Out of Eden. Beth Ciotta

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      Alarmed, he switched on a light and opened the door.

      “Sorry to wake you,” Jessie snapped before he could ask what’s wrong?

      “No problem.” He quickly surmised she hadn’t been in a car accident or house fire. No blood, no bruises, no burns. Maddie looked okay, too. Oddly wide awake for the middle of the night, but fine. He focused back on his sister. She looked frazzled. Pale and fidgety. No makeup. Lopsided ponytail and ill-fitting clothes. This woman didn’t look anything like his confident, pageant queen, fashion-conscious sister. This woman had fled home in the middle of the night in a panic. Had the Cheating Bastard shown up? Called? Harassed her? Scared her? He didn’t want to ask in front of the kid.

      “We couldn’t sleep,” Jessie said.

      “Our house is sad,” Maddie said in a small voice.

      Chest tight, Jack relieved his sister of the weighty backpack. “Come in.”

      “Are you my uncle Jack?” Maddie asked as they moved into the sparsely furnished living room.

      “Sure am, sweet pea.” He hated that she had to ask. Hated that he’d allowed work and pride to interfere with family.

      “Where’s your badge?”

      “Upstairs.”

      Her eyes twinkled. “Can I see it?”

      “Not now, Madeline.” Jessie set her daughter on the couch.

      Jack set the backpack on his recliner. He noted the little girl’s pink pajamas, her bunny slippers and the colorful bear clutched to her chest. He recognized that bear. He’d sent her that stuffed animal as a Christmas gift two years earlier. Jessie and Frank had made it clear he was unwelcome in their home, their lives. Naturally, he thought they’d deprived Maddie of the gifts he’d sent over the years. Jessie had intimated as such. It warmed him to learn otherwise.

      Throat thick, he smiled even though he knew something was wrong. “Can I get you ladies, anything? Milk and cookies?”

      Maddie glanced at her mom, at Jack. “We don’t eat cookies.”

      “Why not?”

      “Too fattening.”

      That was his sister talking. A woman—thanks to years on the pageant circuit—obsessed with body image. No five-year-old should be worrying about her weight unless she was obese, which Maddie wasn’t. She was a skinny little thing with long black hair and big brown eyes.

      “Well, I eat cookies,” Jack said, cursing himself for not being a better uncle, or for that matter, a better brother. “And I could use a late-night snack.”

      He wondered if Jessie ever snacked. Hell, he wondered if she ate, period. He’d have to refrain from force-feeding her an entire bag of Fig Newtons. She looked rail thin in her baggy jeans and shapeless shirt. She’d always been thin, but this was troubling.

      He smoothed a hand over Maddie’s silky hair. “I need your mom’s help in the kitchen. We won’t be long. Do you want to lie down?”

      “Can’t sleep.” Maddie hugged the bear tighter—a chubby teddy he’d stuffed himself at one of those Build-A-Bear stores. Patches looked worn and loved, and suddenly he didn’t feel like the worst uncle in the world, just a lame one.

      “Do you have a DVD player?” Jessie asked.

      He nodded.

      She unzipped the front pocket of the cartoon backpack they’d brought. “Here.” She passed him a DVD. A Disney flick.

      Jack put the disk in his player and fired up the movie without comment. He wanted Jessie in the kitchen. He wanted answers.

      “Who’s that?” asked Maddie.

      Jack turned and saw the pointy-eared mutt sitting at the bottom of the stairs. So much for following orders. “That’s Shy.”

      Mother and daughter spoke at the same time.

      “Does she bite?”

      “Is she yours?”

      “No and no. We’ll be right back,” he said to Maddie, while motioning Jessie to follow.

      Once inside the kitchen, he spoke frankly. “What’s wrong?”

      “Nothing I can’t fix. But I can’t do it tonight.” She tucked her hands under her armpits and paced. “I feel like I’m coming out of my skin. I hate this.”

      So did Jack. Until he knew what was wrong, he couldn’t fix it. If he pressed too hard, too fast, she might bolt. Considering they’d been estranged for years, Jessie being here like this was a breakthrough. He didn’t want to screw it up. “How about some hot tea?”

      “How about something stronger?”

      Given his recent battle with booze, he hadn’t stocked the house with hard liquor. “All I’ve got is beer.”

      “I’ll take it.”

      As far as he knew, she never drank anything other than wine spritzers. Damn, he itched to press. What’s wrong? Instead he got her a beer and poured a glass of milk for his niece.

      Jessie paced and chugged. “I wouldn’t be here if I had any other choice.”

      “That’s flattering,” he said while loading a plate with cookies.

      “Look. I know we’ve never been on great terms. As kids or adults,” she said in a tight, brittle voice. “But I…we…Madeline and me…need a place to spend the night.”

      He should have said okay. Plain and simple. But there was nothing simple about their relationship. And he’d be damned if he’d let her freeze him out in his own house. “Why? Did Frank show up? Does he want to move back in?”

      “No.”

      “Did he call? Threaten you?”

      “I haven’t talked to Frank in two weeks.”

      “He calls to speak with his daughter, right?”

      She didn’t answer.

      Jack looked over his shoulder. “You’re kidding.”

      She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Frank never wanted…Madeline was…”

      An accident? Unexpected? So what? Just when he thought his opinion of his brother-in-law couldn’t sink any lower. “You can stay here as long as you like, Jessie.”

      “I don’t like it at all,” she said, still pacing, still drinking. “But I can’t impose on friends and I can’t afford the Orchard House.”

      Jack blew over the personal jab and focused on the financial. “Are you telling me that fu—” He glanced toward the sound of cartoon voices and cheery music. “That Frank’s not supporting СКАЧАТЬ