Burning Eden by Kelly Fisher Read Free Book Online Page B

pointing out all the kids as he spoke their names. They all smiled and gave a small nod of their heads. Jesse beamed a huge, beautiful smile back at them and I gasped quietly hoping Cain hadn’t heard me. “You know Edie, of course, and beside her is her husband Cain. Those two beauties making their way over are my wife, Peggy and Edie’s mom, Lucy. Now that you know who everyone is all I have to say is any friend of Edie’s is a friend of ours, isn’t that right, Cain?” Uncle Dave asked giving a Cain a serious look.
                  “Sure,” Cain replied and the coolness in his voice whispered on my spine. Did he sense something between Jesse and me already? I looked over at Carrie, Jesse’s wife, noticing that she didn’t seem too thrilled to be here either. We locked eyes for a split second and I saw nothing but hatred in them so I quickly looked away. I glanced past her and saw the most beautiful little boy I had ever seen and my heart melted. Jonni, all my worries fell away at that moment. It didn’t matter if Cain suspected something. It didn’t matter if Carrie hated my guts. All that truly mattered was that Jonni was safe, that he was taken care of, and that here he would be both. Looking at Jonni’s golden hair and bright blue eyes of innocence still not lost brought me some hope for a future. Seeing him gave me the extra courage I needed to step up to the passenger side car door and open it. Carrie looked at me quite shocked as I offered her my hand.
                  “Hi, I’m Edie. I’m glad you guys made it safely. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
                  “Uh, I’m Carrie. Thanks for offering us a place to stay,” she said as she softly shook my hand. I took a step back so she could get out of the car and I glanced over at Jesse for a second, as out gazes locked it felt as if time was standing still and I was happy for it.
                  “This is Jonni,” Carrie said ending my bliss quickly. She was holding Jonni’s hand and he beamed up at me. He looked so much like his father that I found myself in another kind of bliss.
                  “Hi, Jonni. I’m Edie, are you hungry?” I asked knowing they had traveled far and I had no idea when was the last time they had had a chance to eat. Jonni nodded his head slowly and I felt tears sting my eyes.
                  “We’ll take him inside and make him something to eat,” Maddie spoke up.
                  “Would that be ok with you guys?” I made a point of asking Carrie.
                  “Sure,” she said quietly. “We haven’t eaten anything in a while.”
                  She let go of his hand reluctantly as Kairo walked over and stretched out his big palm to Jonni.
                  “Hi, I’m Kairo. You like video games?” Kairo asked and Jonni’s smile grew bigger and nodded his head emphatically.
    “Well then, you are going to love it here. Tons of video games to play and all the food you can eat,” Hannah said coming up to stand behind Kairo. Jonni then hurriedly placed his small hand inside Kairo’s large one and all four of them headed off towards the house.
    “ Thank you,” Carrie said, smiling softly.
    “You’re very welcome, my dear,” my Uncle answered for me coming around to the passenger’s side of the car and then placing his big arm around Jesse’s shoulder. I smiled shyly at Jesse and when he returned the smile I felt myself starting to blush so I stared at the ground. “How about we get some drinks and I show you guys around the place.”
    “That sounds great,” Jesse said. “Right, Carrie?”
    “Um…yeah…great,” she said as they started making their own way towards the house. I began to walk slowly behind them but Cain stopped me abruptly by stepping in front of me and slightly grabbing my wrist.
    “I need to talk to you,” he spoke sternly and mad e his