Beacon of Love by Ann Roberts

Author:Ann Roberts [Roberts, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Fiction, Romance, General
ISBN: 9781594931802
Google: gciPQAAACAAJ
Amazon: 1594931801
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2010-07-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

They pulled back into Francine’s driveway but Paula remained still, holding the manila folders on her lap, staring out the windshield. She’d asked Steph to drive and then said nothing else. Steph couldn’t imagine what she was thinking. While her life was a mess and she’d hated it for a long time, she’d only had one curve ball thrown at her—Eric. The rest she’d signed up for. Paula had been blindsided.

Paula made a guttural sound, jerked open the car door and threw up. She raced into the house, discarding her fortune on the front seat. After Steph hosed off the driveway and collected the folders, she went inside. Paula wasn’t in the bathroom but Steph noticed the mouthwash had been left on the sink.

“Paula?” she called.

Paula screamed and there was a tinny thud. Steph jumped and knocked the mouthwash bottle onto the floor. She ran through the house and found her in the office behind the desk, wielding a sledgehammer. She brought it down against the safe barely making a dent in the top. Bleary-eyed, she bashed the metal repeatedly with little effect. Her screams evaporated as she concentrated on her swing. When she could no longer lift the hammer over her head, she dropped it and rested against the desk. She’d managed to break off the dial and crack the door but she couldn’t open it—even with a crowbar.

“You fucking bitch!” she yelled. She kicked the safe several times until she grabbed her foot in pain, falling onto the carpet.

“Shit, Paula.”

Steph took off Paula’s shoe and checked her foot, which was already turning black and blue but didn’t seem to be broken. She tossed the crowbar and sledgehammer out of reach and pulled her into her arms.

She sobbed. “I suppose you think I’m insane.”

“No, I’m stunned by what your mother did with her fortune and the will. I don’t even know what to say.”

“Well, I do. She was a horrible, prejudiced, awful woman who obviously never loved me.” She wiped her eyes on her shirt and stared up at her. “I don’t care about the money, Steph. I really don’t. In fact I don’t want anything from her—not one cent.”

Steph said slowly, “I can’t even imagine how hurt you are but I think you need to think this through clearly.”

“I am,” she said confidently. She stood up. “Let me show you something.”

They wandered into the guest bedroom and she picked up a picture from the dresser. It was a black-and-white photo of her and Steph on the day Paula won the regional spelling bee. They stood arm in arm, staring into the camera.

“Tell me what you see,” she said.

Steph chose her words carefully, fearful that any response could cause Paula to hurl the photo into the dresser mirror. “It’s us on the day you won the regional bee.” She squeezed her arm. “I was so proud of you.”

“Do you remember the dress you’re wearing?”

She looked closely at the gingham dress. “Oh, yeah. When my mom found out I

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