Page 50 of Left Behind

Aaron sighed. “I should have known. Then we’ll have a family meeting at Mom’s when you’re ready. Your little girl needs to know who her brothers are, the sisters who will have her back, and a grandma who will rock her world.”

***

Corina Dalton was beside herself with glee. The trip hadn’t quite turned out how she’d planned, but was ending better than expected. She wasn’t getting the payoff money she’d planned on, but she’d gotten rid of the unwanted burden of motherhood. She was tired of driving, but the need to get as far away as possible before they changed their minds was uppermost, so she grabbed breakfast to go and ate on the road. She was still surprised Wiley knew who she was and, if she’d known, would never have had the guts to try this, which proved sometimes a wrong thing can turn out right.

***

Wiley’s thoughts were in free fall as he took Ava and her things to his car. He wasn’t one bit sorry for the decision he’d just made, but he was scared as to how he was going to make it work. He didn’t know squat about kids, but he’d been one. He knew what it felt like to be afraid of who was coming in the door. And he knew what it was like to be ridiculed. He wanted to carry her, but she was very protective of her personal space, and he was afraid to find out why. As soon as they got to the car, he put the sack with her clothes in the seat beside her, then buckled her into the back seat.

“Are you okay, here? It’s not too tight across your chest?” he asked.

“Not too tight,” she whispered, and pulled the sack with her things into her lap.

Watching her clutch at the only things in the world that were hers hurt his heart. “Okay then, I guess we’re ready to go.”

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Home, sugar. We’re going home.”

She looked up. “Your apartment?”

“No, it’s a house,” Wiley said.

Ava blinked. “You have an all-by-yourself house?”

He smiled. “I do, and it has two bedrooms. One will be all yours.”

She hugged the bag with her clothes a little tighter. “Is it far?”

He lifted a lock of hair from the corner of her eye and pushed it back into place. “No. You’ll see.”

He got into the car and drove out of the parking lot, wondering if she had even grasped the reality of what had just happened. If she was always getting dumped wherever, did she know Corina wasn’t coming back? One thing was for damn sure about his new arrangement. The only girl who fit into his world now was the little sister sitting in the back seat with that frozen look on her face.

When he pulled up to the little house, he paused to open the garage door, then drove inside.

“We’re here,” he said, as the door rolled down behind them.

He helped her out, grabbed her belongings, and opened the door, turning on lights as they went. The house still smelled like breakfast, but the kitchen was clean. He didn’t like clutter on the counters and kept stuff put away when it wasn’t in use. A holdover from lessons his mother had taught all of them.

Ava was standing in the middle of the floor, eyeing the white cabinets with gold knobs, the big island with the tall chairs, and the shiny stainless-steel appliances.

“This way, Ava. I’ll show you the house as we go. This is our living room. It has a gas fireplace for when winter comes.” As they started up the hall, he pointed into the bedroom on the right. “This is my bedroom, and there’s a big bathroom in it with a tub and a shower. Do you like bubble baths?”

“What’s that?” she asked.

He stopped. “You never played in a bathtub that had soap bubbles in it?”

She shook her head.

He grinned and held out his hand. “Oh, Sister, you are in for a treat,” he said. “Come with me and I’ll show you your bedroom. It’s right across the hall.”

This time, when he held out his hand, she took it. Wiley opened the door and turned on the light. From the look on her face, the pink bedroom might as well have been a palace. They walked inside, and then he opened the door beside her bed. “This is your bathroom, but it has two doors so someone can get to it from the hall, or you can use it from your room.”

She nodded, looking in at the tub and the shiny faucet and the white bath towel hanging on the towel rack, and then back at him.

“So, what do you think?” he asked.

“I can take a whole bath?”

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