That McCloud Woman by Peggy Moreland Read Free Book Online Page A

the bathroom floor where they'd left them, she slipped into
Molly's room, deciding to check on her little charges one more time before
heading downstairs for the night.
    She
smiled down at the sleeping Molly, then drew the sheet a little closer to the
child's chin. Molly sighed in her sleep and hugged the ragged teddy bear she
slept with closer to her chest. The teddy bear was all that Molly had arrived
with when she'd been delivered to Alayna. That and the clothes on her back.
    Molly's
story was a sad, if familiar one. Her mother, a drug addict, left her alone for
days at a time, with no food, no one to look after her, while she chased the
next fix, or the man who could buy it for her. Repeated complaints from
neighbors in the apartment complex where Molly and her mother had lived had
resulted in the child being taken away from her mother.
    And
now she was in Alayna's care.
    Though
physically the child didn't appear to have suffered from her mother's neglect,
the emotional scars were there. The child never smiled, rarely spoke and she
never let the ragged teddy bear out of her sight or reach.
    Smiling
wistfully, Alayna smoothed the child's hair from her forehead and placed a
light kiss there. Two weeks. Two weeks she'd had Molly with her, and she had
already fallen hopelessly in love. She drew a fingertip lightly down the length
of the child's freckled nose, wondering why God would see fit to bless Molly's
mother with a child, a woman who obviously didn't want the burden, and not
herself, who would gladly sacrifice anything for the opportunity to give birth
to a baby.
    She
straightened, shoving the bitter thought aside. She had children, she reminded
herself. Two already, and the promise of more to come.
    With
that positive thought, she crossed the hall to Billy's room.
    As
usual, she found him sprawled on his stomach and the bed covers tangled at the
foot of the bed. An action figure lay beneath his lax fingers. Billy never just
went to bed and to sleep, as other children did. He fought sleep as if it were
an enemy that would capture him and never let him go. Though Alayna insisted on
a strict bedtime schedule, Billy always took a toy to bed with him, a
compromise they'd arrived at together. He'd play with the toy until he
collapsed from sheer exhaustion.
    Alayna
knew less about Billy's history than she did about Molly's, and she wondered
what events in his life caused him to fear sleep so much. He avoided any
questions she asked, and was a master at changing the subject to a less
invasive one. She knew that he'd been in another foster home before being
assigned to her, but all she'd been told was that the prior situation simply
hadn't worked out.
    With
a regretful shake of her head, she withdrew the toy from beneath his small
hand, placed it on the shelf Jack had built on the wall beside the bed, then
pulled the sheet up and over him, tucking it around his slender shoulders. In
time, she told herself, she'd discover his secrets, what nightmares had shaped
his life, and she would help him deal with them.
    She
leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead, just as she had to Molly's,
knowing full well he'd never accept the affectionate display if awake. She
tiptoed from his room, relieved to know that her little charges were settled
peacefully for the night.
    That
just left Jack to deal with.
    Pensively
she started down the stairs. Although she'd enjoyed having dinner with Mandy's
family, and watching Molly and Billy interact in a family setting, she hadn't
been able to keep thoughts of Jack far from her mind. In her estimation, the
look of alarm that had come into his eyes when Mandy had offered the dinner
invitation signaled more than just an antisocial behavior. A whole lot more.
And she was determined to find out what spawned the reaction.
    At
the kitchen door, she glanced in the direction of the cabin, intending to seek
him out, but found the cabin dark. Certain that he wouldn't have gone to bed so
early, she glanced