Goldilocks Forever

Chapter 46

Syracuse, New York

June 2006

The dial tone rang so fuzzy and far away that she had to put her hand over her other ear to hear it. She counted the rings and wondered how many she would get before his voicemail picked up.

One, two, three, four...

"Hello—"

Her breath caught in her throat. It came out as a gasp. "Dad?" She could almost see him pause, could hear the intake of his breath, the shock of it. "Daddy?" She hadn't called him that in twenty years.

"Stacy?" He recognized her, an amazing fatherly feat given how much she and Casey sounded alike. His voice broke. "Stacy, is that you?"

Tears burned in her eyes. "It's me."

"Where are you? Are you okay? Tell me where you are. I'll come get you."

"I'm okay." She sniffled through her tears. An announcement came over the loudspeaker, a man's voice booming through the station. She wiped her eyes with the back of her fingers and looked around her at the people lined up to board the approaching bus. "I'm okay," she said again.

"Where are you? Tell me where you are."

"I'm in Syracuse. I'm getting on a bus. I'll be home in about two hours."

"Two hours?" His voice was shocked, pleasantly incredulous. "What time?" She gave him the details of her arrival, and he said, "I'll meet you at the station, okay, honey? I'll be there waiting for you. Okay?"

She nodded. "I'll be there." Another announcement. People shuffled by her. She gripped her ticket, wrinkling it. "The bus is boarding now. I'll be home soon. I'm coming home, Dad. I'm coming home."

"I love you, Stacy." Tears in his voice.

"I love you, too. I'll be there soon. I have to go now."

"Okay."

"Okay." She put the phone back in its cradle in the booth and joined the queue for the bus. She wore no jacket and carried no purse or luggage. Her only possessions were the clothes on her back and the ticket to Ithaca, both of which a charitable couple at a church in St. Louis, Missouri had given her the money to buy. She promised them she'd pay them back when she got home, but they told her it wasn't necessary.

Her body wearily accepted a seat on the bus. She both welcomed and dreaded the support. She was exhausted but restless at the same time. The journey to Syracuse had involved enough anxious sitting and waiting, and she only had ninety minutes more to endure. She couldn't sleep. The man sitting next to her dozed off five minutes after the bus left the station. She envied his ease of mind, but couldn't dwell on it.

She would be home soon.

In her imagination, Anna bound off the bus and ran into her father's arms. Instead, she slipped with the other women into the bathroom to make herself more presentable before he saw her. She wore no makeup, her eyes had dark circles under them, and her skin was sallow and pale. Her lips were chapped and her hair tumbled over her shoulders, unbrushed and rumpled from the ride. She finger combed it and splashed some cold water onto her face, swished another handful of water around in her mouth and spat it out.

Anna tucked in the oversized shirt and pulled her sweater down over the gaping waistband of the also oversized jeans. It was as presentable as she could be, but she had the feeling that her father would assume the worst. He would take one look at her and believe that she had endured horrible hardships and abuse. She tried to smile reassuringly at herself, but could not.