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.Kelly paled, guilt washing all expression from her delicate features.She looked to the officer for help.“Ms.Pearson was worried about her daughter,” the officer said.“Are you Steve McCarthy?”Steve nodded, the situation dawning painfully clear.“Well, it looks like everything is under control here, so I’ll take off, if that’s okay with you, ma’am?”Kelly nodded, her tongue cemented to the bottom of her mouth.Steve was pale, a mixture of disbelief and pain swirling in his green eyes.“If you have any further questions, just call,” the officer said.“Here’s my card.”“Thank you.” Her voice came out in a whisper.As soon as he left, Steve glared at Kelly.“You called the police on me? Tell me I’m wrong, Kelly, please.”She stiffened.He hadn’t called her Pearson.How could she explain, make him understand the position he had put her in? She couldn’t, so she got defensive.“The daycare gave me your message.‘I’ve got Lacy.’ What the hell kind of message is that?” She was almost screaming.She wanted him to leave.Leave them alone forever.“Why didn’t you answer your phone, Steve? I’ve been calling all day.” Her breath caught in her throat and she swallowed a sob.“I’ve been sick with worry.”“Jesus,” he groaned, staring at her in disbelief.“I don’t believe this! My cell was dead.I forgot to recharge it last night.I didn’t think I had to say anymore than I had Lacy with me.Simple message.”“Why didn’t you use a pay phone? Did you give me all your quarters?” she said with sarcasm.“Couldn’t you have borrowed someone’s phone? For God’s sake, Steve.‘I’ve got Lacy’? That’s the kind of message a kidnapper leaves!” Her rage mounted, matching his.“What was I supposed to think? I waited for hours.You weren’t home.I left a message.I was beside myself.You would have done the same thing if it was your daughter.” She wiped at her tears.“Where did you go? Where were you with my daughter all day?”“Your daughter? Your daughter?” he screamed.“Oh, that’s right.I forgot you’re the only adult human alive who’s capable of good parenting, so you called the damned police on me!” His face turned bright red.“I can’t believe you.”Kelly was close to hysteria, blood pounding in her temples, her knees so weak she thought she might collapse at any moment.She didn’t want to hear his excuses or see the pain of betrayal on his face.The same feelings still burned fresh in her own mind after the Jill and Ken show last night.Lacy jumped off the couch, eyes wide and frightened.“Mommy! Steve! Stop screaming! Mommy, please!”Kelly’s mouth snapped shut, and she hurried to Lacy’s side, regretting the scene her daughter had just witnessed.She couldn’t expect her daughter to understand what was happening.“I’m sorry, honey.” She smoothed Lacy’s curls.“Everything will be all right.”“Look, Mommy, Steve bought me and Gary these neat hats, and we saw the b-i-i-g rockets.” Lacy stretched her hands to either side to demonstrate the enormity of the rockets they’d seen.Kelly’s eyes snapped back to Steve.“Gary? Gary went with you, too?”“Yeah.I got a call from the Cape in the middle of the night,” he spat, his tone ripe with bitterness.“A problem developed in some of the cultures, and since the shuttle is scheduled to take off next week, they needed me down there early.The daycare didn’t open until six thirty, so I had to take Lacy with me.Gary has been dying to go to the Cape, so I took him with us.When I was finished smoothing out some of the problems, I gave them the tour.We stopped for an early dinner.It never occurred to me you wouldn’t trust me.” Pain sharpened his voice and his eyes glassed over.“Guess I was a jerk for thinking we had something special, Pearson.”Kelly glanced over at Lacy, noticing for the first time the Kennedy Space Center hat she proudly wore.Not knowing what to do or say, she grabbed the bill of the hat and pulled it down over her daughter’s eyes.Lacy giggled and repositioned the hat on her head.“So what did you think? I was going to murder her, kidnap her, what? Rape her? Sell her on the black market, what?” His eyes had darkened with anger, any hint of green long gone.Kelly didn’t want her daughter to hear another word.“Lacy, honey, why don’t you go to your room and show Skunk your new hat? Go on, honey.”Lacy stared at them with painful bewilderment then ran down the hall and slammed her door.Kelly watched her then spun back to Steve.“I did what I thought I had to do.” Tears ran down her cheeks.God will he never leave!Steve squared his shoulders.“Right.” He shook his sandy head in disgust.“I can see this whole thing has been a huge mistake.I hope you’re happy, lady.” As he closed the front door behind him, he added, “Alone.”Kelly staggered down the hall, exhausted beyond any fatigue she could remember.Passing Lacy’s door, she peeked in.Her daughter was fine, playing house with her beloved pet rat.Afraid she might throw up, Kelly sagged against the wall, trying to breathe, to center herself, then she moved down the hall to her own bedroom.Too upset to do anything else, she climbed into bed and curled into a ball, sobbing into her pillow, afraid to think about tomorrow.Chapter Thirty-TwoSteve turned down the long, densely forested drive to his home, wanting nothing more than to be alone and to stay there until he could breathe again, He’d invested his heart in a possible future with Kelly Pearson and her daughter, and his efforts had been rewarded tonight by a visit from the Daytona Police Department.He’d tried to be patient, give her the space he knew she needed, but he had limits.He was only human.That Kelly had actually believed he could be a child molester or kidnapper, or whatever, tore a rift in his pride.A fiery pain seized his heart.He loved Kelly Pearson.He loved her so much it hurt, but there was no way he could fight her distrust.Even if he tried, he couldn’t live with her, knowing she might turn on him like she had today.Kelly Pearson was all closed up, inviting no one into her safe little world.He’d had a glimpse inside and had guessed the roots of her pain.Pain he might have soothed, given a chance, but…he sighed aloud.Hadn’t he done everything possible to show her he cared about her and Lacy? Still, she hadn’t trusted him.He’d been so sure, after losing his wife years ago due to impatience, he could win Kelly by taking their relationship one day at a time.Granted, they’d only known each other for a short while, but he’d fallen in love with her from the moment he’d seen her.He thought Kelly loved him, too.But she didn’t trust him.He’d always thought the two went hand in hand.It didn’t make any sense to him, but he knew when to give up.Steve parked the Jeep under the carport and climbed out, dragging his feet across the gravel.He hadn’t thought anything could be as devastating as his divorce.He’d been wrong.If he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought he’d been kicked in the stomach.The pain of Kelly’s distrust was physical
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Tematy
IndexCidney Swanson [Saving Mars Saving Mars (epub)
Christine Wood [Life Plan 01] A Life Plan Without You (epub)
Cheryl McIntyre [Infinitely Infinitely (epub)
Clair Delaney [Coral 01] Coral (epub)
Christine Cody [Bloodlands 01 Bloodlands (epub)
Christina Ross [Unleash Me, A Unleash Me, Vol 3 (epub)
Christine Flynn [The Hunt for Once Upon a Christmas Eve (epub
Christian Fletcher [The Left Left on the Brink (epub)
Christopher G Nuttall [Royal The Royal Sorceress (epub)
021. Zemsta Sithów (Matthew Stover) 19 lat przed Era Powstania Imperium