Seventh Heaven by Alice; Hoffman Read Free Book Online Page A

night.”
    The little girl who kept her room so neat was doing a good job of faking sleep, certainly better than Hennessy’s own kids when he checked on them. But just when he might have been fooled into believing she was asleep, Hennessy heard her quick breathing. If he hadn’t had children himself he might not have recognized a child awake, but he did, and he went over to the bed and crouched down beside it.
    â€œDid you see what happened?” he whispered.
    â€œNothing happened,” the little girl whispered back, and that was when Hennessy knew she had seen.
    â€œSomeone was being mean,” Hennessy said.
    The little girl shook her head no and moved deeper into her blanket.
    â€œYou have a real pretty room,” Hennessy said. “I like the pictures on the wall. My little girl is crazy about horses, too.”
    Hennessy could feel himself winning her over; it was so easy he could have wept. The little girl propped herself up on her elbows to get a better look at him.
    â€œMy daughter likes those yellow horses, the ones with white manes,” Hennessy said.
    â€œPalominos,” the little girl said.
    â€œIs he ever mean to you?” Hennessy whispered.
    â€œJust her,” the girl said.
    Hennessy realized he had been keeping his hand inside his jacket, close to his gun.
    â€œDoes your little girl have her own horse?” the girl asked.
    â€œOur backyard is just like yours,” Hennessy said. “It’s much too small. A horse would never fit.”
    â€œOh,” said the girl, disappointed. “But you could take her riding, you know. She’d love that.”
    The door was quickly flung open, but the little girl was quicker. She lay down flat and closed her eyes and her breathing grew heavy, like a sleeper’s. The girl’s mother stood in the doorway; with the light in the hall behind her you couldn’t see her bruises. She looked like some pretty young woman who hadn’t had time to comb her hair.
    â€œDon’t you dare wake my girl,” she snarled at Hennessy.
    Hennessy stood up and his knees cracked. He went over to the woman; he forced himself to sound reasonable, as if he walked into somebody’s life this way every night. “You can press charges right now,” he said.
    The woman snorted. “Not on your life,” she said.
    â€œI could escort him from the house,” Hennessy told her.
    â€œOh, yeah?” the woman whispered. “And then are you going to spend the rest of your life sitting on my front stoop so you can keep him from coming back? Are you going to watch out for us after tonight?”
    Hennessy felt like a fool. He knew the little girl was listening. What exactly was he offering them?
    â€œYou can get a court order,” he said.
    â€œLook,” the woman said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    â€œAll right,” Hennessy said. God, he said it too damned quickly. He pulled out one of his cards, which was still so new you could smell the ink on it, and handed it to the woman. “You can call me anytime if you change your mind.”
    The woman snorted again, as if he were crazy, and she shoved the card back at him. Hennessy followed her out of the bedroom, but before he did he slid his card under the little girl’s mattress. The guy was waiting for him in the living room. He acted as if he were watching Bonanza , he acted as if he didn’t have a care in the world, but Hennessy knew he was waiting. The guy stood up from the couch slowly. He looked at Hennessy, saw he’d found nothing, and broke into a grin.
    â€œTell those neighbors of mine to go fuck themselves,” the guy said.
    All Hennessy wanted was the front door.
    â€œThis is my house, got it?” the guy goaded him.
    â€œI got it,” Hennessy said. “But if you don’t keep it down, I’ll be back. You get that.”
    Hennessy took off and he didn’t look back. He