mind away from the turmoil it was experiencing. “I can’t imagine why you came to get your daughter on a bike. Wouldn’t a car have been more comfortable for a drive back to Chapel Hill?”
He shifted on his chair, crossed his leg on the opposite knee. “Comfortable? Yeah, but I got here in just over two hours, and a car would have taken much longer. Plus I can keep a grip on Sawyer the whole way.” He stared hard at Ava a moment as if there was something he wanted to say. After a pause, he breathed deeply. “I know what you’re thinking. Has this happened before? Well, yeah it has. Gotta say though—” he looked around the comfortable kitchen in Ava’s apartment “—this is one of the better places Sawyer has picked.”
“Ava! You in here?”
The sound of her brother’s voice put an end to further conversation. Ava stood. “I’m in the kitchen, Carter. Come in.”
Carter Cahill, wearing jeans and a casual shirt and jacket, strode into the kitchen. Sunday was his day off, so he’d obviously elected not to put on his official uniform. He stopped a few feet into the room and stared menacingly at Walsh. “Everything okay here?” he asked. “There’s a strange motorcycle outside. You all right, Ava?”
Noah scowled. “Why wouldn’t she be?”
Knowing she had to calm the situation and keep it from escalating into a match of words between the two men, Ava put the past—and her roiling stomach—aside. “This is the girl’s father, Carter,” she said, standing up. “Noah Walsh. He’s come to take her home.” Turning to Noah, she said, “This is my brother Carter. He’s chief of police in Holly River.”
Both men nodded, but made no move to shake hands.
“Where’s the girl?” Carter asked.
“I’m here,” Sawyer said, coming into the kitchen. She looked rested and well, her hair combed into a ponytail. She wore the clothes Ava had brought her, jeans and a sweatshirt. With her hoodie covering her, she should be warm enough on the ride back to Chapel Hill. The temperature was going into the upper fifties today.
She stared at her father. “Well, aren’t you going to put me in handcuffs and cart me out of here? I’d like to get home in time to plan my next escape.” Noah started to rise. His jaw muscles tensed.
“Can we all just hold on a minute here?” Carter said. “Ava, I’ve got some information for you.” Speaking to Sawyer, he said, “Can you wait in the lobby awhile, Miss Walsh? And don’t try running off. If you do, I’ll have the entire police force of this town tracking you down.”
“The entire force of this town?” Sawyer said. “Yikes, I’m scared.”
Ava gave her a hard stare. “That’s enough, Sawyer. Just go into the lobby and wait for us.”
Sawyer looked as if another smart remark were on the tip of her tongue, but apparently she thought better of uttering it and ambled from the kitchen with a last sarcastic comment. “I’ll be waiting, Daddy. Can we stop for ice cream on the way home?”
Once Sawyer had left the room, Ava took a seat at the table. She hadn’t realized how weak her knees felt, how clouded her thinking.
Carter began. “I’ve done some investigating into this situation,” he said. “I’ve discovered that this is the fourth time this year that Sawyer has run away from home.” He waited for a reaction from Noah.
“It’s true,” he said. “She has become impossible.”
“Be that as it may,” Carter continued, “each time your daughter has run farther than the last. If she tries it again, she could very well slip away from you forever.”
“I don’t think so,” Noah said. “She wants you to believe her life is horrible, but I doubt she’d actually give up the advantages she has for a long absence. She’ll always come back.”
Ava looked at Carter and, avoiding direct eye contact with Noah, she said. “Sawyer was riding with a truck driver. She hitchhiked from Chapel Hill. Surely as her father, you understand the risks associated with that type of behavior. I mean, she was lucky this time, but...”
A muscle worked in Noah’s temple. “You think I don’t know that? I see where you people are going with this, but you’re way off base. Sawyer won’t try this again. She’ll be fine when I get her home. She’s made her point and knows she scared the...well, scared me pretty good.”
Carter’s features reflected his skepticism. “For how long?”
Noah sighed heavily as the room remained quiet. “Look,” he said. “Sawyer and I have our problems. I travel in my profession. I’m not home a lot, and Sawyer lives with housekeepers—very carefully selected housekeepers that I personally interview. I check their credentials. But Sawyer has a problem with boundaries. The relationships haven’t worked out.”
He shifted on his chair and leaned forward. “As a matter of fact, we’ve gone through so many housekeepers that it’s no longer a case of me requesting their references as it is the ladies requesting ours. Word has gotten around.” He tried to smile, but apparently realized the lack of humor in what he’d just said. “It’s not easy to find someone Sawyer will listen to.”
“Where is Sawyer’s mother?” Ava asked.
Noah frowned. “Currently in a small town outside of Barcelona I believe. Mary Kate and I divorced three years ago. She claimed to need peace and tranquility, and the tension around her relationship with Sawyer could never provide that. They argued all the time.”
Ava remembered his confession that he was married when he left her house in the middle of the night six years before.
Noah actually did smile this time. “You may find this hard to accept, but things have gotten easier for Sawyer since her mother left and we filed for divorce. We no longer hear from her, and we’re both okay with it.”
“You sure about that?” Carter asked.
“I’m sure. Ask Sawyer yourself if you don’t believe me. The last few years I was married, Sawyer did not grow up in a happy household. Her mother and I...” He paused. “Let’s just say, our family would not have made an ideal sitcom.”
“So let me make sure I have this right,” Carter said. “Sawyer has no mother in her life, and her father is mostly an absentee parent who leaves her to be raised by a housekeeper.”
Noah’s lips thinned. “I have to work, man. I make a good living. Sawyer has everything she needs.”
Ava and Carter shared a communal look of understanding. Yes, Sawyer had material things.
“Are there any other family members who could help with this situation?” Ava asked.
Noah shook his head. His gaze was fixated on Carter and the hallway where Sawyer had disappeared. He obviously didn’t trust either one of them. “My mother is designated legal guardian if something should happen to me. I had to select someone since my profession involves pretty high risk. But right now my mother lives in Oregon. We rarely see her. Mary Kate’s mother kept Sawyer for a while. They weren’t a good match. She sent her back to me.” Noah stood. “If that’s all, we’ll be on our way now.” Turning to Ava, he looked at her for a long, uncomfortable moment and said, “Thanks
