Page 15 of Heartbeat
Now Sean was the one having chills. “Was his name Sean Wallace?”
Amalie blinked. “Yes, but how would you—”
Sean sighed. “That was my name, before we changed it to my mother’s maiden name.”
“Why would you—”
“My father was a habitual abuser. All of our lives. Nearly four years ago, he beat my mother so badly we thought she would die, then he left the house in a drug-filled high and murdered two people he didn’t even know. Mom divorced him, but it didn’t matter. We were still the killer’s family, and suffered the consequences. We changed our last name to Mom’s maiden name and came back to Jubilee, where she was born. We live in the house she grew up in. Our ancestor founded this town. Pope Mountain is named for him.”
Amalie was in shock. The only person who’d ever stood up for her, and eighteen years later, their paths crossed again!
“Do you remember some mean boys catching a little girl and putting gum in her hair out on a school playground?”
Sean frowned, thinking back, remembering how long he’d been trying to catch her eye, and how shy she’d been. “Yes, I remember but—”
“That was me,” she said.
Sean was in shock, and then he frowned. “But they called you Molly.”
“That was my foster mother’s fault. She thought Amalie was too fancy for a kid nobody wanted.”
Sean was beaming. “Oh my God! I would hug you hello, but I’m so filthy I can barely stand myself.”
Amalie sighed. “You were my knight in shining armor. You gave two boys a black eye and the third one a bloody nose before the teacher stopped you.”
Sean’s breath caught. Her eyes…they were drowning in unshed tears.
“I got suspended from school for the rest of the week, and when I came back, you were gone. I was devastated.” he said.
Amalie’s expression went blank.
“My foster family cut off most of my hair to get rid of the gum and then turned me back to the state. Said I was causing trouble for them. The next foster family I wound up with lived in Eureka Springs, and the one after that was in Bentonville. My last foster family was in Little Rock. I graduated high school there.”
Sean was a little bit in shock.
“Fate is a trickster. We rarely see what’s coming, and it’s almost always something we didn’t expect. Today has been a day of shock and of surprises, and you might be the biggest one of all.” Then he looked down at himself. “I’m something of a mess, but I would love to see you again when we have time to catch up. If you don’t, then I totally understand, but I—”
“I would love that. Call me,” Amalie said.
Sean smiled. “Yes, ma’am. It will be my pleasure. I always thought you were pretty, but you grew up beautiful, and I’m sorry I missed that.” He grabbed his toolbox and walked out the door.
Amalie didn’t know whether to laugh from the joy ofthis unexpected reunion, or cry because he’d just called her beautiful. But she went home with a bounce in her step and joy in her heart. Something she hadn’t had in a long, long time.
Shirley nearly fainted when she saw Sean walk into the house.
“Sean! Son! What on earth?”
“I’m not hurt, Mom. It’s just smoke, soot, and ashes from the crash site. It funneled into the school through the broken windows. It was nearly impossible to see how to get out, which is how Dani and Maisy and some of the children got trapped. We went in to help lead them out.”
“We, who?” Shirley asked.
“Me, Aaron, Wiley, and his partner. The rest of the officers were dealing with traffic, emergency vehicles, and roadblocks. Everybody got out okay. A few kids were cut by flying glass from the explosion that happened when the chopper hit the ground, and all of them had some degree of smoke inhalation. Lili was one of the kids taken to the hospital, but she wasn’t injured. Just suffering from smoke inhalation and scared to death, as were they all, but can we save the rest of the questions until after I clean up?”
“Yes, yes, I’m sorry, darling. Go do what you need to do,” she said.
“I’m going to undress in the utility room and stuff everything I’m wearing into the washer, and set my bootson the back porch to air out, so I’m coming back through the house commando. Close your eyes.”
Shirley laughed. “I’ll bring you a big bath towel to preserve your dignity. How’s that?”
