Beth met Mick at his office. She looked uncomfortable and slightly embarrassed.
“What happened?’ he asked.
“Nothing happened. I was just wondering……could I have a copy of the picture in your file cabinet? The one with me on the horse.’
Mick pulled the file immediately and took the picture out. “Of course but….why?”
Beth blushed. “It’s silly.”
“Tell me.”
“I have my high school reunion next weekend and it’s really important that I have that picture.”
Mick looked at the photo. “I always loved this one of you. You’re so happy and carefree.”
Beth’s face dropped. “That was a great weekend and a terrible one at the same time.”
“How come?”
“I had just turned fifteen and the sophomore trip was to this ranch in Arizona. Mom didn’t want me to let me go because she couldn’t get the time off work to chaperone. I begged and pleaded but she absolutely refused.”
“She was afraid to let you out of her sight.” Mick said gently
Beth blushed “I know that now but at the time I was furious. We fought for weeks leading up to the trip. Finally the day before she yelled at me. “Beth, you know bad things can happen to good people.”
I yelled back “You should know that having your kid under the same roof doesn’t guarantee safety.”
Mick visibly winced. “Ouch!”
“Yeah. She drove off to work and I forged her name on the permission slip and paid for it with my baby sitting money. I called my friend Donna and she agreed to pack extra clothes for me since I couldn’t get out of the house with anything bigger than my bookbag.
”You just took off?” Mick said incredulously.
Beth shook her head. “No. I wasn’t that cruel. The next morning I hid around the corner until she went to work and then I shoved a note in the mail slot.
“I was terrified that she would find out before the school bus left. Once we were out of LA I felt so free, like I could do anything.
“You said you always felt like you had a guardian angel protecting you.” Mick said.
Beth grinned. “I always knew I could do anything but Mom didn’t. She tried her best not to overprotect me but sleepovers and school trips were really hard for her. I didn’t think about what I did until the bus was back in LA. She was waiting in the parking lot with the other parents. I was worried that she would embarrass me but she didn’t cause a scene. I got in the car and she asked me if I had a good time.
Mick laughed. “My mother would not have been as calm.”
“Well, if I hadn’t left the note she would have been a wreck. She spent those two days wondering if she was being too overprotective and I spent the next two weeks in my room without tv or my cd player.
“That seems fair.” Mick said.
"Yeah, prior to that trip she was kind of frozen in time when it came to letting me be on my own. Once she saw that nothing bad happened and she didn't control it she eased up.
“How did you get this picture?” Beth asked.
“This picture was taken by your English teacher.”
“That’s right. She loved horses and we had just read S.E. Hinton’s Tex the week before in class. That doesn’t tell me how you got the picture.”
“Your English teacher used to work for Josef.
“Miss Johnson was a freshie?”
“Yes. The night I saved you I showed up at his place pretty messed up. He told Vanessa to feed me and I told him about Coraline. While I didn’t feed from her again I contacted her when I found out she taught at your high school. When your permission slip came in she called me and I guarded the ranch at night and she took that picture for me.”
“Guard duty? Were you worried about wolves or coyotes?” Beth said lightly.
“Yeah, there was one wolf by the name of Tommy Martin that was trying to get your attention but you saw right through him.”
Beth groaned. “He was such a jerk! Even for a fifteen year old and that says a lot. “Did you get all those pictures from former freshies?’
“No, that would have been risky. The ones when you were a little girl were a PI I hired. I told him my ex-wife wouldn’t let me see my daughter. Vanessa took the one of you on the horse and the one in the black t-shirt at another school trip. I took the ones of you as an adult.
Beth looked at her teenage self on the horse. “Things got so much better between me and Mom after this trip. I’d like to give this to her. I’ll tell her I got it from one of the girls at the reunion.
“I think she’d like that, although remembering the incident she may decide to ground you again.” Mick teased.
Beth kissed him and laughed. “Well, if she does I’ll leave the window open and you can keep me from being bored. I’ve learned there is more to do in bed besides listen to music.
