Almost Perfect Read Free Page B

door flew open.
    Two girls stood there, the taller and older one looking both scared and relieved, while the younger hung back shyly.
    â€œAunt Liz?” Melissa, the fourteen-year-old, asked tentatively.
    Liz smiled at them both and nodded. “Hi. I hope it’s okay that I let myself in. The key was right where—”
    The rest of what she was going to say got squeezed out of her as both girls raced to her and hugged her hard, holding on as if they would never let go.

CHAPTER TWO
    L IZ HUGGED THEM BACK , recognizing the relief and desperation in their embrace. They were too young to have been left on their own. What had Roy’s wife been thinking?
    She mentally added that question to the growing list she would deal with later. For now she wanted the girls to feel safe and get them fed.
    â€œYou’re really here,” Melissa said, looking at her. “Really?”
    â€œYes. I got your e-mail this morning and came right away.”
    Melissa, thin and nearly as tall as Liz, drew in a breath. “I’m really glad. I was trying so hard to make it okay, but I couldn’t. The money Bettina left us ran out really fast.”
    Abby, a little shorter and also thin, bit her lower lip. “Are you our aunt?”
    â€œI am. Your dad’s my brother.”
    â€œYou’re famous.”
    Liz laughed. “Not really.”
    â€œBut you have books in the library. I’ve seen ’em.”Abby glanced at her sister. “I don’t read them because Melissa says they’ll give me bad dreams.”
    Liz reached out and touched the girl’s cheek. “I think she’s right. But maybe when you’re older.”
    â€œOr you could write a book for girls my age.”
    â€œSomething to think about.” She looked past the girls and saw Tyler standing in the doorway to the hall. “Girls, you have a cousin. My son Tyler is with me. Tyler, these are your cousins, Melissa and Abby.”
    The girls turned. Tyler smiled.
    â€œHi,” he said, sounding more curious than uneasy.
    â€œHi,” the girls responded together.
    â€œTyler’s eleven,” Liz told them. “His last day of school was today.”
    Melissa wrinkled her nose. “We have to go until Friday. Then we’re off for the summer.”
    A fact that would make life easier, Liz thought. If she ended up taking the girls back to San Francisco, she wouldn’t have to worry about pulling them out of school.
    Abby turned back to her. “Where’s Tyler’s dad, Aunt Liz?”
    Not a question Liz wanted to deal with right now. She saw her son’s expression sharpen, as if hoping she would share some information. Not likely, she thought, wishing things had been different and Ethan had at least wanted to be a small part of his son’s life.
    â€œNot with us,” Liz stated lightly. “Why don’t we go into the kitchen and get you two something to eat? I picked up a cooked chicken and some salads on the wayinto town. Then we’ll get to know each other a little and you can tell me what’s been going on.”
    She had more to say, but both girls ran into the kitchen, as if desperate for food. Based on how they’d been living, they probably were.
    She served them each a large portion of the chicken, along with coleslaw and potato salad.
    The girls fell on the food, practically shoving it in their mouths. Liz poured the milk she’d bought and they gulped two glasses each. As she watched them devour the meal, she felt herself getting angry. How could Roy’s wife have simply abandoned the girls like that? What kind of heartless cow left two kids on their own? The least she could have done was phone social services on her way out of town.
    She decided she would find out all she could about Bettina then kill off a character just like her in her next book. The death would be grisly, she promised herself. Slow and painful.
    Tyler watched the girls