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Chapter Five
Vanessa
Vanessa cleaned up the breakfast plates as Opal sat at the table, coloring. Every Saturday, they made pancakes, and today was no exception. She rinsed the sticky syrup from the dishes and dropped them in the dishwasher.
“Can I go play outside?” Opal asked, setting her crayons down.
Vanessa glanced out the window to the playground in the center of the apartment complex. There were several kids down there and a few parents. It was a beautiful day, and kids should be outdoors playing in weather like this. She hated to keep Opal inside so much, but it was just safer. She almost said no, but maybe going out for a little while wouldn’t hurt. She’d keep her eye on her and take her gun.
“Let me finish up these dishes, then we’ll go out, okay?”
Opal nodded and returned to coloring while she waited.
A few minutes later, Vanessa and Opal went to the playground. Vanessa took a seat on a nearby bench, holding Opal’s ball while she ran to the slide. In her past life, she would have brought a book and sat and read while Opal played. Not anymore. She couldn’t take her eyes off her for even a second, for fear she might be taken.
Opal slid a few times, then came to get her ball and started bouncing it off things. The wooden beams, the climbing bars, the pole of the swing set. Anything but the ground. She bounced the ball and caught it, then repeated.
“She’s pretty good at that.”
Vanessa managed to keep herself from crying out in shock as she jumped at the sudden sound. A man sat down beside her on the bench, watching Opal bounce the ball. Of course, it was Hunter. Where had he come from? What was he doing here?
“She is,” Vanessa agreed, refusing to look at him. She kept her eyes trained on Opal.
“Has she ever talked about playing basketball?”
“Nope.” Vanessa wondered if he would take the hint and leave. If she kept ignoring him and giving him short answers, how long would it take him to go?
She didn’t like how he just kept showing up. And he showed up at places with kids, when he came alone. That seemed far too creepy. He could be a child molester. One of these men who hung out at playgrounds and watched kids. Until he decided to take one.
“You just here to watch the kids play?” she asked. Maybe if she hinted at what he appeared to be, he’d get it. Or maybe he’d give her some information that could be helpful someone to her. Something about why he was hanging around.
He scratched his head. “Uhh, no. Not exactly.”
“Then why are you here?”
“It’s a nice park, nice day. Why not?”
Vanessa spared a moment to glance at him. Mistake. He was even more gorgeous than she had recalled in her dreams. “It seems a little strange, is all. You show up at the fair, now the playground. Places where kids are, but you never have a kid with you.”
He pressed his lips together and returned to watching Opal. “I can see why that might worry you. I don’t know if the real reason is any better.”
“Try me.” This should be good. What excuse could he possible give that would make him seem like less of a pervert?
“Yesterday, after I met you two for the first time, I just thought you were so beautiful. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. The fair was a complete coincidence. I told you I work around the corner from here. I’m the manager at a restaurant supply store, and one of the vendors placed a last minute emergency order for cups. I dropped off the order and was shocked to see you in the crowd. I guess I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to be closer to you to get to know you. Then today… I was hoping you’d come outside to play, and I have a view of the playground from my office window. So, I decided to come in to work on a few things, and sure enough, you came out to play, and I came down to make my move.”
Vanessa slid her eyes to him. He gave her a half smile in return.
“What’s your move?” she asked.
“Well. I was hoping to take you out. To get to know you instead of acting like a stalker.”
“I would prefer if you stopped acting like a stalker.” She returned her gaze to Opal. He wanted to take her out? Like a date? Her heart raced at the thought. Of both going out on a date, which she hadn’t done for years, and the thought of being so close to Hunter. But could she really trust him? Was his story the truth? Probably no one would pretend to do something so creepy as watch for her to show up in the park, so maybe he was telling the truth. Either way, was it a good idea to be dating?
Dating would cause her to be distracted. To have to leave Opal with a babysitter somewhere for at least a few hours. It was hard enough leaving her in her school classroom for hours, out of sight. Knowing she was just down the hall, and having the opportunity to look in on her throughout the day was all that got Vanessa through it. But being out with a man for several hours was a different story.
And of course, her biggest problem was trust. How could she be alone with him like that when she didn’t know him? Anything could happen. The whole dating process suddenly seemed like a very scary thing. How did women do it? Be alone with a strange man for hours? Get in his car and drive away? It was a wonder more women weren’t attacked in that situation. It seemed to her like the perfect recipe for disaster.
“What do you say? Can I take you to dinner some night?” he asked.
