Family Ever After. Margaret Daley

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      In the den Cara pulled the hide-away bed out of the couch and collapsed onto the covers without removing her clothes. Sleep immediately whisked her away, and the next thing she knew someone was shaking her awake.

      “Mom, you need to get ready for church.”

      Cara opened her eyes to a room bright with sunlight and stared up at her eight-year-old son, who loomed over her. Tiny frown lines creased his forehead.

      “What time is it, honey?”

      “Almost eight.”

      She held her groan inside, but she wanted to roll over and pull the covers over her head. Five hours sleep wasn’t enough.

      “Why are you dressed to go to work? I thought you were off today,” Timothy asked, pointing to her wrinkled shirt and pants.

      Cara forced a smile to her lips, cutting off the yawn building in her. “I’m off. I’ve got to help Laura this afternoon with the barbecue at Stone’s Refuge. Before that, honey, I promised a little girl I would take her to see her brother in the hospital.”

      “Is that the person who got hurt at work?”

      “How did you know about that?”

      “I overheard Laura talking to Peter about an accident at work.” Anxiety that Cara hadn’t seen in the past few months darkened her son’s brown eyes. “I was scared it was you, but Laura told me it was one of the teenagers working at the restaurant.”

      Cara hugged Timothy to her, kissing the top of his head. “Don’t you know, nothing could take me away from you? You’re stuck with me.” For the first year after her husband died from a long, painful illness, her son would awaken every night drenched in sweat, crying out for her. Slowly the nightmares disappeared when he realized she wasn’t going to leave him, but every once in a while she saw the fear in his eyes.

      Timothy leaned back and grinned. “I don’t mind. You’re a pretty good mom.”

      “Just pretty good?” She tackled him to the bed and began tickling his sides. His laughter chased away the problems of the past few days—until a knock interrupted their horseplay.

      “Come in,” she called out as she sat on the edge of the bed.

      Laura poked her head in. “Hannah just called. Rusty and Lindsay are gone.”

       Chapter Four

       O nce out of the city limits, Noah pressed down on the accelerator. He should have realized Rusty and Lindsay would try something like running away. He’d done his share of that while in foster homes and would have while living with his father if it hadn’t been for his kid sister. He couldn’t leave her there alone with their dad, and there wasn’t any way he would have risked taking her out on the streets.

      A picture of the last time he’d seen Whitney, crying, waving goodbye, popped into his mind. He gritted his teeth.

       Where are you? Why can’t I find you? The last report from the private investigator he’d hired to search for Whitney hadn’t been promising. The man only had a couple of more leads to follow before he would call it quits.

      Wrapped up in his thoughts, Noah had to look twice to realize two kids had darted behind some bushes alongside the highway. He saw a glimpse of pink among the foliage. He hoped it was Lindsay and Rusty.

      He parked a few yards from the large shrubbery and climbed from his Corvette. A squeak erupted from behind the bush, then a redheaded boy, dragging a little girl with blond hair, dashed out and ran in the opposite direction. Not again!

      “Stop, Rusty and Lindsay!”

      They kept going. Noah took after them, his long legs chewing up the distance between them.

      When he was a few feet from them, he noticed Rusty glancing across the highway. “Don’t do anything dangerous, Rusty.”

      At that moment a pickup came over a rise and whizzed by them. The boy slowed, his chest rising and falling rapidly. When he stopped, he bent over and pulled air into his lungs.

      Lindsay did likewise, tears streaking down her face. “My side hurts.” She held it and plopped down on the gravel shoulder.

      Another vehicle sped past them. Noah picked up Lindsay and moved her back from the road. Rusty collapsed next to his sister, looking daggers at Noah. He ignored them and sat on the other side of Lindsay, propping himself up on his elbows.

      Noah waited until their breathing returned to normal, then asked, “Where were you all going?”

      Rusty stuck his lower lip out. “Home. I’m sure Dad will be home by now.”

      “He’s not coming home. Adam told me he’d left for good.”

      “No! Daddy wouldn’t do that!” Lindsay began crying.

      Noah looked at the little girl, not sure what to do. He’d always thought the truth was the best way to go, but listening to the child’s sobs tore his heart. He started to reach for Lindsay to comfort her when Rusty shoved his hand away.

      “See what you did! You upset my sister!” The boy wrapped his arm around Lindsay and brought her to him.

      Okay, he’d always known he wasn’t good with small children. Teenagers worked for him so he could deal with them, but this was way out of the realm of his expertise. What should he do?

      Call Cara. She would know. He remembered how she had managed to calm them yesterday on a number of occasions. She was a natural. He dug his cell out of his pocket and called Peter’s house. When no one answered, he tried Jacob’s. Hannah answered on the third ring.

      “Is Cara there?” Noah slid a glance toward the two beside him. He wouldn’t put it past them to try escaping again.

      When Cara came on the phone, Noah sighed. “I’m sitting here with Rusty and Lindsay on the side of the highway about five minutes away from the farm. Can you pick them up? I don’t have room in my car.”

      “Sure. I’ll be there in a minute.”

      Noah snapped his cell closed, then suddenly wondered why he hadn’t just asked Hannah to come get the kids. Why had he asked Cara? She had a history with them. That was it! Certainly not because he wanted to see her.

      “We’ll run away again. We ain’t going back there. We’re going home.” Rusty’s angry words cut into Noah’s rationalization.

      Noah knew the next and last time they would go to that house was to pick up their belongings. It should be torn down or at the very least declared a disaster zone.

      Lindsay jerked her head up, wet tracks on her thin cheeks. “Molly! She’s alone at the house.”

      The puppy. He’d forgotten about her. “The farm will be a great place for her to live. There are a lot of animals and a lot of children to love them.”

      Terror widened the little girl’s eyes. “She’s mine! I love her!”

      He СКАЧАТЬ