Every Move She Makes by Beverly Barton

Author:Beverly Barton [Barton, Beverly]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Suspense
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2001-04-03T04:00:00+00:00

Cybil paced the floor in her bedroom. The grandfather clock on the landing in the center of the divided staircase chimed eleven o’clock. She gazed down into the dark amber liquid as she swirled the brandy in her glass. This was her third drink. No, maybe it was her fourth. Whichever, she’d had enough so that she felt very little pain. Actually, she felt very little of anything. And that was the way she liked it. If Ella weren’t here, she’d call Briley Joe and ask him to meet her at the motel over on River Road, which was on the other side of Smithville, the closest town to Spring Creek. But she wouldn’t leave, not on the off chance her niece might need her.

Her niece. Ella. The person she loved more dearly than anyone on earth.

Cybil downed the last of the brandy, set the glass on the bedside table, and then headed for the door. After opening the door, she secured the belt of her robe with unsteady fingers as she made her way down the hall. She eased open the door to Ella’s room. Her niece lay curled in a ball, fast asleep, her hair spread out on the pale pink pillowcase like black silk. Moonlight washed the room with transparent gold.

Cybil tiptoed into the room, which they had called Ella’s room since the first time Ella had spent the night with them. She’d been two years old and by night’s end had wound up in bed with Cybil, who had stayed awake the rest of the night just looking at the precious child. Having Ella was the closest she would ever come to motherhood.

Cybil stood at the foot of the bed and stared at her niece. If she could have given Jeff Henry a child, would he have loved her? She would never know, of course. There had never been even the slightest possibility for them.

What do you think of me, Ella, my darling girl? Cybil asked silently. That I’m a drunk and a slut? Are you as ashamed of me as Carolyn is? As Jeff Henry is? You’ve never said, never implied that you were. I didn’t want to disappoint you. Truly I didn’t. I foolishly thought that you’d never have to know what a terrible person I am.

Cybil sensed someone else’s presence. She glanced sidelong at the shadow hovering in the doorway. She took one last look at Ella and quietly walked out of the room, passing her husband, who eased the door shut.

“Is she all right?” Jeff Henry asked.

“Yes, she’s sleeping like a baby.” Cybil staggered awkwardly down the hall.

Jeff Henry came up beside her and slipped his hand beneath her elbow. She looked right at him. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“She should have been ours,” Cybil said, her voice a slurred whisper.

“Yes, you’re right. She should have been ours.”

Jeff Henry assisted Cybil to her room, helped her off with her robe and then into bed. She lay there naked, her husband only a few feet away.

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