The Sweetest Gift - Scarlett Cole Page 0,21

didn’t want him to ruin the surprise she had for the wedding, so she did the only thing she could think of.

She ran.

She ran the length of the street until she reached the long road that went in the other direction. The beach was just on the other side, the boardwalk that Auntie Harper loved to run along. They’d seen her in her sneakers and a pink vest while they’d been walking earlier.

The light was green and lots of other people were walking, so she continued to sprint across the road. Now she was running, people were looking at her. A lady called out to ask if she was okay, but she didn’t want to look at her. When she hit the boardwalk, she couldn’t remember which way the dancers had been. She looked left and right to see if she could see them.

The lady from the crosswalk was still staring, and when she took a step in Petal’s direction, Petal ran as fast as she could.

She weaved in and out of the people ahead of her. The beach was right there, and because it was dark, she could hide out there. Petal looked down at her shoes, her special shoes for the wedding. She didn’t want to get sand in them and get them all ruined. But she didn’t have the time to take them off without people noticing she was on her own.

Where could she go?

There was a humungous thing with plants in it right in the middle of the boardwalk, and Petal took a chance, running to it, and crawled into the space behind it.

She didn’t feel so confident now. All of the lights made her feel dizzy. It was too loud, too noisy, and if she was honest, instead of feeling brave, she felt scared. Her pretty dress now had at least three dirt marks on it. But it was her shoes that made her cry. The crystals on the toe of her shoes were scuffed, which meant tomorrow, when she walked down the aisle, all everyone would be able to see was her ruined shoes.

Auntie Harper was going to be so mad because the shoes had been a special gift to make sure the wedding was perfect. And Uncle Reid was going to be mad because she’d ruined one of the dresses Auntie Lia had bought her especially for this trip. Momma and Daddy were going to be angry that she left. And she knew how much it bothered Uncle Jordan when he couldn’t find people that he loved.

Tears fell down her cheeks and she didn’t even have a tissue to blow her nose on. She dragged her arm and hand beneath her nose and stood up.

The best thing she could do was head back to the place they were having dinner, but she couldn’t remember what it was called.

Momma had always told her that if she ever got lost, she should ask a lady grown-up for help, a momma who had babies of her own, but as she looked around, she couldn’t see a momma. And if she couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant, where would she tell them to take her?

Her stomach squeezed and she thought she might be sick. She got that funny taste in her mouth when it seemed to make too much spit for her to swallow.

What if they called the police?

Then she’d be in really big trouble. Then her momma and daddy might go to prison for not looking after her properly when it had been her fault.

And if they were in prison, who would look after her? Uncle Jordan had his new baby. He wouldn’t want her, his old baby.

Petal plopped back down on her butt, hidden out of sight, and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly.

Lost, in the dark, she didn’t know what to do.

6

Daniel chewed his last mouthful of pizza and washed it down with a chug of cola. “God, I’m so full.”

Cujo laughed. “Not surprised. I think that was slice twenty-eight. You’re going to be the same size as me if you keep that up.”

If only. Daniel yearned to be the same size as his stepdad, Elliott, with his broad shoulders and muscular arms. They’d been working out together, and he’d been trying everything to add some weight onto his scrawny frame.

Years of surgeries to address his burns had left him stationary for large chunks of his life. There had been times when his legs had looked like matchsticks, pun