Point Blank. Sandra Robbins

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      She smiled. “I know you will, but I’m afraid I’ve relied on you too much since Shane died. Sometimes I think you put your life on hold just to help me out.”

      “You would do the same for me. That’s what friends do.”

      She nodded. “I know, but it’s time for me to stand on my own two feet.”

      “What do you mean?”

      She stared out the windshield for a few moments before she turned back to face him. “I had a lot of time to think after I got to the hospital, and I made some decisions.”

      Her tone of voice alarmed Ben, and he frowned. “Decisions about what?”

      “There are things that I’ve wanted to do but held off because I didn’t have the courage to tackle them. Shane’s celebrity in the sport of mounted archery has cast a shadow over everything I’ve achieved for myself. I was competing when I met Shane, but after we were married, he discouraged me from continuing. He said I wasn’t good enough to really make it to the top. Every time I brought it up, he would rattle off all my weaknesses that made me an unlikely competitor. He made me doubt my ability, and I gave up the idea I’d ever compete again.”

      “I’m sorry, Hannah. I never knew that.”

      She shrugged. “Well, it’s not something you talk about. In my heart I knew I was a good rider and an excellent archer, but Shane’s criticisms made me doubt myself so that I became afraid to enter competitions. That all changed when I thought I was going to die. A few weeks ago I was invited to participate in the World Horseback Archery League’s competition, but I’d decided I wouldn’t go. Now I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to do it. I can’t live in the past. From now on, I’m going to make a good life for Faith and me because we’re all the family that either of us has.”

      “Good for you. I’m glad you’ve decided to return to competing. Where is the competition being held?”

      “Korea.”

      He didn’t expect to be stunned by her answer, but he was. “Korea?”

      She nodded. “Yes.”

      He gave his head a slight shake and frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

      “Because I didn’t think I would go, but now I am.”

      “But...but... Korea,” he stammered. “That’s a long way from home.”

      She smiled, reached over and patted him on the hand. “Don’t worry. We won’t be gone long. As soon as the competition is over, we’ll come back.”

      “You’re saying we, so I guess you’re taking Faith with you.”

      “I am. I’ll talk to her teacher, and we’ll work something out. She’s only four and in kindergarten. It’s not like I have to worry about her missing tests or important homework. It will be good for her to see a different culture, and it will give us a chance to spend some time together. Don’t worry. We won’t be gone long.”

      He swallowed the sick feeling he had at the thought of Hannah and Faith being away from him and nodded. “Okay. If that’s what you want. I’ll do anything I can to help you finish training and prepare for your trip before you leave.”

      She smiled. “I appreciate that Ben. I have a lot to do before I leave. There are passports to get and travel to plan. And I need to find out if we need special visas or vaccinations, but I think this trip is going to be good for us. It will give me a chance to reevaluate my life and see what I want to do in the future.”

      Having said that, she climbed from the truck and slowly made her way up the steps to the front porch. Ben sat in his truck for a moment as he thought about the things Hannah had said. He’d sensed a new determination in her tonight that hadn’t been there in a very long time. She wanted a new life for herself and her daughter. If that’s what she wanted, he was going to do everything he could to make it happen. He’d been doing that for years, and he’d keep on as long as he had breath in his body.

      Before she could get on with her life, however, there was still the question of why she’d been kidnapped today. If she and Faith were to have a secure future, he had to find out who had a reason to hurt her. From the things she’d hinted at but left unsaid tonight, he realized that there might be a lot of secrets in the past that could hold the answers. If there were, he intended to find the answers.

       THREE

      Faith came running to meet her the minute Hannah walked in the door. Her blond ponytail swung back and forth as she hurled herself at her mother. “Mommy! I thought you’d never get home.”

      Hannah caught the child and swung her up in her arms. For a minute she stood there with her arms wrapped around her daughter with her eyes closed and said a prayer of thanks for coming home safely. This day could have had an entirely different ending.

      Faith straightened in her mother’s arms and was about to say something when her eyes opened in alarm as she stared at the bandage on Hannah’s head. “What’s wrong with your head, Mommy?”

      A feeble smile pulled at Hannah’s lips. “It’s nothing, darling. I just cut my head, but it’s all right. Ben took me to the hospital, and the doctor fixed it. He said I was fine.”

      Faith tilted her head to one side and continued to stare at the bandage. “Does it hurt?”

      “Not anymore,” she said as she stared into Faith’s blue eyes. “But enough about me. How was school today?”

      Faith looked at the bandage once more before she smiled and patted her mother’s cheek. “It was a good day. It’s still my turn to be the teacher’s helper. It made Janie Culver jealous because I got to do more than she did when it was her turn.”

      “Well, did you remind Janie that her turn will come back around when Miss Morris draws her name again?”

      Faith nodded. “I did, but she still wouldn’t play with me.”

      Hannah kissed Faith on the cheek and set her down so that she was standing in front of her. “What do we always say when someone’s not nice to us?”

      Faith tilted her head to one side and put her finger up to her chin, looking as serious as it was possible for an adorable four-year-old to look. “We treat them like they’re a friend and keep on being nice to them.”

      “That’s right,” Hannah said as she glanced up and saw Valerie coming into the entry where they stood. Although she’d been with them only a few weeks, Hannah had come to depend on her.

      Over the past year, her classes in mounted archery had increased to the point that she’d often found herself in need of someone to help out with Faith. Her ad in the local newspaper had attracted several applicants for the job of Faith’s nanny, but none of them had impressed her like Valerie had. From the first day she’d fit in like she’d always been at their ranch, and Hannah had found herself depending more and more on her assistance.

      Valerie held a dish towel, and she wiped her hands on it as Hannah came to a stop. A frown puckered her forehead as СКАЧАТЬ