A Bride After All by Kasey Michaels Read Free Book Online

don’t let her hang up.”
    He closed the phone and walked back over to Claire and Sean.
    “What did Mr. Abernathy want, Dad? Does he want you to go somewhere? I told you, I can stay by myself. Jimmy Peterson stays by himself all the time.”
    “Jimmy Peterson’s parents are a sorry excuse for—never mind. You’re not staying by yourself.”
    “Is there a problem, Nick?” Claire asked, once again stating the obvious. But at least he didn’t say duh back at her.
    “Just because Jimmy’s mom let us watch that stupid movie—”
    “Sean, quiet. Now, please,” Nick said, running his hand through his hair as if the action might dislodge an idea he was searching for.
    “Is Fred Abernathy your boss?”
    “Managing Editor of the Chronicle . Damn. How do I say this? Claire—would you consider watching Sean for about an hour or so?”
    Claire was rather proud of the way she managedto not allow her eyes to pop straight out of her head as she answered, “Watch…watching him?”
    “I know. I shouldn’t ask. And I wouldn’t, if this wasn’t important. You see, I wrote this four-part series of articles a while ago—”
    “On domestic violence and abuse,” she interrupted. “Yes, I know. Remember I told you I looked you up on the Internet? It was, um, quite good.”
    “Thanks. The thing is, I got to know several of the women I wrote about. I mean, you try to keep your perspective, keep your eye on the story, but sometimes that isn’t as easy as it sounds. Anyway, this one woman I profiled? God, why she stayed with the guy—I kept telling her she needed to leave.”
    Claire thought back over the articles she’d read, wondering if the woman was Maria, the mother of three who had, at last count, a total of sixteen broken bones over the past decade, all courtesy of her husband. Or maybe it was Lydia, the woman who wouldn’t leave her abusive boyfriend because she felt she “deserved” his punishment when he was in one of his drunken rages. Or, worst of all for Claire, the unnamed wife who had to account for every moment of her every day or risk her husband’s jealous wrath.
    That one had hit too close to home, like a “this could have been you, if you hadn’t had the family support to get out in time.”
    “Is…is she all right?”
    “She is right now. The ER released her, but she’s still there. Just a few bruises and a couple of cracked ribs, according to Fred, as if that isn’t enough. I don’t know about tomorrow, because her abuser will get out of lockup by then. She called the paper looking for me. She wants to go to a shelter.”
    “But that’s wonderful. Why did she call you?”
    He looked rather sheepish. “Because I gave her my number at the newspaper? I told her, any time, day or night, whenever, if she decided it was time to get out, I’d help her gather her kids and their belongings, personally get them settled into a shelter. Tonight seems to be her time.”
    “Then you have to do it,” Claire said emphatically. “Now, while she’s feeling strong enough, or frightened enough, to take that first step for herself and her children. But you have no one to keep Sean, do you? That’s the problem.”
    “In a nutshell. Our usual sitter is on vacation this week. It could take an hour, a couple of hours, and I really don’t want him to…you know. See .”
    “No, of course not. I can take him for you, Nick. Get him home, get him to bed, wait for you.” She managed a smile. “Remember, I deal with kids all day long, so I don’t scare easily. I think we’ll be fine.”
    “Dad? Can’t I just go with you?”
    Nick looked at Claire, his eyes searching her face. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t ask, except that—”
    “Just give me your address and a few directions,” Claire told him. “Does he still need a booster car seat?”
    “As if,” Sean snorted, rolling his eyes.
    Five minutes later, with Sean buckled up in the back seat—against his protests that he was tall enough to sit up