Family Matters by Barbara White Daille

Author:Barbara White Daille [Daille, Barbara White]
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-04-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

As soon as she was able to pick up her car on Monday morning, Kerry headed to Lakeside. In the early afternoon, her band of volunteers gathered at the Village’s game room for a short planning meeting, then proceeded to the old amusement park.

After a few minutes to catch up on her notes, Kerry followed.

The sun shone brightly, and a light breeze stirred the wildflowers lining the path that circled the lake. She turned her feet firmly toward the dirt pathway.

If only she could turn her thoughts as firmly away from Matt.

The ride home to Chicago yesterday morning had taken less time than she’d anticipated. Matt had stayed quiet, barely speaking to her during the entire trip. Even so, the air between them seemed to crackle with thoughts unspoken, emotions held in check, memories of their kiss.

Afraid to trust her subconscious with her sketchpad, she buried her nose in a book she’d borrowed from Gran. Though it was written by one of their favorite authors, with a forensic pathologist main character and a serial killer on the loose, the book couldn’t keep her attention. Still, holding it allowed her to pretend she wasn’t aware of every move Matt made.

He dropped her off at home, insisted upon opening her car door and helping her with her bags as far as the front of the house. Then, after a short but awkward silence, he smiled politely, said goodbye and left her alone on the step.

Why that had bothered her, she didn’t know.

Why that continued to bother her this Monday afternoon, she was sure she knew but definitely didn’t want to think about.

She had more pressing problems at hand. And J.J. Grogan was one of them.

She had stopped by his house again on the way out of town. His mother’s boyfriend, Hector, wasn’t there, thank goodness. But neither was J.J. His mother said she hadn’t seen him for days.

“He’s a big boy now, does what he wants, I can’t control him,” she whined.

Knowing the woman’s frustration came more from her home life—such as it was, with Hector around—than it did from her son, Kerry had bitten her tongue. But now her own frustration boiled over with worry about J.J.

She increased her pace, as if she could run away from all the thoughts that concerned her today, and soon reached the amusement park.

As she approached the entrance, she saw a figure leaning up against the archway, one boot-shod foot braced against the support, his arms crossed, his head turned away. At the sound of her footsteps on the wooden pier, he shifted to look in her direction.

She blinked, sure the sun had dazzled her. Sure she’d suffered heatstroke from her rapid trip around the lake. Sure her eyes had tricked her into seeing someone that wasn’t really there.

But he was there.

And when Matt gave her a lopsided grin, her heart gave a little jolt that left it feeling lopsided, too.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. Much as she wanted to believe he’d come back to Lakeside for her, she realized the impossibility of that.

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