“What kind of things?” He pulled on his boxers and pants, feeling he’d better be dressed for this.
He wished he hadn’t let Sarah go to that party tonight.
Had he been in too much of a hurry to be with Erin?
“I can’t discuss it with you, but I can promise I’m encouraging her to talk to you about it.”
Fear and frustration rattled him from his toes. He paced Erin’s bedroom, barely seeing where he was going. He wanted to be on that plane now so he could sort this out in Theresa’s office face-to-face with Sarah.
“You can’t be serious. If she’s in trouble or making bad choices, you can’t just let her get hurt.”
“Of course not. Please. Remy, I’ve been with Sarah a long time. She’s scared and trying to do the right thing.”
“What’s she scared of?” he half shouted, on edge at the thought of his daughter afraid when he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. “Is it me? Was she scared to tell me about the colleges?”
“No. Listen. I need for you to calm down.”
“I defy you to be calm if someone told you your kid was scared and wouldn’t come to you about it.” He stopped justin front of Erin’s door and leaned his forehead against it. His temples had started to ache and the pressure felt good.
“I understand. Believe me, I do.” Theresa paused. “Remy, is there any way you can delay your trip back to Miami?”
His head shot up.
“Excuse me?” On alert, he wondered for a second if Sarah had concocted something to stay in Heartache longer, then felt guilty for thinking it.
“I wondered if you could extend your work trip so that Sarah could take a little breather from home.”
“She has school. She’s already missed a week.”
“Next week is her spring break. I’d be happy to contact the school myself.”
“I have a career. A life.” He pounded his fist against a bureau, making the miniature female superhero action figures adorning it jump. “I could lose my job.”
He’d already pushed it, taking so much time off after Liv’s death. He needed to increase the ratings on all three of his shows, butInterstate Antiquerespecially.
“It’s only for a little while until we deal with an important issue.”
“An issue I can’t know about.” Closing his eyes, he squeezed his temples and wondered what the hell the studio executives would have to say about this.
“Unfortunately, I have reason to believe that Sarah isn’t safe in Miami.” The counselor’s words took his knees out from under him.
He was standing one second. The next, sitting on the floor.
“What are you taking about?” The blood drained from his face, his extremities. The room spun.
“I’m talking about being very vigilant where Sarah’ssafety is concerned. This is just a precaution until I talk to her school counselor and get a better handle on the situation, but until then, she will be safer with you in Tennessee or wherever else you need to travel.”
“If you have endangered her in any way by not telling me what’s going on—” He couldn’t finish the sentence since there was no reasonable retribution he could name.
“Sarah is a strong girl. You should be proud of her for confiding her fears to someone.” She emphasized the last word ever so subtly, as if to remind him that Sarah didn’t trust him enough to talk to him.
Then again, he could just be listening to Theresa with a lot of guilt on his conscience.
“I would do anything to keep her safe.”
“I know. And when you tell Sarah of the change in plans, you might not want to mention the specifics of our conversation. I haven’t said anything that would break confidentiality, of course, but it might help her open up to you sooner if she didn’t feel pressured.”
“I’ll do my best.” Thanking her, he disconnected the call and wondered what the hell to do for the next few days.
