Almost Perfect. Сьюзен Мэллери

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СКАЧАТЬ the space where one was missing.

      She used the key she’d found under the front mat to let them in. She’d already done a brief tour of the house, to see if the girls were there. Judging from the school books piled on the dirty kitchen table and the clothes on the girls’ bedroom floors, she would guess summer break hadn’t started yet.

      Now she walked through to the kitchen with tonight’s meal. Half the cabinets were gone, as if someone had started remodeling then changed his mind. The refrigerator worked, but was empty. There was no food in the pantry in the corner. There were a few potato chip wrappers in the trash and one small apple on the counter.

      She didn’t know what to think. Based on her niece’s letter, the girls had been on their own for a few weeks. Ever since their stepmom had taken off. With their father in jail and no other family around, shouldn’t the state step in? Where were social services?

      She had more questions, but figured she would deal with them later. It was after four. The girls should get home soon. Once they’d all met, she would get more food in the house and figure out what was going on.

      “Mom?” Tyler called from the living room. “May I watch TV?”

      “Until your cousins get here.”

      Peggy had already called to confirm she’d paid all the amounts due on the utility bills and that everything should be working. Liz could see there was electricity. She turned on the faucet and water gushed out, which was a plus. Seconds later, she heard the sound of cartoons, which meant there was cable. Modern life as she knew it had been restored.

      She walked back to the front of the house and took the stairs to the second floor. She made her way straight to the master. It was the only room with family photos. A wedding picture of a much older Roy standing next to a chubby blonde had been placed on the battered dresser. There were a couple of school pictures of the girls. Liz moved closer and studied them, looking for features that would be familiar.

      Melissa seemed to have Roy’s smile. Abby had Liz’s eyes and freckles. They were both redheads, Melissa blessed with a soft auburn color. Abby was all carrot-top, which looked totally adorable. Although Liz had a feeling the eleven-year-old wouldn’t appreciate her unique coloring for a long time.

      She turned away from the photos to look at the room. The bed was unmade, the dresser drawers open and empty. In the surprisingly large closet, only men’s clothes hung. A couple of boxes were filled with socks and underwear—most likely placed there by Roy’s wife.

      Memories crowded around, filling the space. They poked at her as she moved back into the hallway, then into the bedroom that had been hers, making her remember things she’d tried so hard to forget.

      She heard echoes of her mother yelling, inhaled the smell of alcohol. She remembered the low voices of the men who had come and gone. Most of her mother’s “friends” had stayed out of Liz’s way, but a few had watched her with an intensity that had made her uncomfortable.

      She went into the room that had been hers. The wall color was different. The faded yellow had been replaced with a pale lavender. While the walls were freshly painted, the baseboards and trim had been sanded, but not finished. In the bathroom across the hall, the floor had been pulled up, exposing sheets of plywood below. She’d noticed a framed room off the back, sitting on a poured foundation. So many half-started projects that gave the already old and battered house the air of being wounded.

      Easily changed, she told herself. A good contractor could have this place fixed in a few weeks. Or maybe the old house should simply be torn down and left for dead.

      She shook off the morose thoughts. She’d been here all of an hour and already the place was getting to her. She had to remember she had a great life in San Francisco. Work she loved, a beautiful home, an amazing son. She’d left Fool’s Gold over a decade ago. She was a different person today. Older. Stronger. Able to deal with a few memories. It wasn’t as if she was settling here permanently. She would find out what was going on, then either take the girls to wherever they were going to live, or pack them up and bring them back to her place. A couple weeks, she told herself. Three at most.

      She went downstairs and heard the sound of excited voices. There were racing footsteps on the porch, then the front door flew open.

      Two girls stood there, the taller and older one looking both scared and relieved, while the younger hung back shyly.

      “Aunt Liz?” Melissa, the fourteen-year-old, asked tentatively.

      Liz smiled at them both and nodded. “Hi. I hope it’s okay that I let myself in. The key was right where—”

      The rest of what she was going to say got squeezed out of her as both girls raced to her and hugged her hard, holding on as if they would never let go.

      Chapter Two

      LIZ HUGGED THEM BACK, recognizing the relief and desperation in their embrace. They were too young to have been left on their own. What had Roy’s wife been thinking?

      She mentally added that question to the growing list she would deal with later. For now she wanted the girls to feel safe and get them fed.

      “You’re really here,” Melissa said, looking at her. “Really?”

      “Yes. I got your e-mail this morning and came right away.”

      Melissa, thin and nearly as tall as Liz, drew in a breath. “I’m really glad. I was trying so hard to make it okay, but I couldn’t. The money Bettina left us ran out really fast.”

      Abby, a little shorter and also thin, bit her lower lip. “Are you our aunt?”

      “I am. Your dad’s my brother.”

      “You’re famous.”

      Liz laughed. “Not really.”

      “But you have books in the library. I’ve seen ‘em.” Abby glanced at her sister. “I don’t read them because Melissa says they’ll give me bad dreams.”

      Liz reached out and touched the girl’s cheek. “I think she’s right. But maybe when you’re older.”

      “Or you could write a book for girls my age.”

      “Something to think about.” She looked past the girls and saw Tyler standing in the doorway to the hall. “Girls, you have a cousin. My son Tyler is with me. Tyler, these are your cousins, Melissa and Abby.”

      The girls turned. Tyler smiled.

      “Hi,” he said, sounding more curious than uneasy.

      “Hi,” the girls responded together.

      “Tyler’s eleven,” Liz told them. “His last day of school was today.”

      Melissa wrinkled her nose. “We have to go until Friday. Then we’re off for the summer.”

      A fact that would make life easier, Liz thought. If she ended up taking the girls back to San Francisco, she wouldn’t have to worry about pulling them out of school.

      Abby turned back to her. “Where’s Tyler’s dad, Aunt Liz?”

      Not СКАЧАТЬ