Beach Baby. Joan Kilby

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ MANN WAS LYING wounded in an abandoned warehouse next door to the safe house, the envelope undelivered. Reid hadn’t the foggiest notion how the agent was going to get out alive. Ever since Amy and Beebee had arrived a week ago, neither he nor Luke had made much progress.

      Reid’s gaze kept drifting from the monitor to the window overlooking the beach and the broad curving bay. The tide had receded a mile or more; children waded in pools between sandbars, and shorebirds with long narrow beaks prodded the sand for worms and mud shrimp.

      Beebee’s strawberry curls popped up from behind a log. The little girl’s chubby limbs beneath her pink sundress were bare and already turning brown after a week in the sun. She toddled a few steps before crouching to pick up a shell embedded in the coarse gray sand.

      Reid smiled when she sat down abruptly to examine her treasure. Beebee was adorable—until she was frightened or thwarted, then look out. The kid had a pair of lungs an opera diva would envy.

      A moment later Reid was frowning, scanning the beach. Where the heck was Amy? It wouldn’t be the first time Beebee had gotten out of the house and wandered off by herself. Keeping a watchful eye on the little girl, Reid moved to the side window from where he could see another angle of the beach. Still no sign of Amy.

      Beebee stood and continued her meandering progress down the sandy beach. Muttering under his breath, Reid thrust his bare feet into sandals and went through the family room and out the open French doors to cross the lawn. As he dropped over the retaining wall onto the sand, Daisy overtook him and galloped ahead.

      Reid caught up to the toddler in a few strides. “Beebee!”

      A sunny smile lit her round face. “Weed!”

      Dropping to a crouch, Reid nudged Daisy and her slurping tongue aside and brushed off the grains of sand stuck to Beebee’s cheek. “Where’s Mommy?”

      “Me find shell,” Beebee said happily, thrusting the broken cockle under his nose.

      “Very nice,” he said. “Let’s go show your mom.” Getting to his feet, he took her hand and started leading her back to the house.

      Beebee followed, chatting away. He lifted her over the low concrete wall and carried her through the house, calling to Amy. He came to the ground-floor bedroom she shared with Beebee and pushed open the door. Amy was pacing between the crib and the bed, speaking to someone on the telephone.

      “So I have an appointment this morning?” she said, her eyes alight with excitement. “Cool! Thanks again.” Amy hung up and turned to Reid.

      “Look who I found wandering down the beach,” he said.

      “Beebee, you naughty girl,” Amy scolded gently and tried to take her daughter.

      “Me find shell,” Beebee informed her, showing no inclination to leave Reid’s arms.

      Reid readjusted his hold on the sun-warmed little girl and she snuggled into his side. “I’ll put a hook on the French doors,” he told Amy. “In the meantime, you should keep a better eye on Beebee. She could have been lost or drowned.”

      “I put her in her playpen in the living room. She must have climbed out.” Amy twined one long golden lock around her finger. “Can you do me a big favor?”

      “Maybe,” Reid said warily, thinking he could guess what was coming after overhearing her phone conversation.

      “Can you look after Beebee for a couple of hours?” Amy asked. “I have a job interview.”

      “How long will you be?” His publisher’s deadline was looming and he was way behind on his weekly page quota.

      “A couple of hours, three at most,” Amy said. “Please, Reid, just this once. An L.A. production company is filming a movie in Vancouver and they’re looking for extras. They pay a hundred dollars a day and guarantee at least ten days work. You know I could use the money.”

      Beebee was wriggling in his arms so Reid set her on the floor. She toddled off to put her shell among her growing collection on the windowsill.

      “Okay, go ahead.” He transferred his gaze to Beebee. “Looks like it’s you and me, squirt.” She glanced up at him with a trusting toothy grin that would have softened the hardest heart. God knows, it reduced his to a puddle.

      Amy bestowed Reid with a brilliant smile. “Thank you. You’re seriously cool for an old dude.”

      “Amy,” he began. “There’s something we need to talk about.” He’d spoken to Elaine on the phone yesterday and she’d given him the go-ahead to tell Amy who he was but between his book, Beebee and helping Amy with job applications, he hadn’t found a quiet moment to talk.

      “Can it wait until I get back?” she said. “I’m already late.” Without waiting for an answer, she bent to hug Beebee. “Be a good girl for Reid and don’t run away again. I’ll see you both in a little while. Wish me luck.”

      “Sure,” Reid said, ashamed of his relief at the temporary reprieve. “Break a leg.”

      Lunchtime came. Reid piled phone books on a kitchen chair and sat Beebee down with a peanut-butter sandwich and a glass of milk. She ate out the insides, smearing her face with peanut butter and leaving the crusts. Daisy wagged her tail hopefully, never taking her eyes off the dangling strips of bread.

      Tara glided into the kitchen looking tired and disgruntled in spite of her immaculately pressed mint-green T-shirt and beige shorts. She rummaged in the fridge for an orange and grumbled to Reid, “The kid woke me up at six this morning.”

      “Tawa!” With a grin, Beebee offered the tattered remnants of her sandwich to the older girl.

      Despite herself, an answering smile tugged at the corners of Tara’s mouth but she frowned and replied brusquely, “Beebee eat.” Rolling her eyes at her father she added, “She’s got me talking like a two-year-old.” Tara peeled her orange over the sink, fastidiously placing each scrap of peel into the garbage as it came off. “There are toys and laundry all over the living-room floor. That was Mom’s favorite room.”

      “We never use it since she passed away,” Reid said quietly. “Maybe it’s time someone did.” He handed Beebee her milk. She slurped it, dribbling most of it down her chin. Reid wiped her face with a cloth and said to Tara, “I remember when you were this age. You were so neat you hated having a mess on your face or hands.”

      “I still do.” Tara pulled apart the juicy segments with her fingertips and shook the drips off before popping one into her mouth. “Why did Amy come here, anyway?” Tara demanded. “How long are they going to stay?”

      Reid hesitated. Tara deserved to know the truth, too, but telling her before he talked to Amy didn’t seem right.

      “I don’t know how long they’ll be here,” Reid said at last. “Amy’s looking for work and that takes time. She’s a little mixed up right now. I wish you’d be more friendly. You used to look up to her when we lived in Halifax.”

      “Yeah, well, I was just a kid back then. Anyway, it’s not like I knew her that well. Most of the time when you went to see the Hockings, you went on your own.”

      “My family СКАЧАТЬ