.”

  He opened the door and disabled the alarms.

  Haley ran past him, calling to her daughter.

  Pierce started down the hallway, opening each door. Haley ran to his office and flung open the door.

  “Beth?” Her daughter had energy bars, bottled water and candy scattered around her on the floor.

  Her daughter was crying. Haley ran over and scooped her into her arms. They held each other in the dark room.

  An hour later, Haley was back at home. She had called the police to let them know
that Beth was safe. Now it was time to get her life back on track. She put Beth to bed.

  Where was the little girl who used to laugh and play without a care? This was beyond teenage hormones. Haley felt as if her family were falling apart and she didn’t know what to do.

  “Beth, you can always talk to me.” She stroked her daughter’s forehead. “I know that I’ve been busy, but I’ll change my schedule.”

  “Mom, I don’t need you to smother me. I know that you have to work.”

  “Then why did you run away? I’m trying to give you everything,” she asked.

  “I want us to go back to the way things were,” Beth replied.

  Haley didn’t know how to make Beth understand that their former life was in the past. She hugged her daughter, wishing that the simple act would transfer some secret knowledge to her daughter.

  “I want my father,” Beth said.

  Haley settled Beth into the bed. She pulled up the sheets tucking her in. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

  Haley went to her room, feeling tired and more than a little defeated. She took a quick shower and crawled into bed. Her phone rang; she knew that it was Pierce. For the first time, she ignored the phone. Reaching over, she turned off the light and settled against the pillows.

  She would have to make some serious sacrifices. She didn’t know whether she had the strength to do what was necessary, but she couldn’t let her daughter’s world fall apart.

  Pierce woke up in the morning after a restless night. He had tried to get in touch with Haley, but she hadn’t answered his phone messages. She was probably dealing with Beth, which was quite understandable. He felt a little left out after they’d found Beth in his office, but he also felt guilty even thinking about his own feelings.

  He jumped in his car and headed to Haley’s, hoping that he could catch her before she headed to work.

  He walked around to the back, expecting to see her in the kitchen. The blinds were closed. The house seemed eerily quiet. He couldn’t see into the garage to know if her car was in there.

  He knocked on the door.

  Haley came to the door looking tired. The shadows under her eyes underscored their redness. He reached toward her and she pulled back.

  “Hi, Pierce, come in.”

  “How is Beth?” He looked around expecting to see the young girl bursting into the room telling him about her latest adventure.

  “She’s still asleep. Figured that she is probably a little worn down. I called in sick to work.”

  “I’m heading into the office, but I’ll be back as soon as I get a break. I want to be here to help you with her.”

  “Thanks, but it’s not necessary.”

  “I know you’re scared, but don’t push me away.”

  “I’m not pushing you away. But it’s time for me to focus on Beth. We’ve spent too much time together and it hasn’t helped matters.”

  Pierce couldn’t believe what he heard. Haley was pulling away from him. This couldn’t be happening. He’d thought they had turned a corner.

  “Pierce, I’m going to have to ask that we separate for a little while,” she said and looked at him for understanding.

  He had none. His defenses went up, sensing that he could not hold her trust.

  “You’re right, of course. You need to focus on your family and I need to do the same with mine.”

  Chapter 12

  Pierce stood at the bottom of the driveway collecting the day’s mail. The summer evenings had vanished and a decided nip was in the early-afternoon air. Hampton Mews could have harsh winters and forecasters predicted a bad winter season. Extreme weather resulted in specific ailments for his patients. Summer brought in victims of heat stroke and dehydration. Winter saw heart attacks from shoveling snow and mild cases of frostbite on fingers and toes.

  A survey of his cul-de-sac showed that his neighbors had set their trash bins at the curb for the next day’s trash pickup. He supposed that he’d better bring out the trash from his house this evening. In the morning, he would bring it to the curb. Raccoons loved his trash, knocking the bins over and rummaging through their contents. The animals didn’t seem to bother anyone else’s trash.

  He looked at his watch. It was getting close to dinnertime.

  Since it was only him, he didn’t have a schedule planned around meals. The reality stung, but he’d get over the disappointment. At least, his choice for dinner didn’t have to be vetted by a wife and daughter. He didn’t have to cook dinner for his wife who might flex her muscles and declare his kitchen as her turf. He wouldn’t have to hear his child whine about the dinner selection. He had what he needed: one bowl, a spoon, one can of chicken soup and a microwave.

  “Whoo hoo, Dr. Masterson.” Mrs. Saltzberg, his next-door neighbor, waved in greeting.

  Pierce tapped the mail to his forehead in a farewell salute. Standing outside with Mrs. Saltzberg until the sun set and sank below the horizon didn’t appeal to him. He confessed to feeling grumpier than usual lately.

  Mrs. Saltzberg would have him discussing the toilet habits of the neighbor’s German shepherd, the mayor’s decision to scale back recycling pickup from two days to one and the state of “undress” of the neighborhood teens.

  Most days he could indulge her with conversation, but not tonight. His head began to throb when he saw her come farther down her driveway and head up the sidewalk toward him. Through his headache haze, he saw her enhanced red hair in its usual frizzy mop, her floral housecoat and white walking shoes coming at him.

  “Haven’t seen you in a bit. Everything okay?”

  “No problems, here.” He backed up onto his driveway, with the feeling that having his property under his feet gave him hope that he’d be heading into his house in a few minutes. On a couple of occasions, she’d followed him into his house and then had called her husband over to see the place. With neighbors like her, he couldn’t feel lonely if he tried.

  “I always keep an eye on the house when you’re gone. You’ve been gone a lot, way past your office hours,” Mrs. Saltzberg probed.

  “Thank you. You’re very thoughtful. What would I do without you?” He brushed away an annoying gnat that buzzed around his face. His headache hadn’t let up.

  “I thought, maybe, that you’d found a young lady.” She twittered, but her curious gaze fastened onto his face. “I saw Jean in the grocery store and we chatted.”

  Pierce switched his attention from the gnat to Mrs. Saltzberg. His employee gossiped about him while shopping in a grocery store? He realized that the indiscretion was normal employee behavior, but having his workers gossip about him was not acceptable. Unfortunately, this was a small city. And what went around, came around. The flaming redhead in front of him pestering him about his private life served to prove his case.

  Where was an ice-cream truck when you needed one?

  Instead he faced his neighbor’s questions. Mrs. Saltzberg didn’t have a reputation for diplomacy. Her direct questions didn’t suffer misinterpretations.

  “Come to think of it, Mr. Masterson, I’ve never seen you bring a young lady home. And what a beautiful home you have. Or is it that you’re afraid she’ll want the house more than she’ll want you.” She chortled. Her face bunched from appreciation of her humor.

  He shook his head. “Sorry to disappointment you, Mrs. Saltzberg. There’s no woman out there for me. I’m actually waiting for you to fall for me.” He’d embarrassed her into silence. He didn’t crack a smile. Good.

  “I’ll be talking to you later,” he said, and quickly walked up his driveway. She’d stepped on his toes with her probing questions. Now wasn’t the time to deal with any topic that reminded him that his relationship with Haley was over, completely dead.

  He slammed his front door shut and the sound echoed through the large house. For some reason, the sound irritated him. A big, empty house to accompany his big, empty heart. He fanned the mail in his hand, examining the return addresses to determine their importance. Nothi
ng but bills and junk mail. He tossed the letters onto the side table, where they sat with the piles from previous days. Maybe he’d get Laura to help him sort through and pay the bills that needed immediate attention.

  Laura was mad at him, because she blamed him for his breakup with Haley. He’d have to wait a week or so to approach her. What had his life come to, he wondered, when even his strongest ally had turned her back on him.

  The last few nights had been torture. During the day, he was busy with patients and office issues to keep his thoughts from drifting. The wall mural didn’t help his concentration. It was a constant reminder of the Sanders family. He’d started using the back door to minimize thinking about Beth, or wondering about her latest exploits.

  He opened his cabinet and searched through the cans in the cupboard and found some chicken soup. Beth’s favorite term—loser—applied to him. In a matter of months, his life was defined by when he met Haley and when he’d broken up with her. Prior to Haley, he’d eaten salads because whenever he cooked, the volume resulted in leftovers for an entire week.

  If he’d cooked his family’s favorite meals, he’d call them over for dinner. They’d get a good meal and he would have company. This arrangement had worked until he’d mentioned selling the house and advised Omar to go back to school.

  The microwave hummed to life after he placed the bowl of soup in it. Now he was reduced to eating canned soup because fixing dinner wouldn’t be the same without sharing it with family…or with Haley and Beth.

  He took out the steaming soup carefully and headed for the couch. Maybe he’d read the newspaper or bore himself to sleep by watching TV tonight. Neither option appealed to him. He placed a cushion on his lap and sipped his soup. Tomorrow he’d check with Morton to see if he wanted to go to lunch or dinner, or both. Maybe he could convince Morton to come over for a game of chess.

  Morton would get on his case about Haley. She’d wrapped his friend around her finger just as she’d wrapped herself around his heart. Morton had gushed about how intelligent she was and a what good conversationalist she was.

  Pierce thought about how he would break the news to Morton about Haley. He’d start off with the fact that it was a mutual separation. Breaking up with Haley was for the best. It was practical. Haley and he were acting like adults. She needed to concentrate on her family and he needed to do the same with his.