Homing by John Saul Read Free Book Online

fact, though she wasn't about to admit it, she was already feeling a little curious about exactly how they were going to maneuver the bees out of the box into the hive.
    "But what about me?" she heard Molly complaining as she pushed the screen door open. "Why can't I go too?"
    Hurrying, Julie quickly moved away from the house before her mother could decide she might as well take her sister along.
    "Because someone has to stay here and help me get ready," Karen replied, reaching down and lifting Molly off her feet to distract her from trying to chase after Julie.
    "After all, you don't want your old mother to look like a hag when she gets married, do you?"
    "But I want to see the bees!" Molly demanded.
    Karen held her so the tip of Molly's nose just touched her own. "Tell you what. You stay here and help me get dressed, and tomorrow you and I will sneak off without anyone knowing where we're going, and look at the beehives together. But you have to promise not to bother the bees. Okay?"
    Molly, her ruffled feelings somewhat soothed, nodded reluctantly, and Karen set her back on the floor. Outside, Julie was sliding into the cab of the truck next to Otto, and though the old man barely nodded an acknowledgment that she was there, Karen smiled to herself. She had been certain she'd seen at least a flicker of interest in Julie's eyes, and she suspected that by the time Julie got back, she'd have pumped Otto dry on the subject of beehives.
    And Otto, perhaps, would have warmed to at least one of her daughters.
    An hour later, when the truck came back and Julie came into the house, Karen realized she'd been wrong.
    "Julie?" she said. "What happened?"
    Julie, already on her way to the room she shared with Molly, turned to glare at her mother.
    "Mr. Owen," she said. "I hate him! I really hate him!
    He wouldn't even speak to me, even when I asked him a simple question. All he did was tell me to stay out of the way! All I wanted to do was watch! As if I care about the stupid bees! As if I care about any of this!" Bursting into tears, she dashed into the little bedroom and hurled herself onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow.
    Karen groaned inwardly. Why did this have to happen on her wedding day? And worse, what did it mean for the future? wasn't Otto ever going to accept them being there?
    Maybe she should go up and talk to Russell about his father.
    Or maybe even postpone the wedding ...
    No! That was exactly what Otto wanted. And not for her simply to postpone the ceremony, either, but for her to cancel it entirely, and take her daughters back to Los Angeles.
    Well, to hell with him! Deciding she simply wouldn't worry about the cantankerous old man for the rest of the day, Karen set about the task of calming her daughter down.
    But even after she'd stopped crying, Julie's eyes remained stormy "We should go home," she said. "We don't belong here.
    We should just go home."
    Saying nothing of her own fleeting thought of postponing the wedding, Karen silently prayed that Julie was wrong.

CHAPTER 3
    The afternoon sun was hot, and Karen was beginning to wonder if she'd made the right decision about the dress she'd chosen to get married in. It was a good dress-one she bought years ago, before Richard died-and its pale green was a shade she'd always thought flattered her skin and contrasted nicely with her dark hair. If it was somewhat dated, so be it-she hadn't had any money to buy a new dress, and refused to let Russell buy her one. "Farmers' wives do not waste money on a dress they're only going to wear once," she told him when he suggested she buy a new dress in Los Angeles before the move up to Pleasant Valley. She'd meant the words when she uttered them, but now, as she gazed at the carefully altered and pressed garment hanging on the closet door, she wondered.
    The temperature had soared into the high eighties, and the heavy silk dress had long sleeves. Nervously, she imagined herself walking across the wide yard and up the