a disgusted shake of his head, he snapped his attention back to Kevin’s disappearance. Still muttering apologies, Hank had already followed the teacher to the parking lot. Todd sprinted to his own mud-streaked, battle-scarred pickup. Gravel flew as he spun out onto Kendall Drive, forcing his way into the stream of rush-hour traffic. Locked into a slow-moving crawl, he kept his eyes peeled for some sign of a small, proud boy walking dejectedly along the edge of the highway.
His impatience mounted with every block. Horn honking, he tried weaving through traffic, but it was a wasted effort. No lane was moving any faster than a snail’s pace. With each quarter mile he covered, his panic deepened. So many terrible things could happen to a kid, especially in a city the size of Miami. Kevin was all he had, all that meant anything in his life. If anything happened to him… He couldn’t even allow himself to complete the thought.
His heart thudded heavily as dismay settled in. This was pointless. He’d already covered miles without seeing any sign of Kevin. If he had gotten on a bus, he could be anywhere. If he hadn’t and if he’d come this way, Todd would have found him by now.
Praying that Hank or Elizabeth Gentry had had better luck and just hadn’t called, he finally turned the truck around and went back to the nearly deserted construction site. The crew, unaware that there had been any sort of a crisis, had left in his absence and only one car remained in the lot—hers. In an odd way it reminded him of her. It was an ordinary, small blue Toyota, sedate and practical. Only the sunroof hinted at her sense of daring.
Had she found Kevin, he wondered as he hurried toward the trailer. If she had, he thought he might be able to forgive her anything.
He swung open the door of the trailer and saw the two of them—laughing. Her laughter was low and full-bodied. Kevin’s high-pitched and raucous. Her arm was around the boy’s shoulders as they studied a drawing done in red marker. The quiet intimacy of the scene, the suggestion of family, made Todd suck in his breath. For an instant an irrational fury clouded his vision, overriding his relief. He’d been out searching, his stomach knotted by worry and they were in here laughing like two thoroughly happy conspirators.
“Where’d you find him?” he asked. His curt tone drew startled glances from both of them.
“Hi, Dad,” Kevin said cheerfully, obviously oblivious to his father’s mood. Todd regarded him suspiciously. He was not behaving like a child who’d run away in anger.
“We’ve been waiting for you. See what I did. Mrs. Gentry says it’s pretty good.”
A surge of righteous outrage burst inside him. “Go to the truck,” he said, his voice tight.
“Dad?” Kevin’s voice was puzzled, his expression confused. He stared up at his teacher, which only infuriated Todd more. Since when had Kevin turned to someone other than him for instructions.
“Now!”
Shoulders slumping and lip quivering at the shouted command, Kevin started toward the door.
“I think you’d better let me explain,” Elizabeth Gentry said. She spoke quietly, but there was an edge of steel in her voice. He knew instinctively it was her classroom voice. It probably terrorized the kids. He ignored it.
“Kevin, you heard what I said.” His voice was calmer, but no less authoritative.
She stepped closer to Kevin and put a protective hand on his shoulder. She glared defiantly at Todd, the look meant to put him in his place. He had to admire her spunk. Under less trying circumstances, he might even find it a turn-on. Right now, it was only an irritant. He scowled right back at her.
“Save your attempt at intimidation, Mr. Lewis. When I found Kevin, I realized that in my desperation to find him, I forgot to get your number. Kevin did not run away. Don’t take your frustration out on him or, for that matter, on me.”
He stared from her to his son and back again. Swallowing hard, he tried to regain control over his temper. “I don’t understand.”
“Tell your father what happened,” she urged. When Kevin appeared to be hesitant, she smiled at him. “It’s okay. Tell him what you told me.”
“I went to get a drink. Hank gave me the money. And there was this cat.” He regarded Todd hopefully. “It was a great cat, Dad, but he’d gotten all wet. I guess he fell in that big mud puddle in back of the trailer. Anyway, I tried to get him so I could clean him up, but he ran. I chased him across the field. When I came back, you were all gone. I must have been gone longer than I thought, ’cause Mrs. Gentry says you all were worried. I’m sorry I scared you.”
Relief rushed through Todd. A cat! Kevin had been chasing a stupid, wet cat. He massaged his temples. The pounding in his head began to ease as his tension abated. He stared at Elizabeth Gentry and gave a small, apologetic shrug before grinning sheepishly at Kevin. “Did you catch the cat?”
“No,” he said, obviously disgusted. “He was too fast. Anyway, he ran inside a garage. I guess he must belong to somebody.”
Suddenly exuberant, Todd picked Kevin up and swung him in the air. “You want a cat that badly?”
“Not really. I’d rather have a dog, but you said we couldn’t have one, ’cause we’re not home enough.” He recited Todd’s old argument without emotion. “I just wanted to play with this one.”
“Maybe we’ll have to rethink that,” Todd said. He caught Elizabeth Gentry watching them. She was smiling, but there was something about her eyes that got to him. She looked sad. He couldn’t imagine why. Everything had turned out just fine. His son was safe. He felt like celebrating.
“I’d better be getting home,” she said, the flat declaration tempering his mood.
Suddenly uncertain, he said with awkward sincerity, “Thanks for helping with the search.”
“I’m glad it wasn’t really necessary. I will see you at the school tomorrow, won’t I?”
The woman had the tenacity of a terrier with an old sock. He grinned. “I promise not to stand you up again.” He took her hand, holding it just long enough to confirm the solemnity of his commitment. Her grip was firm, her skin like cool silk, but she trembled. That tiny hint of vulnerability set off warning bells again. He released her hand, but not her gaze. The air sizzled with electricity.
“Hey, you guys, what about my hamburger?”
Todd glanced away at last to stare blankly at Kevin. When he looked back at Elizabeth Gentry, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes hooded.
“I don’t think today is…” she began with surprising uncertainty.
Kevin’s face fell. Todd was torn between his son’s disappointment and his own need to escape the confusing emotions this redheaded firebrand raised in him.
“I’ll take you out for a hamburger, son. Mrs. Gentry probably has to get home to her family.”
“No, she doesn’t. She doesn’t have a family. She told us her husband died,” Kevin announced ingenuously.
Todd’s heart took an unexpected lurch. Glancing over Kevin’s head, his eyes met hers. “I’m sorry.”
“So am I,” she said quietly, but with a surprising lack of emotion.
