Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“This is a meerkat,” Ariel told Diana.
“Cat.”
“No, meerkat,” she corrected.
“Cat.”
“Meerkat.”
“Cat,” Diana said firmly, pointing to the puzzle piece.
“That’s right,” I said, shooting Ariel a look before she could argue. “What’s that one?”
“Lion,” Ariel answered quickly.
“I was asking sister,” I replied with a sigh, raising my eyebrows at her.
“Lion,” Diana parroted.
“What about this one?”
Ariel squirmed.
“Elphant.”
“That’s right,” I leaned down and kissed Diana on the head. “That’s an elephant.”
Ariel sighed.
“Did Ariel teach you that?” I asked the baby.
“Yeah.”
“She’s a good teacher, huh?”
“I’m a really good teacher,” Ariel boasted, perking up.
I leaned against the couch and watched them play, savoring the moment. They had no idea that in just a few hours their lives were going to change, that they’d woken up to a different life. Neither of them would’ve understood even if I’d tried to explain it. The changes were good. Answered prayers, if I was being generous and lucky if I wasn’t.
As I listened to Ariel try and teach Diana how to say caterpillar, I wondered at my lack of emotion. My husband was dead. The man I’d shared a bed with and built a life and family with was dead—and I felt nothing except relief.
Two hours, three games, and a diaper change later, the sound of Harley pipes filtered in through the window. I was on my feet before I’d even realized that I was moving.
“Noisy.” Diana wrinkled her nose.
Kneeling on the couch, I looked out the front window and my breath caught, relief making me sway.
“Who’s here?” Ariel yelled, scrambling onto the couch next to me.
“Your uncle,” I whispered as the motorcycles and a dark SUV pulled onto the short gravel driveway.
“Uncle Ephraim?” she asked dubiously.
“No.” I shook my head, my eyes still on those motorcycles. “Your uncle Otto.”
“Who’s that?”
I ran my hand down her hair as I climbed off the couch.
Hurrying down the hallway, I grabbed the two newborn photos of the girls off the wall. Stuffing them into the top of the girls’ suitcase, I dragged it and the duffel into the living room.
“Mama,” Ariel called as I raced back down the hallway. “There’s a big man at the door!”
“I’ll be right there,” I called back, dragging the other suitcase off my bed and into the living room.
He knocked as I set it next to the others and I took a moment, smoothing back my hair as I tried to catch my breath.
“Why do you have bags?” Ariel asked curiously as Diana crawled on top of a suitcase.
“Because we’re going on an adventure,” I whispered conspiratorially.
“We are?” she whispered back, her face lighting up as Otto knocked again.
“Yeah.” I grinned.
“Yes,” she hissed, jumping across the floor.
With another deep breath, I reached for the door and swung it open.
My sister’s husband was exactly the way I’d remembered him. Huge, imposing, frowning, and kind.
“Good to see you, Noel,” he said, his lips tipping up in a small smile as his eyes met mine. “Been waitin’ for—” His mouth snapped shut and his eyes widened as Ariel poked her head around my hip and grinned up at him.
“This is Ariel,” I said, pushing her forward until she stood beside me. She wrapped her arms around what was left of my waist and I felt myself straightening a little with pride.
“Well, hello Ariel,” he murmured, crouching down to look at her.
“Mama,” Diana wailed, finally realizing from her perch on the suitcase that we weren’t alone.
“And that’s Diana,” I said with a watery laugh, pulling out of Ariel’s hold so I could grab my youngest. As soon as I’d picked her up and handed her the binky she’d dropped, Diana was quiet again, watching Otto suspiciously.
“Diana,” Otto replied, smiling at my youngest. “Hi, honey.”
“Don’t worry,” I rasped, huffing out a laugh. “There’s only two.”
Otto looked pointedly down at my belly. “Almost three.”
“Almost three,” I conceded.
“Good thing we brought my mom’s rig,” he said, still smiling as he looked me over. “Got plenty of room.”
He jerked his head toward the SUV behind him, and my breath caught when I saw the man standing next to the driver’s side door. Planting my feet, I willed my body not to betray me as I swayed.
I’d known somewhere in the back of my mind that there was a chance that Otto’s brother Titus would come with him. It made sense that Titus would come if Otto was bringing people with him, and I’d known that Esther would never send Otto up to get me alone… but I still hadn’t even let myself imagine it.
The boy that I’d loved, dreamed of, imagined, and prayed for was only a few yards away. The memory of his weight cocooning me in the back of his car, our hands and lips frantic for just a few more moments together, hit me like a slap to the face. I sucked in a sharp breath. Unlike Otto, Titus was completely different from the boy I remembered. He was taller, broader, held himself differently, dressed differently. His face, though, that was as familiar to me as my own, if a bit older.