The One Who Ran Away

Chapter Nineteen

Jo stood in front of the mirror in just her undergarments. Her bra was of the cute, borderline sexy type. It was a deep maroon color with lace mesh over the pads. Her panties didn't match in any way. They were a solid, bright blue pair of boy shorts. Not very sexy in the least.

Jo placed a hand over the scar on her stomach. It was situated slightly to the right and more towards her thigh than her chest.

Jo sighed and closed her eyes as she traced the scar lightly with her right index finger. Her appendix used to be underneath there. Jo could remember that day vividly.

She had been only seven years old. She didn't understand that the pain in her stomach wasn't going to kill her. As she cried, all she could think about was she would never see her daddy again.

Her daddy had gone out and bought her the largest cherry lollipop she had ever seen in her entire life. Jo had felt queasy for weeks and all she could stomach was flavor. She had reckoned it had saved her life. It had been her favorite flavor ever since.

Ricky was taking a nap in Jo's papason chair. His thumb was limp in his mouth, a thin string of drool hanging from the corner of his open mouth. Jo smiled as he slept.

The neon green glow of her clock caught her eye. It was already two. She was supposed to meet Zach at three. Frustrated, Jo rummaged through her drawers until she found something good enough to wear. The chill in the air demanded she through on a pair of jeans. However, she could go either way with her shirt. She needed to change for work anyway so it wasn't important what she wore.

Jo shook her head to clear her thoughts. Who cares what she wore? Certainly not her!

Jo threw a nice white tank top over her head and found a cute, blue, zipper jacket. She zipped it up to just under her breasts. Take that, October chill.

Jo stared in the mirror at her hair. She had washed it just a few hours ago. The hair was still sleek and shiny. Jo bent over and scratched her scalp. She used her fingers to add some volume to her hair. With a toss of her head, her hair had nice volume and looked spectacularly windswept.

Jo cracked a smile and watched her jade eyes sparkle. She looked damn good.

Hating to wake her brother, she gently shook his shoulder.

"Ricky, it's time to wake up. We're going out for lunch now." Jo had purposely fed Ricky a light lunch so he'd be hungry when she went with Zach to the coffee shop. She planned to buy him a bagel and have him try cream cheese for the first time.

Jo's phone buzzed on the bed. Ricky yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes free of sleep. Jo checked the text from Zach.

Zach: How does Coffee Hot Spot sound?

Jo: never been. sounds just fine

Zach: Perfect! See you there :)

Jo stuffed her phone in her pocket without replying. Then, she bent and scooped up the toddler and carried him to the car waiting outside.

"Go?" Ricky asked as she buckled him into his car seat. Jo hated to leave a car seat in her car lest someone see it and ask questions, but Ricky's safety mattered more than rumors.

"Yes, we're going on a trip. We're going to meet my friend. His name is Zach."

"'Ach!" Ricky grinned sleepily and rubbed his eyes a few more times. Jo smiled and buckled herself into the cherry red car.

Twenty minutes and a few wrong turns later, Jo sat in the parking lot of a quaint coffee shop called Coffee Hot Spot. Glancing into the rear-view mirror, Jo stared at Ricky as he gazed out the window at nothing in particular. This was it. Someone else was going to know about Ricky. Jo took a few deep breaths and stepped into the biting wind.