Summer Shadows by Gayle Roper Read Free Book Online

up and get with it. With a look of frustration, she shook her head. “Nothing.”
    “You were at the light when the ambulance crew arrived.”
    “Ambulance? But I’m not hurt, am I?”
    Marsh, the nurse, and the policeman all shook their heads.
    “So who is?” Abby rubbed her hand down her leg and winced.
    “What?” Marsh asked.
    “Easy,” said the nurse.
    “I am hurt.” Abby opened her hand and looked in disbelief at the four red slashes traversing the center of her palm. Marsh turned the hand he held over. There were four slashes across that palm also. Slowly she closed her hands, and Marsh watched in fascination as her fingernails matched up with the slashes.
    “I did this to myself?” Abby stared in disbelief.
    “You were clutching your steering wheel so tightly the police had to pry your hands loose,” Barnes said.
    She was shocked. “But why?” she whispered.
    Barnes looked at Marsh. It was obvious he didn’t want toanswer her question. Marsh moved a little closer to Abby, like he could protect her from the unpleasant news, whatever it was.
    “You were the eyewitness to a hit-and-run, Mrs. Patterson.”
    “What?” Her voice was stark, more a breath than a word. Marsh wouldn’t have thought it possible, given her pallor, but she paled even more. Her eyes filled with tears.
    “Who was hit?” Marsh asked when it became obvious that Abby’s emotions rendered her speechless.
    “A little girl named Karlee Fitzmeyer.”
    “A little girl?” Abby cried. “Oh, dear God, please, no!”
    Marsh started at the unexpected and terrible anguish in Abby’s voice. Certainly he expected distress but not at this emotional level. The nurse and Barnes looked at her in surprise too.
    “She’s going to be all right,” Barnes hurried to say. “The car swerved and almost missed her. It was more like it sideswiped her, sort of tossing her out of its path. When she fell, she broke her arm. Besides brush burns, that’s about it.”
    It was obvious Abby hadn’t heard any of the policeman’s explanation. She dropped her face to her hands and shuddered. “Maddie! Oh, Maddie, baby!” There was a keening sound of such deep pain to her near whisper that the hair rose on Marsh’s arms.
    “Who’s Maddie?” Barnes asked Marsh.
    “I don’t know. I only met Abby today.”
    “Mrs. Patterson.” Barnes’s voice was loud, firm. “Mrs. Patterson, Karlee will be fine. And that’s Karlee, not Maddie.”
    Abby continued to sob.
    Marsh and Greg Barnes looked at each other, at a loss about what to do.
    “Maybe she knows Karlee?” suggested the nurse.
    “But she just moved here,” Marsh said.
    “Do you know Karlee Fitzmeyer?” Barnes asked.
    Abby didn’t answer, couldn’t answer, but she did manage to shake her head no. Marsh watched her weep and ached for her.
    “Abby?” He slid an arm around her shoulders. He could feel her trembling. She turned into him, grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, and hung on. “Shh.” He stroked her back. “Shh. It’s okay. It’s okay.”
    “Did she die?” Abby asked in a cracked voice, her face still buried in Marsh’s chest. “Is she dead? How old was she?”
    “She’s got a broken arm and brush burns,” Barnes repeated,his voice soothing. “That’s all. Her life isn’t in danger. She’s very fortunate.”
    “Thank You, God,” Abby muttered, her voice quivering with emotion. Slowly her trembling eased, then stopped, and her breathing returned to a normal cadence, though she remained with her cheek resting on Marsh’s chest. “Thank You, thank You, thank You. Not Maddie.”
    “Who’s Maddie, Mrs. Patterson?” Barnes asked.
    “My daughter,” Abby whispered. “She’s dead.”
    Marsh felt another great shudder pass through her and wrapped both arms about her. How did you offer comfort for what was obviously such an immense hurt?
    “Hit-and-run?” asked Barnes.
    “A man trying to dial a cell phone ran a stop sign.”
    “Were you driving?” The policeman’s