Part 31 (2/2)
”And until yesterday, you didn't know what she looked like after seven years. Now you do. Take it easy, Mara. It will all work out. Just stop being so anxious about everything. You're going to make yourself crazy.”
”I'm afraid I'm already a little bit crazy.” Mara closed the cupboard door. ”I think I need coffee.”
”Let me make it.” Annie smiled and came the rest of the way into the kitchen. ”Your coffee is atrocious.”
”You sound like Aidan.”
”Hey, those s.h.i.+elds boys know their coffee.” Annie's smile still dimmed a little when she spoke of her late fiance, Aidan's brother, taken out by a drug dealer's bullet over a year ago. ”Dylan made a mean pot of coffee in the morning. He liked it strong enough to walk on, but it was still pretty d.a.m.ned good.”
”I don't recall that I ever had the pleasure,” Mara said.
”Hey, you'd remember. Trust me. Dylan's coffee was potent enough to put hair on your chest.”
”Now that I would remember.” Mara nodded, a weak smile on her face. Then, a moment later, she said, ”I wonder if she slept all right.”
”I'm sure she was fine.”
”Spike stayed in her room all night. He hasn't even been outside yet.”
”Want me to try to get him? I'll take him for a walk,” Annie offered.
”Let's wait until he shows himself. I'd hate to wake her if she's still . . .”
Mara's attention was drawn to the doorway, where Julianne stood, holding Spike in her arms like a s.h.i.+eld.
”I'm awake,” Julianne announced flatly. ”You don't have to worry about waking me.”
”Did you sleep well?” Mara asked, trying her best to sound calm, normal. normal.
”I didn't sleep much.”
”Oh. I'm sorry-”
”You should have thought of that before you had me kidnapped,” Julianne said flatly.
”Julianne, I did not have you kidnapped,” Mara protested.
”What would you call it?”
Mara thought it over, then looked to Annie for help.
Annie had gone upstairs.
Coward, Mara thought. Mara thought.
”I don't know what they call it. A rescue-”
”I didn't need to be rescued. I was with my father father.”
”Your father who stole you from me seven years ago, changed your name, and hid you away so that no one could find you.”
”That's not why he changed my name,” Julianne shot back.
”Oh? Why did he change your name?” Mara felt her patience slipping in spite of her best efforts to hang on, to be nonconfrontational.
”Because he said . . . he said . . .” For the first time, Julianne faltered.
”He said what?”
”He said that when you died, you took my name to heaven with you.”
”What is that supposed to mean?” Mara asked gently. ”I don't understand.”
”I guess he meant . . . well, that it was a name that you chose.” Julianne's face clouded. ”That you wanted to keep it close to you . . . ?”
”Does that make sense to you?”
”It sort of did when I was little,” Julianne said uncertainly.
”You're not a little girl anymore. You're almost a teenager. A very smart teenager. Think about the things he's said to you. Do they make sense?”
Julianne made a circle on the tile floor with her bare toes, but did not respond.
”What do you like for breakfast?” Mara asked, deciding that she'd do well to take the pressure off Julianne for a bit. She'd given her something important to think about. She didn't want to burden her with too much at once.
”Just juice is okay.”
”Maybe some toast with it?”
”Okay.”
Annie called the dog from the living room.
”Walk, Spike. Let's go.”
She didn't have to call him twice. Spike ran to Annie, his tale wagging a mile a minute, eager for his morning excursion.
”Can I go, too?” Julianne asked.
Mara felt the panic rise within her. Jules could be out there, anywhere, waiting.
”Not this time,” Annie told her as she snapped Spike's lead to his collar. ”He wants to go out now, and you're not dressed yet. Next time, maybe.”
<script>