Little Girl Found

Hailey smiled as she put the bags on the counter. Jack’s innocent question hadn’t fooled her a bit. He didn’t know what to make of Megan or how to get her off his lap. Big man like him, afraid of a little girl. So silly. So…endearing. Why that should be, she didn’t know, but there it was. She felt a warmth from Jack she hadn’t before. Perhaps because, even though he didn’t want Megan on his lap, he didn’t force her to leave. That said something about him. Something good.

She hung her jacket on the back of a chair, then unpacked her supplies: vegetables and fruits, milk, spaghetti noodles, sauce, some frozen dinners and some chicken she’d found in her freezer, orange juice, hot cereal and several cans of soup. Not that she planned on making all this today. But she’d probably be going to the market long before Jack did, and she wanted him to have something healthy in the house.

It only took her a few minutes to find a pot big enough for the pasta and another for the sauce; he even had a strainer, which was good. But she had to wash everything first. He clearly didn’t cook often, if ever.

Poor guy. She glanced at him again, almost laughing out loud at his rigid posture. Then it occurred to her that maybe Megan was hurting him. That wasn’t so amusing. “Megan, honey, want to come help me make lunch?”

Megan popped her thumb out of her mouth and solemnly climbed down from her perch. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Hailey saw Jack exhale. Such a big exhalation, in fact, she wondered if he’d breathed at all while she was gone.

As Megan approached, Hailey took the opportunity to look at her closely. Her eyes weren’t red anymore; she apparently hadn’t cried since the bath. But there was something different about her. The light on the inside had dimmed. She didn’t shine anymore. The automatic smile wasn’t there. Please God, let it be temporary. Let her recover.

Hailey got three plates from the cupboard and held them out to the little girl. “Can you set these on the table?”

Megan nodded, then put her doll on the floor. She took the plates and went to the table, placing the dishes right in front of the three chairs. Then she turned to wait for her next task. So quiet. So obedient. It broke Hailey’s heart.

Megan ended up setting the table perfectly, down to the folded paper napkins. Hailey made a salad and finished up the spaghetti, all the while thinking about what she should do. Take Megan back to her place? Probably. Despite Jack’s misgivings, Hailey couldn’t imagine that whoever had killed Roy would care much about a four-year-old girl. It would have made her feel better, though, if she understood why Roy had been killed. Drugs? A burglary gone bad? Fool. Damn fool. He shouldn’t have done anything dangerous, not when he had Megan in his care.

“You need a hand?”

She looked up to see Jack standing in the kitchen by the refrigerator. She’d been so preoccupied that she hadn’t even seen him walk by. “No, no. We’re almost ready. Just a few more minutes.”

He headed for one of the kitchen chairs, and Hailey turned to Megan. “Honey, why don’t you go play for a bit? I’ll call you as soon as lunch is ready.”

Megan obeyed, taking Tottie with her. Once she was out of the room, Hailey poured the spaghetti into the colander and ran some cool water over it. She brought the salad to the table and sat down next to Jack. “I’ve been thinking…” she said.

“Yeah?”

“About what to do next.”

“Okay.” His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was already planning to nix any ideas she might have.

“I’m going to take her back to my place,” she said. “She’s comfortable there. She knows me.”

“You realize you’ll be questioned. And if they find out you’ve got Megan, they’ll call social services.”

“Why would they question me?”

“Because you live in the complex. They’ll question everyone.”

“And if I tell them I don’t know anything?”

He shook his head. “Did Chandler always pay you in cash?”

She thought about it. “Mostly. But a few times he wrote me a check.”

“Did anyone else in the building know you looked after Megan?”

“Okay, I get it. They’ll figure out I was her sitter.”

“That’s right. And they’ll figure Roy left her with you.”

“He didn’t.”

“You want me to lie?”

She took in a breath, thinking hard about what she was going to propose. “Yes, I guess I do. I want to tell the police that I haven’t seen Megan. That she went to visit relatives.”

“And if they ask who these relatives are?”

“I’ll tell them the truth. That I don’t know.”

“It’s too risky.”

“Why? What harm can it possibly do to keep this child for a while? She’s been traumatized enough without having to go downtown. Without someone putting her in a foster home with strangers.”

“Hailey,” he said, “I agree. It’s not the best solution. But it’s the only one that will keep you out of trouble.”

“I don’t mind trouble,” she said.

He smiled at her, a kind of lopsided grin. “You’ve never been in trouble a day in your life.”

“How do you know?”

He laughed. “All I have to do is look at you. Oh, maybe you exceeded the speed limit once. Probably had an overdue book at the library. But trouble? Uhuh.”

“Well, Mr. Know-it-all, you’re wrong.”

“I am?”

She nodded. “I got into some very serious trouble once.”

He studied her for a moment. “How old were you?”

She felt her cheeks heat and she looked away. “Eleven.”

“What’d you do—break someone’s window?”

“It was a church window, thank you. And I was in trouble for a long time.”

“I’ll bet.”

She looked at him again, at his smug little smirk. “Just because I haven’t been in trouble before doesn’t mean I won’t be able to handle trouble now.”

“I have no doubts about that. Only, it’s best to avoid trouble if you can.”

“But don’t you see?” she asked, no longer teasing. “I can’t. I love Megan, Jack. I’ve taken care of her for two years. She’s like family. I can’t give her up.”

He sighed. “Let me think about it,” he said. “Maybe there’s another solution.”