Chapter Seven

Early Saturday morning, Tyler was ready to leave for Kerrianne’s when his doorbell rang. He rushed to the door, scraping his foot along the side of the turtle’s shell. “Scram, Tartar,” he said, pausing to move the animal out of the way. He pulled the door wide. “Manda! Good, you’re just in time.”

His sister wasn’t alone. Amanda’s foster children, Kevin and Mara, now eight and four, were with her, as was her nearly two-year-old son, Blakey, named after his father, Blake. With exuberant cries, the children threw themselves at Tyler, who tickled them until they spun away from his grasp, giggling.

“Sorry I’m a little late,” Amanda said. “You wouldn’t believe how long it takes to get everyone out the door. And I didn’t get to do anything to myself.” Her blonde hair was clipped up on her head, her face devoid of makeup. Regardless, Tyler thought she was a striking woman whose features only improved with age. Today she seemed almost glowing.

“I know how it is,” he assured her. “Kids, be careful of Tartar. He was in the middle of the hall a minute ago. Don’t step on him.”

Amanda wrinkled her nose. “What’s that smell?”

Tyler sniffed. “Well, the gerbil cages probably need to be cleaned, but I won’t do that until next week.” He looked closer at her. “You suddenly look green. Is everything okay?”

Without response, Amanda shoved past him on her way to the bathroom, leaving Tyler to stare after her in confusion.

Blond-haired Kevin grinned up at him, his blue eyes looking large in his small face. “Mom’s going to have another baby, you know.”

“She is?”

He nodded. “She told us yesterday.”

“I want a girl,” said Mara. “We already have two boys.” As she spoke, the dark-haired, brown-eyed child gave little Blakey a hug. “I like Blakey a lot, but I want a girl to play dollies with.”

Blakey babbled something that sounded remarkably intelligent, though Tyler couldn’t decipher even one word.

“Blakey says that he plays with dollies,” Kevin translated.

“He did?” Tyler flexed both his hands. “You got all that, huh?”

Nodding, Kevin picked up Blakey. “Can I take him to see the fish?”

“Sure, go ahead.” Tyler motioned down the hall. “I’ll come in a minute when your mom gets out of the bathroom.”

Amanda emerged a couple minutes later, looking shaky and slightly flushed. Tyler grinned. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

Amanda’s hand went to her stomach. “Yeah, believe it or not. We’ve been trying for six months. It’s a blessing, but I forgot how sick I get.”

Tyler made a face. “If I’d known, I would have asked Mom to look after the animals while I’m gone.”

“Oh, no.” Amanda waved his concerns aside. “The kids love coming here. Honestly, I don’t mind at all. Now show me the special drops you have to give Lizzy–is it just me, or is that lizard always sick?”

He shrugged. “She keeps getting out, and without her lights she gets cold.”

“And didn’t you have some instructions for the fish?”

“Mitch sent a new food from Australia.” Tyler rolled his eyes. “I’ll be glad when he gets back here to tend them himself.”

Amanda’s face burst into a smile. “Don’t I know it.”

“Come on. I’ll show you where the stuff is.”

“Uh, wait a second.” Amanda put her hand on his arm. “Tyler, I have a big favor to ask.”

Tyler suspected this was the real reason his sister had come this morning. He’d offered to leave the key under the mat, Lizzy Lizzard’s antibiotic drops on top of her cage, and written instructions for the new fish food, but Amanda had insisted on coming so he could run through the animals’ care with her in person. “Sure, what is it?” He hoped it had nothing to do with the paper, seeing as he didn’t work there anymore.

“It’s about Kevin and Mara’s mother.”

“Blake’s cousin–Paula, right?”

“Yeah. I have the last address she gave us in San Francisco, and it doesn’t seem to be too far from Kerrianne’s mother-in-law’s–less than an hour, I think. I was wondering, only if you had time, of course, if maybe you could stop by and see her.”

“You want me to check up on her?” Tyler knew Amanda vacillated between praying for Paula to recover from her addictions and hoping she wouldn’t come back for her children. Blake had raised Kevin almost from birth and Mara from the time she was eight months old. When Amanda had met and married him over three years ago, she’d fallen as hard for the children as she had for him.

“Sort of.” Amanda looked away, her eyes wandering around the tiny living room, pausing on the worn couch that had been a castoff from his parents’ home, its original color so faded as to be indeterminable. After a few moments of silence, she dragged her eyes back to his. “Kevin’s been calling us Mom and Dad for more than two years now. We’d like to make it official. We have custody, but we’d like Paula’s blessing to adopt.”

“You could probably do it without her blessing,” Tyler said. “She’s only visited once in the past three years–that’s abandonment if I ever heard of it. You could have her parental rights terminated.” This wasn’t the first time he’d suggested the action, but Amanda was afraid that such an attempt would bring Paula charging back into the picture.

She shrugged. “There’s still the chance that she’d fight–and that would put Kevin and Mara through a lot of stress.”

Tyler bristled. “Mara doesn’t even know who she is!”

“I know. But Paula is their mother, and she gave us custody because she loved them.”

“You mean because it was frustrating for her to take a hit with kids underfoot. We both know her motives weren’t that pure.”

“Maybe not completely pure,” Amanda agreed, “but in the end she did love them enough to do what was right for them.” She glanced behind her. They could hear the children’s voices floating down the hall, fragmented by distance. “What I’m hoping, Tyler, is that you can talk to her. Feel out her thoughts on the matter. Blake and I’ve tried to approach her about it, but we always seem unable to follow through–he loves her too much, I think, and I’m simply too frightened. We’re both feeling kind of desperate about it. I thought that you . . . well, you’re so good with words and at getting people to see the real issues–that’s why you’re such a good reporter.”

“Not as good as you think,” he said. She was entrusting a great deal to him, and he wanted to be certain she knew his limitations. “I lost my job at the paper. One too many comments about a politician’s parenting skills.”

His sister’s face showed concern. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Tyler. I had no idea.” She gave herself a little shake. “But don’t you see? That makes you perfect for the job. You care enough about children to do something about it. All I’m asking is for you to visit Paula, see what she’s feeling, where she is in her life. In a few weeks, Kevin’ll be baptized. We’d like to have things figured out by then.”

Tyler nodded. “Okay, I’ll do my best. Where’s the address?”

She considered a moment and then snapped her fingers. “I left it in my van. You know, I think pregnancy really does something with your brain cells–temporarily, of course. Show me those lizard drops first, and then I’ll get it for you. Oh, and I have a small album of pictures for you to take to Paula. That can be your surface reason for visiting her, something to get you in the door.”

In less than five minutes, Tyler was in his Jeep heading toward Kerrianne’s house in Pleasant Grove, leaving Amanda and her children still playing with the animals. His thoughts drifted toward Savvy. She should know by now that he was coming. He pictured her face, with those blue eyes brighter than the sky on a cloudless day. He was suddenly so anxious to see her that his chest almost hurt with the need. Would she be as happy to see him?

* * *

“What!” Savvy stood by the sink gripping the phone hard in her right hand. It was Saturday morning, and she’d finally made the time to call home again, only to be told that Tyler was on his way to California to pick her up. She’d been praying for help, but that was definitely not what she had in mind. “No, I don’t want him to come. I can’t believe you didn’t ask me first!”

“Oh, dear,” her mother said. “I did try to call. I left a message asking you to call us.”

“I called you back last night, but someone was on the phone.”

“I know. I called you after. You didn’t answer.”

“I had to find Lexi.”

“Where was she?”

“Never mind. I’ll explain later.” Savvy’s hand was beginning to hurt, and she relaxed her hold on the phone. A few feet away, Lexi was seated at the table in front of a huge bowl of cornflakes, watching her curiously. “The point is that I called to tell you we were going to rent a car and ask if you’d help me out a little.”

“Of course we would–but there’s no sense in that now that Tyler’s going to be there.”

“But that’ll make us get home later. We could be there by tomorrow if we left now. Counting today, I only have eleven days before I have to head back here.”

“I’m afraid he already left. I talked to him last night, and he was planning to take off at five or so.”

“He has a cell phone. Call him.”

“But he has business there, and his sister and her family were going as well. Apparently she has family in the area they really wanted to visit.”

Savvy knew the sister was Kerrianne. A year ago when Savvy had been on her mission, Kerrianne had come to visit her mother-in-law and had left Savvy a package at the mission home. Kerrianne was always sweet and thoughtful. As mad as Savvy was that Tyler had decided to rescue her when she most certainly didn’t need rescuing, she wasn’t prepared to disappoint Kerrianne or her children.

“Besides,” her mother said, taking her silence for capitulation, “your father and I really feel better having someone with you that we know and trust. Lexi has already proven to be very resourceful for her age, and quite frankly I worry about whatever plans she might have in store.”

“What, like a hijacking? Mom, I promise you, it’s not like that. You’d know if you were here.” Savvy would have explained further, but Lexi was still listening intently, though she was pretending to read the cereal box.

“I’m really sorry. We should have cleared it with you first. Why don’t you call Tyler if you feel that strongly about it? But remember that he’s trying to do you a favor. You two used to be so close–don’t you think you’re being a bit unreasonable?”

Savvy sighed. Her mother didn’t know the feelings she had harbored for Tyler and had no idea of the pain he’d put her through. But Savvy wasn’t about to explain now. “Okay,” she said as calmly as she could manage, “we’ll drive back with him.”

“Good.” Her mother was obviously relieved. “I’ll see you in a few days, then. Let me know for sure when you’ll be arriving. We’ll be grateful for any time we have with you.”

As Savvy hung up the phone, Lexi eyed her curiously. “So who’s coming to pick us up?”

Savvy walked over and sat down at the table. “Tyler. The guy whose picture you saw in my album.”

“The last picture?” Lexi’s eyes grew wide. “Great! He’s hot.”

Savvy blew out a breath. She could already tell that this was going to be a long weekend.

* * *

Savvy spent Saturday visiting local sites with Lexi in her junky old Subaru. They visited Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. They even went on a short tour of Nob Hill. At three o’clock they stopped by a mall to grab a late bite to eat and to rest. Savvy wasn’t tired, but Lexi looked the worse for wear. Savvy wondered if she’d slept at all.

Savvy had an ulterior motive for eating at the mall. She was hoping to buy Lexi a better shirt than the one she was wearing, which looked hardly big enough for a girl half her age. Maybe a longer one would hide her belly ring. Once at the mall, they spied a beauty salon, and that gave Savvy another idea.

“Hey, I’ve been thinking about getting my hair trimmed,” she said. “What about you?” Truthfully, she’d love to see if they could do something about the bleached-out color of Lexi’s hair. Her dark roots had grown out several inches and the girl obviously had no idea how bad it looked.

“You want to cut your hair?” Lexi’s eyes opened wide. “Why? It’s so beautiful. I’ve been trying to grow mine out.”

“It’s a bit too long, is all.” Savvy ran her hand through the strands. “Haven’t had much time to cut it. I like it about mid-shoulder because then it doesn’t pull down so straight.”

“Well, you’ve got the face for straight hair.”

Savvy grinned. “You mean round?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Lexi said, flushing. “I think you’re really pretty. I like your hair color.”

“Well, thank you. You’re kind of cute yourself.” Or would be, Savvy amended silently, if you didn’t insist on wearing so much black eyeliner. With Lexi’s poorly cut, bleached hair and too-dark eyes, she resembled something from a vampire novel.

“You won’t have to cut much of your length to get a trim,” Savvy said. “Why don’t we try it? They don’t look busy. I’ll pay.” With her partial refund from the plane ticket and no car rental fee looming, she had more than enough money in her checking account.

“Okay. But I can pay for me. I’ve got money.”

Savvy shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. It was my idea. Hey, what color is your hair normally? I think you might look really cool with a few different shades of blonde.”

“All right. But only if it’s light like yours.”

Inside, Savvy drew aside the hair stylist and told her she wanted Lexi to look “less fake.” The woman grinned and assured her that wouldn’t be a problem. Since Lexi didn’t want any length taken off, the hairdresser’s job would be layering and coloring. Savvy figured that anything she came up with would be an improvement on the status quo.

“I’ll buy you an outfit after,” she said when the hairdresser had gone in the back room for products. “But I get to help pick it out.”

Lexi rolled her eyes. “I’m not wearing a dress.”

“Don’t worry. It won’t be. I’m only wearing this skirt because it’s so hot.”

“Oh, I wondered if it had something to do with you being a Mormon.”

“No.” Savvy shook her head. “When I was on a mission I had to wear dresses, but that was different. I was teaching people every day for eighteen months.”

Lexi regarded her silently for a minute. “I don’t understand why you would want to be a missionary–it’s such a waste of time. You had to leave your family, didn’t you? And anyway, you could have finished school by now.”

“I don’t see it that way. I see it as saving souls. What do you think the worth of a soul is?”

Lexi shrugged. “I don’t know. But saving them from what?”

The hairdresser was coming back. “From themselves, mostly,” Savvy said. “Believe me, lives change when people begin to believe in Jesus.”

Lexi didn’t reply, and Savvy had no way of knowing what her sister believed. Once their father had been a member, but he had strayed far from the precepts of the gospel. Had he ever taught Lexi about Jesus?

After the stylist finished, Lexi’s hair was remarkably changed. The top layers curved under, while the bottom ones gently curled up and out. The color was still blonde but with interspersing darker highlights that made it look more natural. The best part for Savvy was that Lexi’s ears and all those tasteless, childish piercings were hidden. If she’d had only one piercing in each ear, Savvy would have offered to buy inexpensive earrings to go with the new hairdo, but as it was, she decided earrings weren’t a subject she wanted to bring up right now.

“Wow,” Lexi said, eying herself in the mirror while Savvy paid. “I look different. I bet if Zeke could see me now, he’d flip.”

“Zeke?”

Lexi’s smile vanished. “Just a guy I know.”

Savvy checked her watch. “We have time to hit one store, but then we need to get back. It’s nearly six, and by the time we get home, my friends from Utah might be there.”

“Don’t you have his number?”

“Yeah. But if I know him, he’ll be coming over as soon as he gets into town.” Before Lexi could ask any more questions, Savvy led her down the mall.

The store was one Savvy chose specifically for its conservatism, both in pricing and in style. Lexi cast her a flat, challenging stare but tried on a few outfits anyway. She didn’t object when Savvy bought her a pair of inexpensive jeans and three modest sale tops–all for less than forty bucks.

Savvy checked her watch. “We’d probably better get back to the apartment.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes while Savvy wondered if she was doing the right thing in taking Lexi back to Utah. What if they both got into trouble? But if Lexi wouldn’t tell her Derek’s number or where she lived, Savvy had no choice. She didn’t even have Internet access to search out Derek’s name unless she went over to the college. And what would she do with Lexi while she went?

As they entered the parking lot, Savvy turned to Lexi. “We really need to talk.”

Lexi’s eyes were immediately suspicious, and Savvy felt her stomach flop. She wished she didn’t have to question Lexi, but she was the adult here. They walked past several cars before she found enough courage to say, “I need to contact your dad.”

“Our dad, you mean.” Lexi’s chin went up, her jaw firm.

“Yes, our dad. I’ll talk to him. Let him know you’re okay.”

Lexi stopped walking, clenching her fists at her side. Gone was the companionable young girl she had been all day, and in her place was the sullen teenager. “He won’t miss me,” she snarled. “Didn’t I tell you that already? Why do you think I left?”

“I don’t know why you left. You didn’t say anything except that you wanted to meet me. My parents think I should call the police so they can find your father. Can you give me any reason why I shouldn’t?”

Lexi was silent a moment, her brow furrowed. Savvy had the strange feeling that she was rehearsing her story, and yet why should she do that?

“My dad’s a horrible man,” Lexi said finally. “You can’t send me back to him. You don’t know him–he can get violent. You should have seen what he did when I tried to go out with Zeke.”

“You’re thirteen–you shouldn’t be going out.”

“Everybody does where I’m from. I tell Dad I’m not going to do anything stupid, but he just yells at me and . . . Look, if you call the police, I’ll have to run away, and then I’ll never see you again.” She fell silent, swallowing hard, her shoulder ticking convulsively. Abruptly the rebellious teen was gone, and she was a frightened, solitary little girl. “Please, Savvy, please. Don’t make me tell you where he is. Give me a few days. I need some time away from there. Please.”

Savvy’s heart twisted in her chest. “Lexi, does your father hurt you?”

Lexi dropped her gaze to her hands, apparently unwilling to answer.

“Does anyone else know about your father? What about your brother?”

Lexi lifted her face. A tear rolled down her cheek. “Brenton knows everything.”

“He’s an adult. Hasn’t he tried to help you?”

Another tear. “Brenton’s the best brother ever. He’s everything to me. Don’t get him into this.”

Savvy was happy Lexi had her brother, though she also felt a twinge of jealousy. What a close relationship her two half-siblings must have–one that didn’t include her. At least Brenton might be willing to testify against Lexi’s father, if it ever came to that. But why hadn’t he protected his sister more? “I’d like to meet him,” she said. She would love to ask him what his life had been like growing up with his father and if he had known about her before this year. Maybe he could tell her more than Lexi had chosen to.

Lexi shrugged. “Maybe. He’s sort of busy. College isn’t easy, you know.”

“Look, Lexi.” Savvy grabbed her hand that wasn’t occupied with her purchases. “Whatever is going on with your father, I can get help. But I need you to trust me, okay? If we don’t go about this the right way, we could get into serious trouble.” Kidnapping, for one, she thought.

Lexi nodded and tried to smile, though she appeared miserable. “Just a few days? How about until Wednesday? Then I’ll tell you everything. Okay? Please, Savvy. I promise, he won’t even miss me.”

Savvy briefly put an arm around her sister’s shoulders, wondering how it would be possible for their father not to notice Lexi’s absence. Was he a drunk? She seemed to remember her mother mentioning something about his Word of Wisdom problems. Perhaps after the death of his wife, he had gone downhill, had begun to take it out on Lexi. Savvy had to admit–if only to herself–that it made her feel somewhat better thinking this way. If he had a problem with substance abuse, if he was a lying, drinking, abusive man, then of course it would follow that his abandonment of Savvy stemmed from his own problems, not from anything she had done. Not from any fault in her younger self.

Did he even remember Savvy existed? Did he ever wonder about his firstborn and whether or not she was happy? Savvy wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. There was the very strong possibility that he didn’t care at all.