Cold Terror by Susan Sleeman

Author:Susan Sleeman [Susan Sleeman]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

7

Gage left his office for the family room, and despite the morning sun filtering through the window and brightening his childhood home, he remained on edge. Not unusual, he supposed. Typical behavior for when he was running an op. As much as he cared for Hannah, first and foremost, this was an op, and he had to keep reminding himself of that before he got distracted and someone got hurt.

At the family room door, his feet stilled at the picture in front of him. Hannah sat on the sofa, one of Mia’s favorite books in her hands. David snuggled tight on one side, while Mia sat as stiff as a toy soldier about a foot away on Hannah’s other side.

Mia’s stiff little body, the downturn of her mouth that reminded him of Cass, broke his heart. Could there be anything worse in the world than seeing your child in pain and be helpless to fix it? If there was, he hadn’t experienced it and hoped he never would.

“Your turn to flip the page, Mia.” A smile on her face, Hannah held the book out to Mia.

Unmoving, his daughter peered up at Hannah.

Gage held his breath in wait for his daughter’s response. She didn’t take well to strangers, and the fact that she was even sitting this closely to Hannah was a good sign. But interact? Not likely.

Mia lifted her hand.

That’s it, Bug. Do it. Participate.

She dropped her hand to her leg and looked away.

“That’s okay, sweetheart, I understand,” Hannah said softly. “I was just as hesitant when I was a little girl. Let me know when you’re ready. Okay?”

Mia blinked her responding yes, and Gage wanted to go scoop her into her arms and kiss her pudgy cheeks, but her therapist said coddling her all the time wouldn’t help her learn to venture out of her own little world.

“I can turn the page for you,” David offered. “You can do the next one.”

Gage’s heart swelled at David’s kindness and his lack of belittling. Many children Mia’s age teased her when she refused to interact in a group. The mean behavior made her problem worse. Maybe having Hannah and David staying here would be good for her.

He stepped into the room. All eyes peered at him. A tiny smile lit Mia’s face, worry flooded Hannah’s eyes, and David had big question marks in his. Hannah couldn’t tell David about the attack, and he didn’t understand why they’d left their wonderful vacation cottage to stay here. Gage needed to offer something fun for the boy to do so he didn’t miss out on his entire vacation.

Gage focused on David. “Mia has a fort out back with ropes for climbing and swings, too. Maybe after your mom finishes the story, the two of you can go out to play.”

David cast a hopeful look at his mother. “Can we?”

She questioned Gage with a look of pure anxiety.

He winked at her. “Rumor has it that Coop has missed swinging, and he wants to come out with you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.