Finding The Road Home. Tina Radcliffe

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СКАЧАТЬ boss. The reason she went for a walk. Daisy cut herself a sliver of pie and slipped into a chair. She was emotionally exhausted after talking to Mitch Rainbolt. Yes, he was her boss. That alone was a reason to be tense. The man held her future in his hands.

      On a more basic level, she’d seen honest compassion and understanding in his calm brown eyes. More than she’d expected from a jaded law-enforcement officer. But there was something more. Something she couldn’t begin to define that left her flustered and tongue-tied.

      Daisy wrapped her arms around herself.

      “He’s quite handsome, isn’t he?” Alice asked.

      “Huh?” Daisy looked up.

      “You were off in another place, weren’t you?” Her grandmother grinned like she had a secret, and Daisy immediately recognized the smile.

      “I was, but nowhere near the location of your line of thought.”

      Alice laughed. “I wonder if there’s more where he came from?” she asked. “I’ve been widowed a very long time.” A thoughtful expression crossed her face. “Who knows? Maybe Rebel has more to offer than either you or I expected.”

      “Gran, seriously?” Daisy put her hands on her hips and assumed the role of the responsible adult in the family. “I have five children. The answer to my problems lies in prayer, not in tall, dark and handsome.”

      “Oh, so you did notice,” Alice said with a chuckle.

      “I’d have to be blind not to,” Daisy muttered. “However, let me repeat. He’s my boss and I need my job, including the health and dental coverage.”

      “The important thing is that you have peace about this move,” her grandmother said.

      “I do.” Daisy nodded. “I have perfect peace about the decision.”

      At least she had before talking to Mitch Rainbolt. She’d put on a confident front, but self-doubt began to creep in when she saw the concern in his brown eyes. Would everything work out?

      Daisy sighed and glanced out the kitchen window toward the yard that stretched all the way to their nosy neighbor’s fence in the distance. This was what her sister’s children deserved. Green grass as far as they could see. Trees to climb. Adventures to be had. Maybe, just maybe, living in Oklahoma would help them remember the good times, ease their pain and remind them all that God had His hand on their tomorrows.

      “I have peace about it as well, Daisy.” Her grandmother touched her arm. “I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t stepped in.”

      Daisy blinked back emotion. The loss of her twin sister was still too raw. “Deb was more than my sister. She was my other half. There wasn’t a choice.”

      “You gave up everything,” Alice continued.

      “We’re family. That’s what family does.” She wrapped her fingers around her grandmother’s soft hand. “You’re in this too, so clearly, you get that.”

      “No big deal for me. My place is now a vacation rental, and I’ll probably make a fortune.”

      “Gran, you left all your friends in Colorado.”

      “As you said, it’s what family does. It’s unfortunate that your mother doesn’t understand that. Nor your boyfriend. You could have used the help.”

      “Ex-boyfriend.” As for her mother, Daisy would neither defend nor accuse her. It was pointless and wouldn’t change a thing. Besides, Gran had her own opinions of her daughter-in-law and always had, long before Daisy’s father died. It was a topic that was best left alone.

      “I have you.” Daisy smiled at the woman who had all but raised her. “That’s all I need. That’s all Deb and I have ever needed.”

      When PJ began to fuss, Daisy took the baby from the high chair. She kissed PJ’s soft forehead and snuggled the child in her arms. PJ smelled like all that was good in the world, mixed up with an undefinable innocence and purity.

      “So, how was the pie?” Daisy asked, doing her best to lighten the mood. “I tweaked the recipe. Is it an improvement?”

      Her grandmother raised a knowing brow. “Your apple pie is better than usual, and that’s saying a lot because you are the best baker I know. Hard to believe you had any room for improvement.”

      “It’s better than your pies?”

      “Oh, my, yes! There was never a doubt that Daisy Anderson is the best baker in the family.”

      Accolades from her grandmother meant everything. Daisy broke off a tiny bit of golden crust and warm apple and popped it into her mouth, savoring the light buttery pastry. Yes, it was good. Good enough to open her own shop? Maybe. She released a small sigh.

      That dream was on hold for now. The kids needed her steady paycheck, health benefits and the five-bedroom house that Rebel’s lower cost of living afforded them. Someday, she’d chase her dreams again.

       Someday.

      The squeak of sneakers on the kitchen’s ancient, cracked linoleum floor heralded eight-year-old Grace’s entrance into the room. As usual, her dark hair was a tangle, the barrettes that Daisy put in this morning, long since discarded. “Aunt D, we’re bored. May we watch television?” Her twin brother Seth stood behind her, eyes expectant.

      “Television is for kids who don’t have all of this,” Daisy said, with a nod toward the endless yard outside the window. “There’s a bucket in the back of the van and a couple of pairs of gardening gloves. You two can go behind the shed and check out the blackberry bush I found.”

      “Aunt D? Really?” Seth interjected. “We’re missing our favorite show.”

      “Television shows are not going anywhere.” She smiled at the duo, so much like their father. Tall and slim with hair straight as a stick.

      Grace, always the drama queen, groaned as if in pain.

      “Tell you what. If you fill the bucket, we can go into town for pizza tonight, and then we’ll all watch a movie and make kettle corn.”

      “Pizza?” The twins echoed the revered word at the same time.

      Daisy nodded.

      The two headed outside, jabbering away and finishing each other’s sentences. Daisy and her sister had been like that. Even more so as identical twins.

      “Do you think it helps that I’m the mirror image of their mother?” Daisy asked her grandmother. “Or maybe I’m causing them to rip off the Band-Aid again every single day?”

      “I have no idea. Sometimes life just plain stinks, and yet kids are much more adaptable than we give them credit for. They need the love, security and consistency that you are providing. So stop overanalyzing.”

      “Sam woke up last night with another nightmare,” Daisy said. She glanced into the living room where the four-year-old and his six-year-old brother, Christian, stacked blocks on the oak floor.

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