Beyond the Garden (Magnolia Series Book 2) by Ashley Farley

Author:Ashley Farley [Farley, Ashley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kindle Press
Published: 2018-04-09T16:00:00+00:00

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Pouring rain ruled out the possibility for outdoor activities on Saturday. Just as well, Ellie thought. The weather matched her mood. When her father left around ten to go home and work on his photography series, Ellie assured him that she and the twins would be fine.

“We’re gonna watch Disney movies all day and eat all this yummy food Maddie left for us.”

“Yay!” the girls responded, bouncing up and down on their toes.

They pushed the sofa and chairs out of the way and set up a camp with blankets and pillows on the floor of her studio. The girls played with their paper dolls, colored, and watched movies while Ellie stared at her stack of blank canvases across the room. She’d been contemplating several scenes in her neighborhood. She was tempted by a row of single houses with colorful doors and flowers flowing from window boxes on a street several blocks away. But another subject inspired her more. Her experience with portraiture was limited to what she’d learned in art school. But she felt compelled to paint the twins—to have something to remember them by when her sister came to reclaim them. She pulled out her sketchpad and began to draw.

Julian remained holed up in his study until three that afternoon. After a quick shower, he left the house without a word to Ellie or the girls. He’d still not returned when she retired for the night around nine. She tossed and turned, worried about where he might be. She ruled out the possibility that he’d gone to one of the many downtown bars. Julian was not one to drown his sorrows. At least from what she knew about him, which was turning out to be less than she thought. The Campbell property, currently empty of its occupants, was the only place that made sense.

Julian returned sometime during the night. His study door was once again closed the following morning. Desperate for a diversion, Ellie took the girls to Fuel for Sunday brunch and then for a walk along the seawall. When they arrived home at three, Julian was gone again. The doorbell rang as she was tucking the twins in for their nap, and Ellie was shocked to see Julian’s daughter on her piazza, her purple suitcase on the wooden floor at her feet. Her chin quivered, and her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed from crying.

“Katie!” Ellie embraced the trembling child. “What on earth are you doing here, honey?”

“I ran away from home!” she cried.

Ellie held the child at arm’s length. “You mean your mother doesn’t know where you are?”

Katie shook her head. “We got in a fight last night. I told her I was gonna run away, and she told me not to come back.”

Ellie fought to keep a straight face despite her alarm.

Who would say such a thing to an eight-year-old child?

“How did you get here?”

“I used Mom’s phone to order an Uber to take me to the bus station.”

“How did you leave the house without your mother seeing you?”

“She was passed out, drunk.

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