Page 9 of Take My Kiss
“No, miss.” She rushes to keep up with me. “I can page him over the loudspeaker?”
“Yes, do that. Please!” My gaze scans down another aisle before I see him at the very end with a shadowy figure. “Sam!”
I bolt toward him, Lily giggling and enjoying every second of my panic attack, then abruptly stop when I’m close enough to kneel and pull him into my arms.
“Sam! Don’t ever run off on me like that! You know better, baby!” I squeeze him, probably too hard, but I can’t help myself. “What were you doin’?”
“Sorry, Mommy,” he says when my eyes meet his green ones that match mine. “A man said he had candy, and I wanted some.”
“What?Who?”
He shrugs his little shoulders. “I dunno.”
“We talked ’bout this. You never go with a stranger. Never!”
“He said he wasn’t a stranger ’cause he knows you. And he knew my name.”
What the fuck?
“I don’t care what anyone says, you do not ever walk away from me without tellin’ me where you’re goin’. You hear me?”
His gaze drops to the floor. “Yes, ma’am.”
I blow out a relieved breath that he’s okay, but now my head’s filled with rage.
Who the hell tried to take my son?
“C’mon, baby. We gotta go.” I grab his hand and keep it in mine while I lead us to the front.
Glancing around, I check our surroundings for anyone I might recognize or someone acting suspicious, but whoever Sam’s talking about must’ve bolted as soon as he heard me scream his name.
I’ll contact the general manager once we’re home and ask him to review their security footage. If someone was trying to coerce him, I want to know who so I can make an incident report with the sheriff. I’m too shaken up to stay and do it now. I need to get out of here.
Instead of grabbing the rest of what I needed, I push my buggy to the checkout. I’ll get the rest of the groceries another day when Mattie or Raven can watch the kids.
“Watch your sister for a minute,” I tell Sam once they’re both buckled into their seats.
Not taking any damn chances, I lock the doors while I load the bags into my trunk. As soon as I slam it shut, I gasp at the unexpected sight of the cashier standing beside my car.
“Holy—” I clasp my chest. “You scared me.”
“I’m so sorry.” She frowns. “I called out your name, but I guess you didn’t hear me.”
Fuck, I was too much in my own head.
“It’s okay. What did you need?” I ask impatiently.
“Oh, right! You left your card on the counter.”
When she holds it out for me, I quickly shove it into my pocket. “Thank you, appreciate it.”
“No problem.”
As soon as I get into the driver’s seat, I lock the doors again and start my car. It’s a fifteen-minute drive to the retreat where we live in the ranch-hand duplexes. Wilder Hollis and his wife, Delilah, took me in a couple years ago and gave me a receptionist job at The Lodge. Before their help, we were living in a one-bedroom apartment that I could hardly afford since I was unemployed. It was hard to keep a job when I couldn’t get childcare during the day or child support to help cover expenses.
Thankfully, nearby food shelters and local programs offered grants that helped keep us full and a roof over our heads. Now I’m fortunate enough not to need that assistance, so it can go toward other families who do. I’m forever grateful to everyone who volunteered or donated clothes so my kids didn’t go without, and I hope to pay it forward one day.
Meeting Wilder at one of the soup kitchens not only changed my life but my kids’ as well. Being able to give them a sense of family with the Hollises when we had none means more to me than anything.
