Page 97 of Left Behind

Linette shrugged. “I moved out today. Now, you won’t be seeing anything of me.”

“Leaving town?” Cecily asked.

“No.”

Cecily persisted. “See Wiley lately?”

“I live with him,” Linette said.

Cecily rode that gut punch like a boss and never blinked. “Heard he has a kid. You can have him.”

Linette laughed. “He was never yours to give away, and the child is his sister. Have a nice life, Cecily…and while you’re at it, grow up.”

The elevator stopped. The doors opened, and Linette walked away, leaving Cecily so speechless that she forgot to get off.

***

Ava had been in Wiley and Linette’s life long enough that she had settled to his satisfaction. He would go back on duty now, and she would be at Dani’s house during the day. He’d already pre-enrolled her at school, and she’d been taken with the building and all of the new playground equipment. The idea of making friends appealed to her, but she was so easily hurt, and he was dreading it.

His mom told him that’s how all parents felt with a new baby—when they had to go back to work, and leave the child in someone else’s care—and to be glad that it was his sister-in-law, and not some random day care. But his separation anxiety was real, and there were times when he couldn’t remember a day without Ava and Linette in it.

Last night, Ava had forgotten to panic about closing blinds and curtains when it got dark, and she’d giggled hysterically as Linette was helping her bathe and get ready for bed. Wiley heard both of them chattering as if they’d known each other forever, and she wasn’t afraid now to ask for food when she was hungry. The first time she rejected a suggestion and asked to play in her room instead, he felt justified. Ava Dalton was becoming the child she was meant to be.

But what they’d planned to do today was over the moment he woke up to a downpour. There would be no playing outside, or going to Reagan Bullard’s campground and playing on the waterslide, or riding a pony. That would have to wait for another day. Linette was off, too, and they could have just spent the day together in the house, but he wanted to do things with her, for her, while he had the time, so they opted to go up the mountain to visit Shirley and Sean.

“Are we climbing the mountain today, Bubba?” Ava asked.

“Driving. We’re driving there,” he said. He put her little yellow poncho over her head and buckled her in the back seat, as Linette slipped into her raincoat and got into the front seat.

“Does Grammy know we’re coming? Does Sean know we’re coming?”

“Yes, ma’am. I already called them,” Wiley said.

He jumped in the car and lowered the garage door as they were driving away. The rain was steady enough that he had the windshield wipers on high as he drove through town and took the road headed up the mountain. Everything was lush and green around them, and the rain was blurring the landscape just enough that it wasn’t long before it began to feel as if the greenery had swallowed them whole.

Chapter 15

Ava was big-eyed and quiet in the back seat, with Phillip, her little brown squirrel, tucked under her arm. She’d left Pinky at home because she didn’t want to get her wet, but was certain Phillip would enjoy the ride. Now she was afraid to turn loose of him, for fear he’d jump out and get lost in all the trees.

Linette was a little nervous. This was her first inclusion in a family gathering, although the whole family knew she and Wiley were living together. Wiley kept glancing from Linette to the rearview mirror to check on Ava, making sure she was okay. He could tell she was a little unnerved and wished she was sitting in his lap, instead of in the back seat all alone.

“You okay back there?” he asked.

“I’m okay. Is it far?” she asked.

“Not too much farther.”

Ava frowned. “Are you sure you know the way?”

He laughed. “Yes, honey. I lived with Grammy and Sean until I went to work for the police. Then I moved to town so I would be closer to work.

“There aren’t any houses here,” she said.

“Oh, there are lots of houses, but the families live off the road. You’ll see. Grammy’s house is like that. Do you see that mailbox?”

She peered out the window, squinting through the rain. “Yes, I see it.”

“The road leading up into the trees beside it is how you get to that person’s house. So, everywhere you see a mailbox, there is a house at the other end of that road.”

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