Bittersweet Hope by Ryann Jansen Read Free Book Online Page A

anything else since I got home last night. My skin still prickled when I thought about the girl at the party. She’d seemed so much like Sadie, and I hadn’t even gotten a good look at her. It was just a feeling, a sensation that I knew my sister had been close to me, and I couldn’t shake it off.
    “Hi, Audrey.” She smiled warmly at me. “Sure. I’ll go get the numbers.” She put her work aside and we walked down the stairs and into the living room. Anna took the phone numbers from a folder on the roll-top desk, and I settled into the oversized leather couch, my pulse feeling like it was going to explode before Anna came back to sit in the chair beside me. It had only been one day, but I missed Sadie and Sierra so much it was almost as if I were feeling physical pain.
    “Here they are. Just let me speak to the adults first, and then we’ll go from there.” Anna sat in her recliner and pulled out her phone.
    I nodded, chewing on the inside of my cheek. I wished I could just call them myself. But Anna had told me earlier the other foster parents would expect some ground rules set up first. That was what Mrs. Anderson had said.
    Anna dialed the first number on her cell, and it seemed like it took ten forevers for somebody to answer. I thought about the moment Sadie got dropped off. There had been a girl on the porch with her parents, not much younger than me maybe. She’d been dressed all in black, with her face painted white, and even had on dark black lipstick. She’d stuck in my mind, because I’d hoped she wouldn’t cause trouble for Sadie. Now, she moved front and center as I tried to imagine what my sister had done all day yesterday.
    “Mrs. Gable?” Anna finally said, bringing me out of my thoughts.
    Mrs. Gable. That was Sadie’s foster mother. I remembered Mrs. Anderson saying the name when we pulled up in front of the brick house. My knuckles turned white from clutching my hands together so hard. I tried to loosen them, but it was like I’d lost all control over myself. They wouldn’t budge.
    Anna looked at me and winked. “Mrs. Gable, this is Anna Whitley. Audrey is with me, Sadie’s sister? We were wondering if she might be able to speak with Sadie this morning.”
    Inhaling deeply, I watched as Anna picked at her fingernails, reminding me of Sierra. Her forehead and nose wrinkled as she listened. She glanced at me, then looked away.
    I let out my breath. Well that didn’t look good. My palms were sweating as I started twisting them together. Calm down, Audrey. She’s only been on the phone, for like, a second.
    “I see. You don’t think for even a few minutes—?” Anna paused, allowing me to hear the murmurs of Mrs. Gable’s voice. “I understand.” Anna said. “Thank you, Mrs. Gable. Yes, we’ll give her a call in a couple of days.”
    Anna pressed her French manicured fingernail on the end button and placed the phone on the end table beside her.
    “She said no?” My insides were all tangled up as questions roared inside my head. Why couldn’t I talk to my sister? What were they doing to her?
    “She said not today, Audrey.”
    My heart rate didn’t slow. “Why?”
    “I suppose Mrs. Gable has kept lots of foster children. It’s not like here—you’re the first one we’ve taken in. She said Sadie isn’t adjusting well and it would be best for her not to speak to you for a few days, until she gets used to things. She said it happens a lot, and it just helps to wait.”
    My ears buzzed and I felt dizzy. Sadie wasn’t adjusting well? What the hell did that mean? My head throbbed, a migraine the size of Texas forming behind my eyes. I rubbed at my temples, trying to make it go away.
    “I don’t understand. What’s wrong with my sister?”
    Feeling too frantic to sit, I stood and paced around the living room.
    “I’m not sure. I assume she’s still very upset.”
    “I’m upset too! We were all upset. But if this wacko woman is saying Sadie isn’t doing well does it