The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection

Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

The drive to the foster parents’ house took almost half an hour. They lived on a rural acreage, the forest and mountains majestically set in the background. The weather, though, wasn’t as pleasant. The rain and wind had kicked up, pounding the windshield, and the temperature was dropping so low that the rain most likely would turn to snow before the day was out. So, of course, Jed jumped in, and he, too, insisted that Andy drive.

Andy had held the seat back for Diana, and she said as she climbed in, “Jed doesn’t like me driving if it rains, snows, just about any time the road conditions are questionable. So I expected Andy to drive, or else Jed would be driving us over himself, Laura.”

Laura had just taken that in, absorbing how a husband could love his wife so much that he’d worry when she drove. Wow, it was a dream, and she was envious of Diana and what she had with Jed. Jed made her nervous, but most men did. He was so strong, tall, and solidly built, and she never knew what to say around him. But she realized that Jed wasn’t a talker; he studied people and seemed to figure them out by watching. But then, Laura wasn’t much of a talker either. The problem was that when the two of them were put together, the silence could become awkward.

Andy, though, was a mystery to her. He made her nervous. He oozed power, everything alpha, and she was baffled as to why he wanted to help her. Oh, she got the part where he felt responsible, but he was going above and beyond, and that made her ridiculously nervous. No one ever went out of their way for Laura. Even with Diana, helping as she did, Laura kept half expecting to wake up to Diana telling her she had changed her mind, that she had to leave, that her problems were too much. But she hadn’t said squat along those lines, and neither had Andy.

Diana and Andy chatted. She knew that every time Andy took his eyes off the road and glanced her way, she could feel his concern, his caring, and she didn’t know what to make of it. He was, after all, far too attractive for his own good. The truth was that he made her nervous not because he watched her in a way that was inappropriate but because she had watched him in the same way. Every time he walked into a room in the estate, she’d hidden behind a potted plant, a door, anything for him not to see her, to notice her.

Laura pulled herself from her thoughts when Andy turned down a gravel road with trees lining both sides. He drove to the end and braked. “This the address, 3620, Diana?”

Diana leaned over the seat. “Good eye, Andy. I never would have seen it through all those overgrown bushes.”

Andy turned down a narrow dirt driveway. A rotted sign with the house address was painted onto a board as if a five-year-old had done it. The broken board was tilted sideways. The driveway angled around and opened into a cleared-out dirt yard, with broken-down cars piled everywhere, a chicken coop that had seen better days, several old buildings, and a two-story house that didn’t appear finished. The outside was covered in tar paper, and piles of lumber and garbage were stacked beside the house. Andy parked behind what appeared to be half a dozen vehicles. Laura gazed at the porch, which had a punching bag hung by chains and an old sofa with a big dog lying on it.

“Diana, is this where my son is?” Her voice sounded weak. When she looked over, she didn’t miss the hard set of Andy’s jaw.

He nodded his head. “I’ll go check it out, and you two wait here.”

“Andy, wait…” Diana started to protest, but he’d already jumped out and shut the door. He stepped up on the porch, which was missing a front step, and pounded on the door.

Laura turned as Diana climbed over the front seat and sat in the driver’s side. “The Friessen men, in case you didn’t notice, Laura, don’t ever sit back and let anyone take charge, let alone a woman.” Diana yanked open the door. “Let’s go. Looks like someone answered the door.”

Diana walked with Laura. Andy was speaking with a short, plump woman who appeared to be in her fifties. There was a small dog barking and barking, which she bent over to pick up. A cat ran out the door and scurried around the house. Andy glanced down at Laura when she approached. The light-haired woman holding the yapping dog turned her head and yelled, “Nancy, turn that down!” She was yelling at someone upstairs. Then the volume on what Laura thought was the TV lowered. The woman returned to the open door. “Which one of you is the mother?”

Laura felt stung, but it was Andy who spoke. “This is Laura Parnell. She is Gabriel’s mother.” Andy touched her shoulder, and she didn’t flinch. With the way the woman stared at her with hard judgmental eyes, she welcomed his support. Her heart was pounding, she was terrified, and her heart ached to see her child.

“Well, come in. It’s cold out there.” The hallway wasn’t even finished. The floor was plywood with an old rug thrown over it, and the walls were unfinished wallboard. She led them up a steep stairwell, with no handrail, which was open to downstairs.

Andy led the way into a large, open living room, kitchen, and dining area. The dining room wall had insulation covered by a plastic vapor barrier. The ceiling had the same, and the walls were unfinished. Two dressers were pressed against the wall in the overcrowded living room. The television was on, and there were five young children sitting on the floor, watching it. The woman carried that yappy dog that continued to bark. Laura looked around frantically but didn’t see Gabriel with the other children.

“Andy, where’s Gabriel?”

The way the woman watched her, she didn’t want to talk to her. Andy didn’t appear too happy as he looked around this house, if it could be called a house, that was. She had seen his darker moods and recognized one now.

“Where is Gabriel?” he asked, staring down at the woman, his arms crossed.

The woman had soft brown eyes that widened as she spoke. “Oh, he’s in the bedroom. I’ll get him.” There were what appeared to be two bedrooms off this square room and another door that was closed. A toilet flushed behind that one. The room the woman went to had a half door with a bolt, similar to something used on stall doors. She slid the bolt open and went in. Diana followed the woman and looked in, but Laura couldn’t get her feet to move. Her little boy, Gabriel, came out holding the woman’s other hand. She still held the yappy dog. Gabriel saw her and raced to her, and Laura went down on her knees and crushed him in a tight hug, struggling to hold back her tears.

They stayed for only an hour. Andy lingered in the background. She could feel him watching over them, and again she was so glad he was there. The woman, though, watched Laura the entire time, and after an hour stood up and said, “You’re done, time to go. Say goodbye.” Then the women said to Andy, “I don’t want a scene, or the boy upset or the other kids. I don’t need to be calming them down all night.” It was Andy who got Laura through it, who leaned down and wrapped his arms around her when they both sobbed, and he whispered in her ear, “I’m going to get him back for you, I promise.” When Laura stood up with Andy’s help, Gabriel reached for her, screaming, but the woman yelled. “Get out now! I told you not to upset him.” She grabbed Gabriel and took him back in the room, shutting the door while they left.

Laura didn’t know how she had gotten into the car, but Andy buckled her seatbelt and was holding her hand as they drove away. Diana sat quietly in back.