Spring Secrets - Allie Boniface Page 0,51
ball a certain way, to make the stitches catch the air and move.”
The boys stared at Dash without speaking.
“Too much?” he whispered to Sienna.
“Maybe. Let’s skip the rest of the mechanics and just take advantage of this sunshine.” She clapped her hands. “I want everyone to put on their coats and line up at the door. We have fifteen minutes before dismissal, and Mr. Dash is going outside to show us how to throw and catch a baseball.”
They were the only ones on the playground, which made it easy to pair up and practice throwing. Silas took one glove, Dash kept the other, and the twins and Caleb took turns throwing the ball to them both.
“Not bad,” Dash said. He struggled to keep from laughing every time a toss went wild. Billy had the least control of them all. Most of his throws ended up in the weeds or under a tree ten feet away. But no one seemed to care. Bailey retrieved them, and sometimes Caleb measured the distance of the errant throw by striding to the tree and back, doing calculations in his head.
“They’re a funny bunch, aren’t they?” he said to Sienna. “I don’t mean funny bad.” He wasn’t sure what he meant.
“Yes, they are,” she agreed. “But they’re my funny bunch.” She smiled. “And yours too, now that you’re spending time with them.”
She looked up at him, and for just a second the air held its breath again. Man, he’d miss her when she left. Who would he talk to about the crazy things that happened at the gym? Who would he send goofy pictures to? She liked the ones with dogs wearing silly outfits, or the videos of baby animals figuring out their legs for the first time. He found himself searching just to find ones she hadn’t seen before. Strangely, he thought about her more than he’d ever thought about Edie in the course of a day, and he’d been married to Edie. With Sienna, though, it was easy.
When the warning bell rang, the boys lined up at the back door. Dash counted heads and came up with only four. “Where’s Dawn?”
Sienna shaded her eyes. “Shoot. She’s been doing this a lot lately. Dawn! Honey, it’s time for dismissal. Time to come inside.”
Dash scanned the edge of the playground, the swings, the slides, the trees at the border. A chain-link fence circled the whole space, so she couldn’t have wandered off completely. “Go ahead with the boys,” he said. “I’ll look for her.”
Sienna hesitated, but when Caleb tugged at her sleeve to inform her they had two minutes until dismissal, she hurried the boys inside.
“Dawn?” Dash traced a path from the open grassy area where they’d been playing to the edge of the school building. When he turned the corner, he saw her. She stood with her back to the parking lot, staring at the sky. “Hey, there.”
She lowered her chin, looked at him with huge brown eyes and said nothing.
“Whatcha doing over here?” The bell rang, and he could hear the roar of bus engines on the other side of the building. Dawn’s gaze cut to the parking lot, and fear flicked across her face.
“Ah, don’t worry about the buses. Miss Cruz will make sure they wait for you.” He had no idea if that was true. He hoped it was.
She dragged her fingers along the side of the brick building.
“You ever play baseball before?” he asked, more to hear himself talk than anything. “Or go to a baseball game? They’re a lot of fun.” An idea struck him. “Maybe we could all go to a game later this spring. There’s a minor league team over in Silver Valley. The Panthers.”
The back door opened and Sienna rounded the corner. Relief covered her face when she saw Dawn. “There you are! Honey, your bus driver is waiting for you. Are you ready to go home?” Sienna held out her hand, but Dawn didn’t take it. Instead she took a wide berth past both of them and walked back to the school on her own.
“Boy, she’s a tough one, isn’t she?” Dash said as they followed.
“You have no idea. My biggest fear is she’s going to just disappear one day, and I won’t be able to find her.”
“Wonder why she wanders off?”
Sienna shook her head. “Maybe it’s a safety thing. If no one can see her, no one can hurt her?”
Dash rubbed the back of his neck. It made sense. He knew as well as