Loyalty by Carrie Butler

Author:Carrie Butler [Butler, Carrie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-03-07T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

« CLARA »

I wrapped my sweater tight around my body. Faye had insisted on driving, since it was so late, and she’d cranked the air conditioner up full blast. Thank goodness our father had a blanket over his lap in the back. He didn’t do well with the cold anymore. I stole a glance at him in the mirror and smiled. He’d fallen asleep.

The process in which they moved the house was nothing short of amazing. Freddie would have been right up there with the movers, asking a dozen questions. He’d always loved to marvel at complexities.

“Looks like our caravan picked up a tail,” Faye said, nodding toward the rear-view mirror. “They aren’t going around us.”

I turned back and strained to see out the back window. A beat-up little silver car followed from a distance, giving us, and the movers’ vehicles, a wide berth. “Oh, that looks like Rachel’s car. She and Nicholas talked about joining us. I bet they just got a late start.”

“You don’t say.”

He had called the night before, using the special phone he’d told me to keep on. Something about it being disposable. From the sounds of things, the kids’ first mission hadn’t gone well. He hadn’t had time to go into details, but apparently my sister’s newest conquest had resisted and a fight had broken out. He was supposed to tie up loose ends today.

I’d meant to call him earlier, but things had been so hectic with the move. Maybe once I got settled in Cleveland…

“Here we go,” Faye announced as we slowed for the exit. “This is the neighborhood. It’s about ten to fifteen minutes from me, depending on downtown traffic.”

“It seems nice.” I folded my hands on my lap and tried to appear grateful.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t appreciative—I was. Nicholas had made the arrangements, but my sister had paid for all of the moving expenses and permits. She was the reason I would be close to my family again. It was just the feeling that had settled into the pit of my stomach, the slightest twitch of apprehension she was giving off. She split her attention between the road and her cell phone, hastily tapping something into the screen.

“Do you need me to do that?” I asked, not wanting to wrap up seventy-one years with a collision.

“No.” Her answer came without hesitation. I wasn’t intended to see whatever she was doing. Not that it came as a surprise.

“Thank you,” she added as an afterthought. “It’s just that we’re about to stop up here so the power company can raise the lines. I’ll manage it.”

I couldn’t imagine how much it had cost to arrange that. I’d looked over the itinerary between us when we left, and lines had to be lifted in more than one spot. Not to mention mailboxes removed and replaced, trees and bushes pruned back.

“We almost there?” our hard of hearing father shouted from the backseat.

“Yes, Dad.”

“Baghdad?”

“YES, DAD.”

“Oh.”

We rolled to a stop behind one of the mover’s flashing vehicles. A man leaned out from the driver’s side window and waved us ahead.

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.