A Family Homecoming by Laurie Paige Read Free Book Online

bedroom across from you and Sara.” He pushed a lock of dark hair off his forehead and straightened. “With your permission.”
    She wanted to say no just to be obstinate, but that would be petty. She nodded. “I’ll help.”
    Gathering the six slats into a stack, she carried them downstairs and into the bedroom across the hall from hers. Kyle followed with the railings. Then she hefted the foot railings while he carried the headboard. Together they assembled the bed and aligned it against the wall.
    â€œThe mattress and springs aren’t very good.”
    He nodded. “I thought I would pick up a set in town this morning. Is that okay with you?”
    â€œFor a two-month stay?”
    â€œSara will need something bigger soon. She’ll outgrow the youth bed within another year.”
    â€œYes. She’s sprouting up so fast.” Danielle started to tell him about how fast the girl outgrew her clothes. She closed her mouth on the words.
    â€œWhat?” Kyle asked.
    â€œNothing. Just…she’s growing….”
    â€œI know.” He took two steps closer. “Next thing we know she’ll be putting on lipstick and heading off on her first date. And then to college.”
    Danielle tried to smile, but her lips trembled.
    He reached over and ran a finger along her bottom lip. “Does that bother you?” He dropped his hand.
    She shook her head, then changed her mind and nodded. “I want her to have a normal life, but I also want to protect her from ever getting hurt.” She stopped, afraid she would reveal too much.
    â€œThe way you were hurt?”
    Her gaze flew to his.
    â€œDon’t you think I know?” He shook his head. “I wanted to protect you and Sara from harm.”
    â€œIs that what you told yourself? That you weredoing it for our own good when you didn’t contact us for two years?”
    She thought of the nights when she lay in bed alone and wondered if he was dead or alive. She had agonized over him as much as she had during the fourteen days Sara had been missing. “I don’t think so. I think it was a convenient way to forget we existed. Your career was more important.”
    Kyle grasped her shoulders and felt his wife steel herself, as if expecting him to do violence. It hit him—really hit him—his wife thought him capable of hurting her. He was a stranger to her as well as to his daughter.
    After getting the letter, he knew he had lost his family, but he had never thought Danielle would distrust him, not his levelheaded Dani, who had matched his passion with her own, whose calm center had soothed his soul after his dealings with the harsh underbelly of society.
    Her hazel green eyes continued to watch him warily. Her face was pale, the tiny freckles across her nose and cheeks visible as she waited for whatever he would do next.
    â€œTwo years ago,” he said bitterly, “I was assigned a case that seemed simple enough. The man I was after had no conscience. He would have gunned down his own mother if he’d thought she’d crossed him. If someone had followed me home or traced a call to you, if the gang had discovered I wasn’t who I said, they would have wasted you and Sara without a thought. I couldn’t take that chance.”
    Her gaze didn’t soften. “You made a decision thatimportant to our marriage without consulting me. Do you think I have so little courage?”
    She pulled away from his hands and bumped into the wall. The dull clunk he heard reminded him of something he’d noticed yesterday. He slipped his hand between her and the wall. The gun was tucked into her waistband. He pulled it out. A .38 semiautomatic.
    â€œAre you licensed to carry concealed?” he demanded, worry eating at him. Danielle was obviously determined to defend herself and Sara, but would she use the weapon if she needed to? It could mean the difference between life and death. With no