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Laura was mulling over what she should do about or say to JT, when someone knocked on the door.
JT jumped up as if she were going to see who it was.
“I’ve got it,” Laura assured her. “You, homework.”
JT slammed back into her seat with an audible thump.
Laura opened the door and found Lieutenant Keller standing in the hallway. His dark blue uniform was very starched and perfectly pressed. She’d noticed his eyes at the police station the other night, and was drawn to them again this afternoon. But this time it wasn’t their golden-brown color that softened his whole look, it was his expression—a sort of look that said, you can trust me.
She’d hazard a guess that small children gravitated to him. She could imagine them spilling their secrets and showing him their treasures, and he’d take it all in with a sincere interest.
She realized she’d been silently studying him longer than was polite. “Lieutenant, what can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for JT. I said I’d stop in and check on her.”
Laura nodded her head toward the student who was hiding behind a book.
Seth raised his eyebrows questioningly toward the girl. Laura realized he was asking if she minded if he talked to her. She smiled, silently giving him her permission.
Seth entered the classroom and folded himself gingerly into the desk next to JT’s. “Hi, JT. I’m Lieutenant Keller from the other night.”
“Yeah, I remember. Once a guy locks you up, he sort of becomes memorable. I went home and pulled out my very pink diary and wrote, Dear Diary, guess who I met tonight?”
“You know, you can lie to other people, but you should never lie to yourself or your diary. What you should have written was, Dear Diary, This very nice, understanding and probably very intelligent cop put me in a waiting room after I made a boneheaded decision.”
Laura thought she saw a ghost of a smile flit across JT’s face, but it was so fast she couldn’t be sure.
The girl simply scowled at the police officer and shrugged. “Yeah, whatever.”
Seth didn’t appear phased by her sullenness, but forged ahead. “I was worried about you and wanted to be sure everything’s okay at home.”
“What you’re asking is if my mom beats me? I mean, you saw the slap in the car and you’re worried that I’m abused. But no, she doesn’t beat me or abuse me in any way. Ms. Watson asked, too. I’ll tell you what I told her, my mom’s not interested enough to beat me. She was annoyed that I’d ruined her date, that’s all.”
“I’m sure—”
JT cut him off. “So am I. I am utterly positive that my mother doesn’t beat me. I’m not abused. Ignored, maybe, but I don’t think that’s a crime. Listen, Officer, I’m fine. Mom slapped me ’cause she was pissed. She went back to her date and forgot all about it. She even forgot to ground me. So, don’t worry. You’ve done your duty.” She glanced at the clock. “And so have I. Detention’s over, so I’m gonna go. Okay, Ms. Watson?”
Laura glanced at the clock and nodded. “Yes. I’ll see you here after school tomorrow.”
“Yeah, whatever.” JT gathered up her books, stuffed them in her backpack and rushed out of the room.
Laura waited for the door to slam before she apologized to the officer. “Sorry she was rude, Lieutenant—”
He unfolded himself from the desk and corrected her. “Seth.”
“Seth,” Laura agreed. “It was nice of you to check on her.”
“Listen, I know it’s a bit early, but I want to grab something to eat before I head for the station. Want to get a slice of pizza at Porky’s and we can talk about JT?”
Laura wasn’t sure she wanted to at all. As a matter of fact, she was pretty positive she didn’t. Porky’s was close to City Hall and frequented by the entire police department. She didn’t want to run into any of Jay’s friends, but she did want the lieu—Seth, she corrected herself. She felt something ease in her as she altered his name in her head. It was easier to think of him as Seth than as a lieutenant.
And Porky’s or not, she did want his advice on JT.
She missed having Jay to bounce things off of. Problems with students. The small triumphs. None of the other teachers had been overly interested in JT. Most had decided she was a problem student, and a few had totally written her off. Seth seemed genuinely concerned, so maybe he’d have an idea. “Sure. I’ll follow you there.”
SETH WASN’T SURE WHAT possessed him to invite Laura to join him for dinner, but he was glad she’d accepted the offer. He was also glad to see her in an all-wheel drive vehicle, which he’d noted on their way to Eighth and Myrtle. It might be only early November, but that wasn’t too soon to think about winter. And the winters in Erie could be brutal. Some people in town drove cars that simply weren’t suited to the climate. But not only was the all-wheel drive suitable, the cherry-red color suited her somehow, too.
He kept glancing in his rearview mirror. Stopped at a red light, he blatantly stared at her. It appeared that Laura was a singer, and whatever song was playing must be a favorite because she wasn’t merely singing, but doing a little head-bop, as well.
He couldn’t help smiling as she parked behind him at a meter. He waited and walked across the street with her.
“What are you grinning at?” she asked.
“So, what song was playing?”
“Huh?”
“Something you like was on the radio as we drove here.”
She laughed. “Ha! Jay used to tease me about my car-singing habits. And rumor has it I’m just as bad in the shower.”
She froze as she said the word shower, as if she’d shared something too personal.
“So, what song?”
“Lady Antebellum’s ‘Looking for a Good Time.’”
“A country fan,” he commented, as they entered the small pizza joint.
“Do you mind if we sit in the corner?” she asked.
“Sure.” He led her to one of the vacant tables. “I’ll go place our order. Anything in particular?”
“I’m not picky.”
Normally, Seth would choose a traditional pepperoni pizza, but given Laura’s condition, he asked for a vegetable pizza instead and brought them both bottles of water.
“So, tell me more about JT,” he said.
“I teach art. I’m sure you guessed that when you walked into my classroom. Anyway, JT’s a freshman and she’s got talent. A lot of talent. I’ve so enjoyed having her in my class, but the other teachers…”
“Not so much?” he supplied.
“Not so much,” she agreed. She took off her coat and rested her arms on top of her huge stomach. “She rarely turns in homework and her classroom behavior isn’t much better. She’s passing, but only just.”
Seth forced his gaze upwards and concentrated on Laura’s face. It had been easy to forget about her pregnancy when she was bundled up. “So she’s doing detention with you?”
“I went to the principal Monday morning and requested it.” She continued recounting her conversation and concluded with, “We hope maybe a stint with me might give me the opportunity to find out what’s really going on with her. Possibly give her a chance to open up to someone.”
“You must be reaching her on some level. After all, she did call you when she was waiting for her mom.”
Laura nodded. “Yes, there’s that. Thanks. Although, it’s not like she’s said a lot that night or this week.”
“So the strategy is to wait it out and try to get her to talk.” It was a statement, not a question. Seth hardly knew Laura, but he knew this much about her.
“Yes.”
“Is there something I can do?”
“I’d take any advice you have. I’m at my wit’s end.”
“Just keep caring about her. Sometimes it simply takes one person caring to help a kid turn a corner.”
“Two,” she said.
“Two?”
“You care, too. You stopped by today to check on her because you care, so she’s got two of us in her corner.”
“It’s my job.”
She shook her head, looking as if she didn’t believe him.
“It is,” he protested. “A good cop’s goal isn’t just to arrest someone, but to step in before they have to arrest someone.”
She shook her head again. “It’s more than your job, at least with JT. You see a lot of troubled kids. You stopped by today because she’s more than a job for you.”
“I could say the same thing about you,” he pointed out. “I’ll be the first to admit, we can’t save everyone, but we can save some. I have a sister, Cessy, who’s only a few years older than JT. I would hope that if she had problems, someone would step in and help her if I couldn’t be there for her.”
The pizza came and they each chose a slice.
After a couple bites, Laura asked, “Is your family here in Erie?”
Not a topic he wanted to discuss, but he answered, “No, not Erie proper. They’re in Whedon.”
Seth had grown up in Whedon, a small town just outside of Erie. But he’d joined the Erie police force because it was bigger and offered a lot more opportunities to advance.
“That’s nice that your family’s so close,” Laura said.
It didn’t seem as if they were close at all. The mere fifteen minutes distance might as well have been hours, days. Seth hadn’t felt connected to his family in years.
No, that wasn’t right. He still felt connected to his siblings. It was his parents he was no longer close to. And the irony was, he loved them. But their estrangement had gone on for so long he didn’t know how to fix it.
“How many siblings?” Laura asked.
He smiled when he thought of his eclectic family. “There are six of us. My parents adopted us—” He stopped, unsure why he’d felt the need to share that. “You?”
“Just me. An only child of two only children.”
Seth couldn’t imagine what that was like. He had friends who came from big families, and most of them said they dreamed of being an only child. Not Seth. His family, the way it was, had been his dream. It was a dream that he sometimes thought he’d lost, and that hurt. Worse, he was unsure what he could do to get it back.
Truthfully, he didn’t want to think about his family…or his past. He’d spent the last few years perfecting each as an art form. Concentrating on Laura was easier. Not that he was spying on her for the chief. But if he could put his commander at ease, without betraying Laura’s confidence in him, he would.
“Do your parents live in town?” he asked conversationally.
“My mom died when I was in fourth grade. After that it was me and Dad. He passed away right after I started college. Sometimes I think he held out long enough to be sure I could take care of myself before he felt he could join her.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too,” Laura admitted. “About JT, maybe between the two of us we can get her to open up.”
They chatted about Laura’s classes and he described his new job as liaison to the school district. She listened to him talk about his hopes for the position as they ate their pizza. Stunned that they’d been talking for more than forty-five minutes, he shoved his last bite of pizza into his mouth. “Laura, this has been great, but I’ve got to be at the station.”
“Thanks for dinner, but more than that, thanks for caring, Lieutenant.”
“I thought I was Seth now?” he reminded her.
“You are.” Laura smiled as she repeated his name. “Seth. Thanks for following up with JT and for the pizza. Any night I don’t have to cook is a bonus.”
“I’ll try to stop in and check on JT…Friday, if that works?”
“That would be nice.”
“I’ll see you then. Take the rest of the pizza home, would you? I hate to let it go to waste.” He stood up.
Laura got up out of her chair. It was almost painful to watch her struggle onto her feet. “Sure. Feed the pregnant woman. That’s what she needs.”
He’d forgotten about her being pregnant and blanched at the reminder. “Friday. See you Friday.” He bolted.
He knew that’s what he’d done. It was cowardly. Still, seeing her reminded him of Allie. And even now, years later, it hurt.
And now he’d promised to visit Laura on Friday.
Way to go, Keller.
ON THURSDAY AT HER SECOND period freshman art class, Laura took attendance and discovered that JT wasn’t there.
She toyed with Seth’s card.
During her lunch break, she called the number and got his voice mail. “Hi, Seth. You said to let you know if I had any problems with JT. Well, she didn’t come to school today. I’m going to head over to her house after school. I’ll keep you posted.” She was ready to hang up and then added, “Oh, I should have said, this is Laura.”
What a moron, of course he’d know it was her. Who else would have called about JT?
She tried the number listed on JT’s contact form. No one answered.
By the time school ended, she gathered up her things and hurried out of the room…and right into Lieutenant Seth Keller’s ample chest.
He jumped back as if he’d been burned, went beet-red and stammered, “Are you okay? The baby. I mean—”
