Page 20 of The Fear (The Hillers of Barratt County #7)

Hala had had a long day. Elanna, the school’s other kindergarten teacher, hadn’t been feeling well. She’d tried to stick it out after lunch, but she’d obviously been turning green. Luis had put his foot down and sent her home.

That meant Luis had called in a sub—his own younger sister, but until she’d been able to get there from Finley Creek, Hala had had forty kids in her classroom and only two teachers aids.

She didn’t know how teachers who had that many kids on a regular basis with no help in some schools managed.

They were saints, goddesses and gods, heroes. All of them.

She’d grabbed dinner from the diner—take-out, of course—and she was going to spend the rest of the night sleeping.

It had been a really long week, and it was only half over.

She took her dinner out to her favorite part of the townhouse: her patio.

Her last apartment in Finley Creek had been on the third floor.

All she’d had was a two by four balcony with that one.

And that had been knocked off in the tornado that had hit the city a few years ago. She loved her little outdoor space.

She’d decorated in bold, bright flower colors. Yellows, reds, and oranges mostly. Except…her pillows were missing. She’d put some waterproof pillows out there.

They were nowhere to be found.

It was possible the wind had blown them away, but…or maybe stray dogs?

She wasn’t going to think about it now. All she wanted to do was relax.

The sound of kids giggling drew her attention. There were three apartments behind her that had kids. Wynnie Ryce was one of those kids. The rest of the kids were all too young to be school-aged.

Hala waved whenever she saw Wynnie, but…Wynnie’s mother didn’t exactly like that.

She’d had it out for Hala since that day she, Chantal, and the Hiller sisters had rescued Grady from Jessica’s evil clutches. They’d had a duty to do it. Grady was so clueless with women, they’d been afraid Jessica would get her claws into him before he could escape.

Wynnie and her little brother were playing now. Hala watched the kids as she ate. Wynnie’s little brother reminded her so much of Ryan.

Hala definitely wanted more nieces and nephews and kids of her own someday. Before too long. She wasn’t getting any younger, here.

Wynnie’s ball rolled. Onto Hala’s patio. She came running over, her face all excited. “Hi, Mith Hanan.”

“Hi Miss Wynnie. Are you having fun?”

“Yes. But we have to go. We’re going to Nana’s tonight, so my mommy can have a date with Billy.” A look of worry went over the little girl’s beautiful face. “Nana will bring me to school tomorrow. I won’t be late. It’s library day.”

Tuesdays and Fridays were library days for the kindergarteners. Wynnie loved it.

“I see. I’m glad you are going to Nana’s. That sounds really fun.” And Marie Glass was probably a lot more fun to be around than Jessica.

“It is. We go to Nana’s a lot when it’s Mommy’s time to have us. Mommy has lots and lots of headaches and has to sleep. What are you eating?”

Wynnie was always talking about food and what she wanted to eat. She had the lunch menu in the cafeteria memorized, too.

“A sandwich, with a pickle.”

“Yummy. Daddy lets me get the pickles when he takes us to the diner. And he keeps pickles in our fridge for me. As a snack with my cheese cubes and crackers. BJ gets goldfish crackers and apple sauce. He doesn’t like pickles yet.

We both get the teddy bear grahams. Those are the best. And raisins. Or the cranberry ones.”

“Do you eat pickles at Mommy’s?”

“Not really. At Nana’s we do, though. Mommy just forgets to buy them all the time. Daddy never forgets. We always have lots of food there.”

Then Jessica was yelling for her daughter. And Hala’s little neighbor took off, clutching her bright purple ball in her hands, calling her brother’s name. Leaving Hala to watch. And wonder.

Something…something just wasn’t right with Wynnie’s family. Hala just couldn’t figure out what it was.