Chapter 19
nineteen
. . .
Sadie
Colin easily found his way into the house, but getting out was more difficult.
Dad had finished all his snarky calls, and Mom was flitting around the house trying to decide which other rooms needed a whole new color scheme.
She really did lead an important life. Colin had put back on his painter's shirt and hat, a weak camouflage considering the jeans and sneakers.
I snuck out first to make sure the coast was clear. Only it wasn't.
"Sadie!" Dad yelled up the stairs causing me to suck back into my room like a turtle drawing into its shell. I turned around and looked at Colin. He shrugged in response.
"Aren't you Wildes supposed to be good at this stuff?" I asked.
"Hey, when I was a teen, I snuck in and out of many girls—" He stopped and rolled his lips in.
"Yes, best leave that tale of teenage exploits for the locker room. If I don't go down, he'll probably come up, so here I go." I took a deep breath and walked out of the room, leaving my secret painter behind.
Dad stood at the bottom of the stairs in his usual pose—arms crossed angrily. "Where is the photo and negative? I need it now." His phone rang right then. He yanked it from his pocket and walked away.
I raced back to the security of my room. "I now fully understand the meaning of the phrase 'saved by the bell.' Dad just got another call." I reached for his hand. "We need to get you out of here before things get ugly, or uglier than they already are."
He pulled me back into his arms. It was a place I was enjoying far too much.
Ace had warned me Colin was only good at breaking hearts, and though mine was normally unbreakable, I was starting to think it wasn't entirely impervious to love, after all.
"You are coming home with me, Sadie. Not leaving without you. "
"Can't turn down an invitation like that coming from a man like you, a man with immeasurable talents and charm." I hopped up and kissed him. "Did I mention my dad was a skilled marksman with a vast gun collection?"
"Nope. That was not mentioned. Let's go. Get your things."
"First, we need to slip you out unnoticed. Then I'll put my getaway plan into action. You might have to wait a few minutes because I need all the stars to line up properly to make a clean escape."
"Why do I suddenly feel like we're in an action movie about to pull off a bank heist?"
"Trust me, a bank heist would be far easier." I opened the door, looked both ways, as if crossing a busy street and reached back for Colin's hand. We crept out slowly at first and then ran to the stairs. It was impossible not to laugh as we flew down them to the entryway.
We pushed out the front door. "We made it," I said unnecessarily. I made a check in the air. "Step one finished. You can walk out the pedestrian gate. It's unlocked from the inside. If you don't want to wait, I can catch the bus."
"Nope, I'll wait. At the moment, I don't have much going on, but I am hanging out with the hottest chick so all is good."
I kissed him quickly. "Go now. Remember, marksman with a lot of guns."
"Yep, I'm outta here. See you soon."
I stepped back inside. Dad's angry tone drifted in from the open French doors leading to the veranda.
This was my chance. I raced upstairs and shoved everything I could into my backpack, and I grabbed the equipment bag I'd taken from the apartment.
The adorable puffin photo and negative were wrapped in a sheet of paper.
Dad was going to blow his stack, but with any luck, I'd be far enough away by then to avoid the lava flow. It was rather nice not having a phone.
Thanks to Dad's loud phone voice I could keep track of his location. Mom was another matter. I hadn't heard or seen her. A vacuum roared to life in the hallway. I poked my head out. It was Margo.
I hurried over to her. "Have you seen my mom?" I asked.
She put her hand to her ear to hear better but kept the loud vacuum running. I leaned closer. "Have you seen my mom!" I shouted over the noise.
"I'm right here, sweetheart. You don't need to shout.
It's not ladylike." Mom was wearing her big straw hat, which meant she was about to head out and prune roses.
It was the one chore she refused to leave in the gardener's hands.
She claimed "he didn't prune, he butchered. " "What are you up to?" she asked.
I shrugged. "Nothing. Have fun with the roses.
" I turned and walked back to my room. I had a good partial view of the rose garden from my bedroom window.
I kept my fingers crossed that those damn stars would align, and Dad would still be on the veranda with his call while Mom pruned away in her flower beds.
I waited anxiously to see Mom's oversized straw hat make its appearance.
And there it was. The small woman and her fierce pruning shears were underneath it.
I walked to the top of the stairs. Margo was still vacuuming.
She was also watching me with a very suspicious eye.
She knew I was up to something. I winked at her as I walked down a few steps and listened for my dad's gruff phone voice. He was still on the call.
This was all so ridiculous. I was having to skulk around the house waiting to escape unnoticed like a kid trying to skirt around being grounded.
I was an adult, but my parents still treated me as if I was a rowdy teen who couldn't be trusted.
And to prove them right, I hurried down the stairs to Dad's study to leave a photo that was most assuredly not the one he was expecting.
I tossed the paper wrapped photo and negative on his desk.
My bags felt heavy and unwieldy, not great escape luggage, as I stealthily crept from the study to the front door. I was sure Mom was still pruning roses, but I'd lost track of Dad. He was either listening to the person on the other side, which was a rarity, or he'd ended the call.
A huge sigh of relief ushered out of me as I made it to the front steps. I made a beeline for the pedestrian gate and was halfway across the front courtyard when Dad's angry tone bit at my back. "Sadie Ann Rivers, get your ass back in here! Where are you going? I need that photo."
I paused and turned back. "It's on your desk," I said.
"Oh, all right. I'm going to check on that right now. Get back in here." Without waiting to see if I followed his command, he turned and went inside. I'd been given a reprieve. He hadn't seen the puffin picture yet, but when he did, something told me the roof was going to lift off the house.
My feet pounded the paved driveway. I got going so fast on the downhill I had to slow my momentum or risk slamming into the gate. I all but hurled myself out of the yard. Colin's truck was parked a block away under a large tree. I reached the passenger side in seconds.
I tossed my stuff in the back and climbed in. "Go! Shit is about to hit the fan, and I don't want to get caught in the spray."
Colin didn't ask questions. He started the truck, swung it around and sped away from the estate.
I rested back and took a few decent gulps of air.
"I'm getting too old for this shit," I muttered, then a laugh blasted from my mouth.
"I would not want to be a fly in that room when he sees that I left him a picture of a bird. "
Colin wore a proud grin as he looked over at me. "I think you're going to fit in the Wilde family just fine."