03 The Long Road Home Read Free Page A

Margaret looked at her aunt.  "She's very young, isn't she?"
    Aunt Jan nodded.  "Dropped out of school to get married when she found she was pregnant.  Turned eighteen a month ago.  She's very reliable though and her husband is one of Matt's drivers."
    Matthew Magnum had woven himself into everyone's life in Inchwater.  Abruptly, Margaret stood up, "Do you need any help here?"
    Aunt Jan shook her head.  "I most certainly do not.  Get some rest after that long flight.  You look like death warmed over."
    Margaret nodded, and turned away.  The stairs hugged the left exterior wall of the building and led to their living quarters upstairs:  four bedrooms, three baths, a living room, a dining room, and a tiny alcove kitchen, rarely used except for fixing hot beverages in the microwave.
    Going straight to the bathroom adjoining her room, Margaret examined her reflection.  Now she knew what death warmed over looked like.  Dark circles ringed her caramel eyes, tension and exhaustion blanched the color from her face making every single freckle on her nose, and across her cheeks, stand out.  Her hair looked lank and lifeless.  The suit she'd been in since yesterday looked rumpled.  Leaving D.C. right after the end-of-term staff meeting to catch her plane hadn't given Margaret any time to change into a casual traveling outfit.
    Margaret slipped out of her clothes and into the shower.  Under the soothing hot water, her mind perked up enough to toss the experiences of the last twenty four hours, like a juggler's colored balls. 
    The man in the truck stop.  So strong.  So angry.  Timmy looking at her as if he didn't like her.  Aunt Jan's patient, strained face shining with love. 
    The pictures stayed with Margaret while she toweled herself dry, slipped into a pair of cotton pajamas, and got into bed.  Seeing a truck stop in Inchwater had brought all her fears to the surface.  Beneath her fear of Timmy working around trucks was the other one, the one that shadowed her days and haunted her nights...she was afraid Death would snatch Timmy away from her, just as it had robbed her of her parents. 
    Stop it; you're too tired to think straight now.
    Deliberately Margaret filled her mind with more pleasant pictures:  Joe's smile, Aunt Jan's love, how nice it was to be back in her old room again.  There would be time enough to sort out her thoughts later.  

 
     
    CHAPTER TWO
     
    "How's it going, Tim?"  Matt asked.  He had been watching the boy cleaning some tools. 
    The red head shot up and brown eyes exactly like Margaret Browning's looked at him.  Only the expression in the eyes differed.  She hadn't bothered to hide her hostility and tension yesterday, whereas Timmy looked friendly and happy, "Fine, Mr. Magnum."
    "Is your sister home for the summer?"
    He didn't miss the frown on the boy's face.  "I don't know yet."
    Matt recalled his remark about their mouths being different.  Margaret Browning had a full lower lip and the upper was beautifully arched.  Tim's had a determined tilt to it and none of the fullness.
    "Been a while since she came home, hasn't it?"  In the eighteen months he'd been in Inchwater, Matt hadn't seen hide or hair of the gorgeous redhead.  He'd heard her mentioned quite often though.
    "She usually comes home at Christmas," Tim bowed his head, "but last year we all took a cruise together.  During the summer Margaret works in Washington, and Aunt Jan and I go there to spend time with her.  She's got a neat apartment."
    Matt's brows drew together.  The sophisticated woman he had just met fitted perfectly into Washington society.  Yet the look in her eyes had hinted at soul deep vulnerability. 
    "Well," Matt said turning away, "if any of you need a ride into Los Angeles or Vegas for a shopping trip, you know my offer still holds good.  Any of the drivers will be happy to take you."
    "Thanks, Mr. Magnum, but Margaret doesn't like riding in trucks."
    If Margaret Browning did not like