Dusty's Fate by Vickie King

Author:Vickie King
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BelleBooks Inc.
Published: 2014-05-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

CARLY’S BABY shower took place at the Braddock family home, which Dusty said his parents had lived in for thirty-six years. Jules had never met anyone that occupied the same house for that long, much less had been married to the same person for as many years, with the exception of her landlady, Velma. Her husband had passed away before seeing all his children grow to adulthood.

The two-story white house with its wraparound porch sat on a spacious lot in a cozy neighborhood, where spring had taken hold with a multitude of full-leafed trees of oak and maple. A bouquet of pastel balloons swayed from ribbons attached to the mailbox at the curb. The sign beneath the balloons read, “Donovan Baby Shower.”

When Jules stepped out of Dusty’s SUV, the clean scent of freshly mown grass filled the air. What a relief to be out of the confines of the vehicle. She’d barely been able to look at Dusty without remembering every detail of last night. In the backseat, she unbuckled Cooper from his car seat and lifted him out. Once she set him on the ground, she held his hand, so he could walk on the concrete path.

Her gaze drifted to the child’s rope swing that hung from an old towering oak at the side of the yard. Marigolds and zinnias in various shades of yellow, orange, and red filled the flowerbeds on both sides of the front steps. The entire scene reminded Jules of the perfect family home.

From somewhere behind the house, she heard whoops and shrieks and the sound of laughter. “If Cooper starts to fuss, I might have to leave early. I don’t want to ruin the baby shower for your sister. I think I can find my way back to the apartment with no trouble.”

“Already planning your getaway?” Dusty carried Cooper’s diaper bag and the gift Jules had brought for Carly. Midway up the walk, he stopped and turned to her. She supposed because she hadn’t answered him. “A fussy child isn’t going to throw a kink in the Braddock household. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Together, they ascended the steps leading up to the wide front porch. Jules’s breath caught. At the end of the porch, a white wooden swing hung from the ceiling. Secretly, she’d always wanted to own a house with a front porch swing. This one looked inviting with its padded cushion in yellow and white stripes. There were two white wooden rockers near the swing. On the opposite side of the porch, a set of wicker outdoor furniture offered a cozy place to sit and relax. Decorative pots of flowering plants gave the porch a splash of color.

At that moment, she remembered seeing a porch swing at Luke’s house, but she supposed she’d been too nervous to give it much thought, until now. She imagined lazy days of sipping iced tea and reading a novel. Before she left today, she would love to sneak a few minutes to try out the swing.

At the door, they were met by an attractive woman, who could only be Dusty’s mother.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.