her words as she ran her hands up and down her daughter, checking for fever or injuries, wanting to assure herself Sofie was safe and sound and in one piece.
“No, Mama,” Sofie said solemnly, glancing up at her from under the red woolen hat that drooped down her forehead and nearly covered her big brown eyes. “I’m not hurt,” Sofie said, giving her cap a shove upward with a red mittened fist. “And I’m not sick, either.”
“Then why did Dr. Bradford bring you home?” Cassie demanded. Confused, her gaze went from Sofie to Dr. Beau. She hadn’t even noticed he’d followed them inside.
He was standing just inside the salon, tall and broad enough to almost fill the doorway, still wearing his cashmere overcoat and his expensive, designer wool scarf. Heavy leather gloves covered his large hands, and his inky black hair was windswept and dotted with fresh snowflakes that glistened as they melted.
Her gaze met his and she immediately felt as if she were drowning in a calm, blue lagoon. There was something dangerous about his eyes…. If a woman wasn’t careful, those blue eyes could just suck her in, making her blind and oblivious to reality.
She’d already had one life-altering turn with a slick, charming man, Cassie thought in annoyance, stiffening her resolve. She wasn’t seventeen any longer, and she’d already learned her lesson…about men, life and just about every other pitfall in between.
“Will someone please tell me what the devil is going on?” Exasperated, her gaze went from Dr. Bradford back to her daughter. “Sofie, why are you so late? And why did Dr. Bradford bring you home if you’re not hurt or sick? And where’s Rusty? You know you’re supposed to walk here with him every day after school, don’t you?”
“Yes, Mama,” Sofie all but whispered, staring down at the toes of her bright yellow Big Bird boots.
“And you know better than to get into a car with someone without my permission, don’t you?” Cassie’s gaze searched her daughter’s face, but Sofie’s chin merely drooped and she avoided her mother’s eyes.
“Sofie.” Gently, Cassie lifted her daughter’s chin. “Sweetheart, when you didn’t come home from school on time, Mommy got very, very worried. I was afraid something terrible had happened to you.”
“Something…terrible…did happen, Mama,” Sofie mumbled softly, glancing up at her mother through dark lashes glistening with tears. “At school.”
Cassie’s heart did another stutter step. “What happened, sweetheart?” she asked quietly, stunned by the stark sadness on her daughter’s face.
Sofie sniffled, again staring down at the toes of her bright yellow boots. “The kids at school…they laughed at me when I told them I’d seen red rain and that I was gonna do something real good for the science fair.” Sofie lifted stricken, tear-filled eyes. “They called me a liar and then they laughed at me.”
“They called you a liar and laughed at you?” Cassie repeated, stunned. Sofie had been bubbling over with excitement all week about the upcoming science fair. Science was her passion and had been ever since a former neighbor, a retired professor, had sparked her interest in the solar system.
For Cassie, a woman who had dropped out of school in her senior year to give birth, then had gone back to school at night just to get her G. E. D., the mere concept of scientific theories was a bit terrifying. But not for her brave, fearless, brilliant little girl.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” Gathering her daughter close, Cassie went down on one knee so she was eye level with Sofie. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and lifted Sofie’s drooping chin. “It’s not fun to be laughed at, honey. Or to be called names. Especially by your friends.” Cassie pushed down Sofie’s muffler so she could talk. “Now, tell me, sweetheart, why did the kids laugh at you?” Cassie smoothed away the stray strands of black hair that were clinging to her daughter’s rosy, wind-whipped cheeks and smiled her encouragement.
Sofie swallowed, then swiped her nose with her fuzzy red mittens before answering. “Because…because…they say I’m…a brainiac, Mama,” Sofie said, as tears flooded her eyes again.
“A brainiac?” Cassie repeated, and Sofie’s little head bobbed up and down.
“The kids tease me ’cuz they say I’m too smart.” Sofie rubbed her fuzzy red fists against her teary eyes. “They don’t like me, Mama,” Sofie wailed, sobs shaking her slender shoulders as she threw herself against her mother, hanging on for dear life. “They don’t like me so that’s why I was running away.”
Her daughter’s words had fear siphoning the blood from Cassie’s head, nearly making her dizzy. “You were…running away?” Cassie repeated, trying to keep the shock out of her voice so she wouldn’t upset Sofie further. But her knees were knocking now, nearly as hard and fast as her heart.
“Yes, Mama, but Dr. Beau found me.” Sofie swiped her nose again, then peeked at her mother from under her drooping red cap. “And he told me about the first-grade rule.”
Cassie merely blinked at her daughter. “The first-grade rule?” she repeated dully, glancing up at the doctor in confusion.
“Yes, Cassie,” Dr. Beau confirmed with an encouraging wink and a smile. “The Cooper’s Cove first-grade rule. I’m sure you were told about it when you registered Sofie for school?” he prompted, one brow lifting in expectation as his blue eyes twinkled at her.
“Uhm…yes, I’m sure I was,” Cassie said with a slow nod, not sure of any such thing, but playing along anyway. “But I’m afraid I’ve…uh…forgotten it,” she admitted, glancing up at him with a wan smile.
“That’s perfectly understandable,” he said, taking several steps deeper into the salon. As he pulled off his heavy leather gloves and shoved them in his pocket, he flashed Cassie and Sofie a dazzling smile. “The Cooper’s Cove first-grade rule says all first graders have to tell their parents before they run away. It’s a school rule, right, Sofie?”
“Yeah, it’s a rule,” Sofie admitted with a heavy sigh and Cassie nearly smiled in relief. Her gaze met Beau’s and in it she saw humor, kindness and understanding, three things that surprised her coming from him.
“We didn’t want to break any rules, now did we, Sofie?” he continued, and Sofie shook her head firmly.
“Uh-uh, Dr. Beau,” Sofie said, scrabbling at a wad of long tangled black hair sticking to her face.
“I phoned Katie at the newspaper and told her I was driving Sofie here so neither she nor Rusty would worry.”
“Thank you,” Cassie muttered with a nod, still a bit shell-shocked.
Almost everyone in town knew everyone else’s familial relationships. It was just part of small town life. Her mother, Gracie, and her Aunt Louella were sisters and partners in the Astrology Parlor a few doors down on Main Street. Katie was Aunt Louella’s daughter, and Rusty was Katie’s twelve-year-old son.
“Mama?” Sofie tugged on her mother’s hand, then yanked off her cap, shoving her flyaway hair from her face with a fist. “Dr. Beau drove me here so I could tell you I was gonna run away.” Sofie scowled suddenly. “But I think I gotta go to the bathroom first.” Sofie shoved her hat at her mother, then crossed her legs and began bouncing up and down. “I gotta go now, Mama.”
“Go,
