Vanishing Dreams: Vanishing Dreams (Devil's Bend #2) (15 page)

“May I come in?” Katie asked, trying to rein in her patience.

“Where did you find them?” Lexi asked again, nodding her head.

Katie took a step inside and placed the shoes beside her sister.

“I remembered putting them under the counter in the bathroom,” Katie
lied. Telling her eight-year-old sister that her beloved shoes had been mixed
in with the dirty clothes because Katie had been too tired when she’d come home
at three o’clock in the morning to pick them out of the pile on the bathroom
floor wouldn’t have gone over well.

As she expected, Lexi studied the shoes, not responding.

“We need to go in a few minutes, Lex,” Katie said softly. “You’ve got a
field trip today, and you don’t wanna be late.”

Katie couldn’t remember where the child care center that she had Lexi
registered at for three days a week had planned to take them, but she hoped
wherever it was, Lexi would enjoy herself.

Thankfully, she’d managed to find reasonable childcare at a place in
the neighboring town that actually seemed to enjoy Lexi’s attendance there.
They completely understood her diagnosis and had even insisted that they would
work with Lexi in order to help her acclimate to her surroundings, as well as
the other children. For the most part, Lexi was actually doing well there.

That had been three years ago. And to be honest, Katie wasn’t sure what
she’d do without them. Well, the center and her part-time nanny, better known
as her best friend, Sarah, who watched Lexi at night when Katie worked. They
were her lifeline most of the time, and she doubted they even realized it.

After gathering her purse and her cell phone, Katie went back to get
Lexi, finding her sister standing just inside her bedroom door, her pink shoes
on her feet. She was waiting patiently to leave, studying the doorframe of her
bedroom, and as was her routine — she didn’t leave her room until it was time
to go.

Just another oddity that Katie had gotten used to over the years.

One of many.

“Did y’all have fun today?” Dalton asked, making sure he kept his tone
upbeat as he addressed the fifteen eight-year-olds forming a line behind him.
The kids must’ve heard him, because they cheered, and a chorus of “yes” and “we
don’t wanna go” could probably be heard for miles.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Calhoun,” Bethany, the center’s director, said
for the umpteenth time, her gaze a little too intimate for Dalton’s peace of
mind.

“You’re very welcome,” he answered, making sure not to hold her gaze
for too long. “And please, call me Dalton.” Mr. Calhoun was his father, but he
wasn’t going to tell her that. As it was, he was a little worried there were a
few too many stars in her eyes when she looked his way.

Dalton continued to walk through the barn, holding hands with one
little girl who’d insisted on sticking close to him throughout the day.
According to Bethany, it was just short of a miracle, because little Lexi
wasn’t very fond of most people.

Not that he minded one bit. Lexi was quite cute and very polite, almost
freakishly so at times. She didn’t speak unless spoken to, and even then, she
sounded like she was light years older than eight.

“How about one more treat before y’all head out?” Dalton asked,
glancing over his shoulder at the long line of kids making their way behind
them in an orderly manner as instructed.

He received an overwhelming agreement, so he continued on his way
toward the small area that Tessa had cordoned off for the petting zoo. At the
moment, they didn’t have but a handful of animals populating the various pens,
but Dalton knew it would be enough to satisfy this bunch.

As they approached, Austin made his way to the front of the group and
offered a quick overview of the animals they had and what they were going to be
able to do. They would only be taking two kids at a time into each pen, which
meant their little detour was going to take a little longer than expected, but
Dalton wasn’t in a big hurry. It didn’t seem that Bethany was, either.

Taking a seat on one of the benches just outside the pen, Dalton was
surprised when Lexi sat down beside him rather than joining the rest of the
kids gearing up to visit the animals.

“Do you wanna go see the rabbits?” he asked softly, glancing down at
the little girl who was still holding his hand as if the world might swallow
her up if she let go.

“No, that’s okay,” she said quietly.

Dalton shot a look over at Bethany to find the young teacher staring
back at him as if he’d hung the moon.

Shit.

He knew that look, and he knew that he was going to have to do some
serious damage control if he was going to get out of this one without hurting
her feelings.

“Come on, Lexi,” Austin called to the little girl. “I’ve got a friend I
think you’ll wanna meet.”

Dalton watched the young man as Austin approached the little girl
slowly. It hadn’t been hard to detect how skittish Lexi was from the moment
she’d stepped foot into the barn just two short hours ago. She’d come in
latched on to Bethany’s hand and hadn’t joined in when they’d begun giving them
the kid-friendly version of the equestrian center. The version that was catered
solely for these visits with day-care centers, church groups, and a handful of
organizations that worked with at-risk youth.

“What is it?” Lexi asked, seemingly interested yet still reluctant.

Austin squatted down in front of her, keeping a good two feet between
them. Dalton had to hand it to the young man, Austin had a way with kids. The
boy couldn’t have been more than sixteen, maybe seventeen, yet he handled the
group of eight-year-olds as though he did that every single day.

Dalton watched as Austin glanced to his left, then to his right and
then leaned forward just a little bit. “Can you keep a secret?”

Turning his focus on the little girl still gripping his hand tightly,
Dalton noticed the way Lexi’s eyes widened and her cheeks puffed slightly from
her small smile.

When she nodded, Austin continued, “We’ve got puppies.”

Lexi’s eyes lit up like saucers, and her hand slipped from Dalton’s as
she leaned toward Austin. “Really? Can I see them?”

“Of course you can. Why don’t we bring Ms. Bethany along with us, too?”

Dalton nearly laughed aloud when the boy shot Dalton a glance that
said, “You’re quite welcome, and you owe me one.”

When Lexi took hold of Bethany’s hand and pushed off the bench, ready
to follow Austin to the puppies, Dalton took the opportunity to make his way
over to the goats to watch as a couple of kids fed them from their small hands.
He didn’t make eye contact with the teacher because he already got the feeling
this wasn’t going to end well. No matter how he handled it.

A solid half hour later, Dalton was waving good-bye to the kids in the
day care van while Austin stood beside him. Once the van was out of sight,
Dalton turned to head back to the barn. They needed to get the animals settled,
and then the afternoon volunteers would come in to ensure the various chores
were taken care of.

“She gave you her number,” Austin said chuckling.

“Shut it,” Dalton offered with a laugh of his own.

“Oh, Dalton, you’re so handsome. Oh, Dalton, I think I love you. Oh,
Dalton…” Austin said in a high-pitched, singsong voice.

Dalton knocked Austin’s hat wonky before taking off to the barn,
ignoring the continued mocking from Austin. Bethany hadn’t been quite that bad,
but Dalton had also managed to use a small group of eight-year-olds as his battle
shield for most of the day, giving her little opportunity to get a word in
edgewise.

“Mind if I head out early?” Austin asked a little while later, when
they’d double-checked all of the latches and locks on the small pens that
housed the animals used for the petting zoo.

“Nope, I don’t mind. I’m thinkin’ about headin’ home for a bite. I’ll
be back in a bit to check on the afternoon help. Anything I need to finish up
for you?”

“No, sir. I got it all taken care of. I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow.”

“Good deal. See you then,” Dalton answered as he started toward his
truck.

“Hey, Dalton,” Austin called back.

“’Sup?”

“Would you mind if I start helpin’ with the groups more?”

Dalton stopped walking and turned back to the younger man. “Is that what
you want?”

They had a handful of helpers who volunteered from the high school and
a few through a program with the local church, and although they didn’t have a
set job description, Dalton was all for letting the kids do what they felt they
were most suited for.

“I’d like to give it a try,” Austin replied.

“You have brothers or sisters?” Dalton asked curiously.

“Yeah,” Austin grinned. “Two. My brother’s five and my sister’s seven.
I keep promisin’ them I’ll bring them by one of these days.”

Dalton considered that for a minute. “How ’bout this? You bring your
brother and sister up here next Sunday and give them the tour. Just like you
would the day-care kids. If I like what I see, I’ll let you lead a couple of
the tours durin’ the week. How’s that?”

Austin’s face lit up and he nodded. “That’s great. Thanks.”

Dalton watched as Austin rushed off toward his truck, nearly running
the entire way.

He couldn’t help but remember a time when he’d gotten that excited
about something. Long before music had taken his life in a direction that he
hadn’t really anticipated.

And just as quickly, he shoved those memories away, because they had no
place here. As far as he was concerned, those dreams had vanished.

♥ ♥
♥ ♥ ♥

Katie couldn’t remember a single Friday night in the history of Friday
nights that she’d actually wanted to go to work. It didn’t have anything to do
with not being able to go out with her friends, and it wasn’t that she had
anything against the people she worked with at Diamonds and Lace. They were fine.
It was the actual
work
that bothered her.

But it was really hard to say no to the kind of money she received for
stripping.

Granted, if there was any other way for her to make that kind of money,
she’d do it in a second. With child care, school, a nanny, and Lexi’s therapy
sessions, it wasn’t that she had much of a choice. As much as she enjoyed
working at The Rusty Nail, it just didn’t pay the bills, and anything else was
off the table because of the amount of hours she’d have to put in to make even
a fraction of what she made in two nights at the club.

Not that she could explain that to anyone and have them look at her
like she was anything but trash. It was the consensus amongst most people,
which was why Katie made a point to keep her side job as far from her personal
life as possible.

At least that had been the plan, only Dalton now knew her secret. And
now she feared that, at any given moment, everyone she cared about was going to
find out that she was a fraud.

Katie knew what people said about her, knew that they all considered
her the sweet, innocent little waitress who was putting herself through school,
avoiding dating because her focus was on her education. That’s what they
thought because that was the exact persona she had developed for herself,
feeding into it whenever possible.

If they only knew.

Not many people even knew about Lexi or the fact that Katie had been
pulling mother duty to her little sister since she was eighteen years old. Lexi
had been three when their loser of a mother had disappeared, and Katie
certainly hadn’t been equipped to handle a mentally challenged three-year-old
at the time. No more than she was equipped now that Lexi was eight.

But somehow they’d made it, and a lot of it had to do with this stupid
job.

Walking in through the back doors of Diamonds and Lace, Katie greeted
Terrence, the burly, black bouncer who worked the door. “How’s Mona?”

“Fantastic,” Terrence answered with a quick smile. “She’s about ready
to pop, but she’s hangin’ in there.”

“Tell her I said hello,” Katie offered quickly, hurrying toward her
dressing room. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to stop and chat with Terrence
about his pregnant wife and their unborn child, but tonight she was running
late, and the last thing she needed was for Dwayne to come charging through
there to ride her ass about it.

Her boss wasn’t much of a people person, but even considering that,
Katie knew he’d been lenient toward her. He knew about Lexi, knew that Katie
was practically a single mom, although she wasn’t really a mom at all. She and
Dwayne had one of those tolerable relationships. He gave her a couple of free
passes as long as she came in, kept her mouth shut, and got her job done.

Katie had agreed, but only because Dwayne didn’t push her to interact
with the customers. She danced on stage and did the occasional lap dance,
although she steered clear of those whenever possible. Considering the other
girls were more than willing to rake in the money that Katie was willing to
pass up, it all seemed to work out.

But that meant that Katie spent more time on stage. Which, if anything
could be considered a blessing, that was it. Only because when she was up
there, she could get lost in her own head while forgetting about her problems
at the same time. Not an easy feat, mind you.

That and she didn’t have to deal with all of those wandering hands.

But tonight, more than ever, she just wasn’t feeling it. Not that she
hadn’t been on a downhill slide for the last few months, ever since she’d put
distance between herself and the only happiness she’d ever known.

But Dalton didn’t want to have anything to do with her, and she had
predicted it in the beginning. Sure, part of her had hoped that he would fight
for what they’d had, but just like everyone else in her life, he’d turned and
walked away without looking back.

It was your own fault.

Katie ignored the voice, not wanting to deal with the guilt. It was her
fault. No need to rub it in.

And Dalton had plenty of other reasons to not want to talk to her
anymore. After all, Katie had lied, although by omission. That she could
definitely understand, because it was something she beat herself up for over
and over again.

With hurried movements, Katie pulled off her leggings and her T-shirt
after kicking off her sandals. She flipped through the clothes hanging on the
metal rack in her personal dressing room — another perk of this particular
establishment — before yanking one of the outfits off its hanger. Picking out
the limited amount of clothing that she was going to wear tonight seemed
somewhat redundant to her, but it was a task she endured on the nights she came
to work.

Once she pulled on the sequined turquoise bra and matching thong, Katie
slipped into an oversized man’s white dress shirt that she kept on before she
went up on stage. She would’ve worn it all the time, but Dwayne would have her
hide, and avoiding an argument with him was always high on her priority list.
The shirt wasn’t much, but as far as she was concerned, it offered a plentiful view
of her body, which Dwayne repeatedly informed her was the whole objective when
she was in the main part of the club.