Saving Alyssa. Loree Lough

glanced over at Billie, whose eyes were wide with surprise...and indecision.

      “The museum is open on Saturday. Can we go then, Daddy, and show Billie all the neat stuff inside?”

      “We’ll see.”

      Alyssa thought that over while Billie shot him a half smile that said “thanks.” For sparing her from having to say no? Or for stalling the visit until she could walk around better?

      “Oh! Daddy?”

      Noah glanced at his daughter in the rearview mirror again.

      “Do you mean we should wait until Billie’s ankle is okay?”

      He nodded. “That would be a good idea.”

      Alyssa leaned forward in her seat. “How long before it’s better, Billie?”

      The woman turned slightly, and only long enough to say over her shoulder, “A week, maybe two.”

      “Don’t worry.” Alyssa smiled. “I’ll think of something else. Something fun you can do sitting down.”

      For as long as Noah could remember, Alyssa had been a natural-born caretaker. He watched as her forefinger tapped her chin. He counted backward, waiting for her to come up with an idea for an outing that would allow Billie to participate while seated.

      Ten, nine, eight—

      “Do we still have that coupon from T-Bonz? The one that says ‘Live Music on Saturdays’?”

      Alyssa wanted a mom, like the other kids in her class. Noah got that. What he didn’t get was why she saw mother potential in just about every female who crossed her path.

      “The music doesn’t start until eight o’clock,” he told her, “and you’re way too young to be up that late.”

      “It’s just as well,” Billie said. “I have a website to design for a client by Monday.” She gestured. “There’s my stree—”

      Noah made the right turn onto Old Columbia Pike, eliminating the need for her to point it out. “I fiddled around with a website for the bike shop.” He slowed the pickup, waiting for her to tell him which house was hers. “Put a day’s work into a page, and gave up when I lost the whole thing with one keystroke.”

      Billie nodded. “Mistakes like that make up half of my business.” She paused. “That’s my place up ahead, right beside the jewelry shop. It says Hi Ho Silver on the sign. You can’t miss it.”

      Noah braked and assessed the conditions of the road. Sharp curve. No shoulder. Two narrow lanes, and a sidewalk barely wider than the hallway between his kitchen and dining room. Even after all this time in Ellicott City, he disliked the inconvenience of having to drive through narrow alleyways to access his parking pad. Tongue Row—the road that passed a mere five feet from Billie’s front door—left no room for slowing down, let alone parking long enough for her to exit safely. “Maybe I should drive around back, drop you off—”

      “Thanks,” she said, unbuckling her seat belt, “but there’s no need to go to all that trouble. I won’t get hit.”

      “But will we?” he asked, with a glance in the rearview mirror.

      Billie peered over her shoulder. “Don’t worry. If anyone rams you from behind, I’ll be your witness.” She got out of the truck. “Thanks for the ride. You have my number, so feel free to call whenever you’ve fixed the bike. Or...or you’re interested in talking about a website.”

      She closed the door, and as he merged into traffic, Noah could see her in the side mirror, stooping to lift the doormat and retrieve her key. “Is she nuts?” he muttered. “Who does that anymore?” Evidently, she wasn’t as suspicious of people as he first thought.

      Alyssa turned and waved, and Noah saw Billie smile as she returned it.

      “She’s nice, isn’t she, Daddy?”

      “I guess.”

      “I wonder why she doesn’t smile more. She’s very pretty when she smiles, isn’t she?”

      “I guess,” he repeated.

      “Do you think she’s as pretty as Mommy?”

      “No way.”

      He pictured Jillian, tall, willowy, too girlie to test a mountain bike, let alone ride one hard enough to mess up an ankle.

      Alyssa sighed quietly. “She reminds me of Mommy, kind of.”

      “She does? How so?”

      “Mostly, the way she looks at me.”

      Noah might have asked what she meant, if Alyssa hadn’t lifted her shoulders until they touched her earlobes, a sweet, dainty gesture that always made his heart thump with fatherly affection.

      “I saw her looking at you that way, too,” Alyssa said.

      “She did?”

      “Uh-huh. Did it make you think of Mommy, too?”

      He hadn’t noticed Billie looking at Alyssa in anything other than a polite, neighborly way. As for how she’d looked at him, impatience came to mind.

      “Look there,” he said, leaning closer to the windshield. “Emily is loose again.”

      Their neighbor’s goose was a regular escape artist. One of these days she’d waddle into the road, and that would be the end of her...if the county didn’t cite Meb for allowing her to violate the noise ordinance by honking at all hours. Noah parked on an angle, effectively blocking the alleyway as he dialed Meb’s number.

      “No answer,” he said after seven rings. “You sit tight while I put Emily back into her pen.” After pocketing his keys, he uncuffed his shirtsleeves, then reached into the glove box and grabbed a pair of worn leather work gloves usually reserved for stacking wood in the back of the truck. Last time he’d tried to save Emily from getting run over by a car, she’d nearly blinded him with a flurry of fluttering wings. She’d bitten him, too, leaving nasty bruises on his forearms. To add insult to injury, she infected him with a bad case of mites. When Meb had found out about the mites, he had brought Noah a giant bottle of Listerine. “Shower, splash this on and take some antihistamine,” the farmer-turned-artist had said. The home remedy had worked...after two miserable, itchy weeks. This time, Noah wasn’t taking any chances.

      It took nearly twenty minutes just to catch her, and another ten to ease her into the wood-and-wire pen Meb had built for her. After securing the latch, Noah noticed that Emily’s food bowl was empty, so he refilled it by pouring pellets through the mesh. The only human allowed near the enclosure was Meb. The only one allowed in the yard was Meb. To Noah’s knowledge, no one had ever tried to steal the iron and steel sculptures that were Meb’s trademark...and his livelihood. And no wonder, with a crazy, biting, mite-infested goose standing guard!

      When he finished, Noah smacked the gloves against his thigh, then peeled off his shirt and dropped it into the nearest trash can. Better to lose it than risk bringing parasites into the apartment.

      “So what are you in the mood for tonight, kiddo?” he asked, parking the truck in its usual slot.

      “We haven’t had spaghetti in a long time. With meatballs, and garlic bread, too.”

      Her mom’s favorite meal. “You got it, cupcake.”

      The moment they were inside, Alyssa grabbed her crayons and a stack of construction paper.

      “I’ll be in my room,” she announced, “drawing a picture of Emily. I might need help, spelling some things for Meb.”

      “Soon as we finish eating. I’ll call you when it’s time to set the table, okay?”

      He grabbed a T-shirt from his dresser drawer as she said, “Okay, Daddy.”

      While he filled the