A Greater Love by Rachel Ann Nunes

Author:Rachel Ann Nunes [Nunes, Rachel Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Christian, Christmas, Orphans, clean romance, This Time Forever, ariana, LDS, cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 9781939203199
Google: NjnoPAAACAAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 1803915
Publisher: Truebekon Books
Published: 1999-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Two days after receiving the letter from the lawyer, Daniel was still in a daze. He nearly stumbled over the children before seeing them. The older one, a boy, sprang to a crouch, pulling at the little girl who gasped and stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. A small dog at their side began yapping.

“It’s okay, Sara,” the boy said. The girl continued to stare at Daniel.

Her strange, gold-flecked eyes dominated the thin face and aroused a protective feeling from somewhere in the depths of Daniel’s frozen heart. A bright red scarf draped partly over her head. She wore a mound of sweaters, mostly oversized, making her chest appear much rounder than it really was, judging from her hands and dirt-streaked face.

“Let’s go.” The boy tugged on the girl’s hand, but she didn’t take a step. A deep cough sounded in her chest, and she bent with the effort. From beneath her red scarf her brown hair fell straight and thick. Thin bands of a lighter color edged the front locks, a perfect blending as only nature could achieve, though the strands matted atrociously as if the child had never seen a comb or brush. Small pieces of yellow straw poked out at all angles. Her appearance sparked a memory Daniel couldn’t place, but surely he had never seen her before.

For all the appealing beauty and helplessness of the little girl, it was the boy who held Daniel’s attention. In appearance, he closely resembled the girl, but there was no apparent fear in him. He stood in front of his companion, stooping slightly as if ready for flight; but his fists clenched tight, giving Daniel the distinct feeling he would protect the little girl—his sister?—at all costs. The child’s left eye was swollen and surrounded by deep purple bruises and dried smears of blood. A jagged scar marked the skin along his right jaw, and other small scars sprinkled over the tanned face. His clothing was tattered, and like the girl he wore several sweaters, though they did nothing to hide his leanness. He was all muscle—ferocious muscle, probably founded upon long years of self-reliance. Daniel almost envied him that air while at the same time pitying the need. The boy also had stripes of a lighter color in his hair, calling to mind again the lost memory.

“Why are you here?” Daniel’s voice sounded loud now that the puppy had stopped his dreadful barking.

“It was too far to go home.”

Daniel couldn’t tell if the boy told the truth. He looked to be perhaps eight or so, older than the girl by a least a few years, but the deep brown eyes glaring out of the dirty face held a peculiar intelligence far older. Even now, he felt the child was sizing him up, preparing to make the best of the situation.

“We was just restin’.”

“We were just resting,” Daniel corrected automatically. He heard his father in his own words and it brought him sadness. How many times had his father corrected his verbs when he was growing up? And his brother’s? Now both were dead.

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