Second Chance Family. Margaret Daley

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      “Why waste your hard-earned money on rent?”

      Whitney blew out a frustrated breath. “I’ll still be around and if you need a babysitter, I hope you’ll ask me first. Coming back to Cimarron City, getting to know you and your family has changed so much for me, but I’m losing myself here. I’ve got to figure out who I am.”

      Noah frowned. “I guess I can’t fault you for that. I know what it’s like to grapple with yourself. For years I thought I wanted a certain lifestyle, but Cara convinced me that wasn’t the case.”

      “Thank goodness she did. You’re great as a father. Nothing like the one we had. Any child would be lucky to have you as a dad.” She couldn’t keep the wistful tone from her voice and wasn’t surprised by it. She had never had loving parents—not even with the adoption situation she’d ended up in. At sixteen, Noah had had the Hendersons to show him the way; by the time she was sixteen she’d been living on the streets for six months.

      “I’d better be. I have five children to take care of.” Noah started for the door. “I’ll let you rest. Isn’t tonight one of the evenings you go to Stone’s Refuge?”

      “Yeah, I’ll hitch a ride with Adam. He owes me.” Sometimes Noah’s oldest adopted child rode with her.

      “Hitch a ride? What about your car?”

      “I was in a wreck this morning. It had to be towed to a garage to be fixed.”

      Noah’s mouth fell open. “Why didn’t you call? Say anything before now?”

      “Why should I? I took care of everything.”

      “But—but we’re family. We care. Were you hurt?”

      “I’m fine. A little sore, but nothing I can’t handle. Actually you know the owner of the vehicle I hit. Well, I didn’t exactly hit him while he was in it. His car was parked in front of his house.”

      “Who?”

      “Shane McCoy.”

      Noah’s brow furrowed. “How did you hit his parked car?”

      “To avoid hitting his son who had run into the street.”

      “Ah, Jason. Shane has his hands full.” Noah put his hand on the doorknob. “You can use one of our cars if you need to.”

      “I have everything worked out.”

      Noah grumbled about her determination and opened the door. “We’re eating at six. Coming up to the main house for dinner?”

      “No, I’m gonna grab a sandwich before heading over to the refuge with Adam. I have homework after that.”

      “It’s okay to accept help, Whitney. We all need it from time to time.”

      When her brother left, Whitney plopped down in the chair at the kitchen table to call Zoey Crandell. She didn’t want to live in an apartment complex with tons of people, so she hoped this place would work out for her.

      Her cat came out of the bedroom and leaped into her lap, purring. “Calico, what am I gonna do about my brother?” Her pet settled down while she stroked the animal’s back. “I already owe him too much. Being here has made me realize my life has to change. Now I have to figure out exactly what I want without him doing everything for me.”

      Again resolved to make that call about the garage apartment, she was halfway through entering the number when another knock interrupted her. By the sound of it she was sure it was Lindsay.

      “Come in,” Whitney called out, again hanging up the phone.

      The little girl who Cara and Noah adopted along with her two older brothers swung the door open wide. Calico stirred, peered at the seven-year-old and hopped down to greet her before finding a spot in the windowsill to peer out.

      Dressed in her bathing suit, Lindsay hugged a towel to her chest. “Will ya watch me swim?”

      Whitney glanced at her clock on the stove. “I can for a while.”

      Lindsay beamed. “I can always count on you.”

      “First, I have a call to make.”

      “Can’t it wait?”

      “No.” Whitney picked up the phone and finally placed her call to Zoey Crandell, setting up a time to see the apartment.

      “Are you leaving here?” Lindsay screwed her face into a pout.

      Whitney hung up the receiver. “Yes, but I won’t be too far away. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

      “You’ll come and watch me swim?”

      “Of course.” When Whitney neared the child, Lindsay grabbed her hand and tugged her outside. “Hold it. What’s the rush? We do have some time.”

      “I’ve gotta practice my swimming. I want to be the best.”

      At the pool behind the main house, Whitney sat on the edge, adjusting her split skirt so she could stick her legs into the water without it getting wet. She relished the feel of the coolness on her tired, aching feet.

      After the little girl swam a few laps, trying out various strokes, she came to the side where Whitney perched and clung to the tile lip. “Now that I’m a Maxwell, I’ve been thinking I should call you Aunt Whitney. May I?”

      The question stunned Whitney. She had never expected to have nieces and nephews—until she’d come to Cimarron City. She’d always thought of herself going through life alone. Emotions jammed her throat. She never cried, not since she’d been separated from Noah as a child, and yet the tears swelled up from the depths of her being.

      “Whitney?”

      The child’s expression, full of worry, forced Whitney to say something and yet she wasn’t sure her voice would work. She peered away, staring at the gazebo near the pond. A tear slipped down her face. She swiped it away.

      Clearing her throat, she finally said, “I’d love for you to.”

      Lindsay pulled herself out of the pool and flung herself into Whitney’s arms. “You’re the bestest aunt. I love you.”

      The scent of chlorine peppered the air. That must be why another tear coursed down her cheek. She kissed the top of Lindsay’s wet hair, swallowing hard. “I love you, too, Lindsay.” What would it be like to have her own child?

      That question nibbled at her mind, but she determinedly shoved it away. Instead, she cherished this moment because this would be the closest she would come to having a family and children. She would have to content herself with her niece and nephews because she would never have a child of her own who would depend on her.

      At work two days later, Whitney hung up the phone after talking with a man at the garage where her car was being fixed. Turning away from the counter at the main entrance into the building, she spied Shane trying to coax Jason inside. School started the next day, and it didn’t look as if things were СКАЧАТЬ