Father Fever by Muriel Jensen

Author:Muriel Jensen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Everyone pitched in with dishes and cleaning up after dinner, then Dotty made a fresh pot of decaf before retiring for the night.

“You’re going to Astoria tomorrow?” she asked David. He looked the boys over. Their clothes were wrinkled and smudged.

“We’ll see Officer Holden, then we’ll take the boys to the mall for a couple of changes of clothes until their things get here. I’ll enroll them the day after.”

“Then breakfast at eight as usual?”

“Great.”

“All right, then. See you all in the morning.”

Dotty disappeared into her room off the kitchen and the boys wanted to know if they could watch the big-screen television in the family room.

“Okay.” David glanced at his watch. “Bed at ten o’clock. But only until we get you into school, then it’s nine.”

Neither boy seemed inclined to complain as he ran off.

David walked with Athena into the living room.

Athena gathered up the bags filled with her new clothing that the boys had carried in from the car for her when they’d returned from the market.

She’d done her best not to think about Gusty and to concentrate on the boys, who seemed eager to talk. She knew David had other things to deal with now. And she was plagued with guilt over the fact that Gusty’s absence really wasn’t his problem.

Having seen him in action with his brothers, she was now completely convinced he’d had nothing to do with her aunt’s disappearance. She had to explain about the night of the costume party—but how did they account for all the interrelated mysteries still left dangling?

How had her aunt known him and why did she leave him the house?

What had her sister been doing on the Oregon coast seven months’ pregnant? And who was the man with her?

And how in the name of all that was holy, was she going to explain that she’d once considered him responsible for all of it, crashed his party, then let him believe her sister was pregnant with his baby?

“I’ll help you with that,” David said, taking two of the larger bags from her. “Don’t worry about Gusty. We’ll find her.”

“I don’t know,” she said wearily, preceding him up the stairs. “We know a little something now, but it’s almost more frightening than it was before.”

Distracted, she stumbled on the stairs and slid down against the balusters to land on her backside.

David, arms full of her packages, couldn’t react quickly enough.

She groaned at her own clumsiness as he sank down beside her, tossing the packages aside.

“Are you all right?” he asked, hands going to her arms to pull her upright. “It looked like you bumped your ribs on the stair.”

“I did, but it’s carpeted and soft. I’m fine.” She brushed herself off. “I don’t seem to be able to drive or walk while I’m thinking about—” She stopped abruptly because he was staring at her with a frown, his eyes roving her face with an intensity that sent a ripple of alarm along her spine. Did he know? she wondered breathlessly.

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