Close To Home (Westen Series) Read Free Page B

temper.
    Then he remembered Johnny Wilson.
    “I’m giving you one week, lady. Either you find more responsible child care, or I’ll have the county Child Protection Services here so fast you won’t know what hit you.”
    “Oh, dear. This is all my fault.” A soft voice sounded from behind him.
    Clint turned to see a tiny, white-haired woman standing in the doorway, wringing her hands.

Chapter Two

    “ I t’s alright, Mama.” Emma stepped around the arrogant doctor standing in the middle of her bedroom. She’d deal with him later. First, she had to calm her mother down. “The boys are fine, really.”
    “But Emma, their arms are broken.” Her mother looked beyond her to where the boys stood next to the doctor. “I never should’ve gone to pick the beans. What was I thinking?”
    Emma took her mother’s hands in hers, making her focus on her. “Mama, the boys made the decision to go on their own. It’s not your fault. The doctor took good care of them and everything is fine now. Why don’t you go down and start cleaning the green beans. We’ll see if we can get them snapped before I leave for work.”
    Her mother smiled. “I think I’ll do that. Maybe Rachel can help me can them when she comes this evening.”
    Emma watched her mother turn and slowly make her way back down the stairs. Once the elderly woman had cleared the last step and moved toward the kitchen, Emma turned her attention to the doctor standing in the middle of her bedroom.
    “That was Mama. So you see, I’m not as neglectful as you seem to think.”
    His softened expression made her think for a moment he’d apologize. Then he looked at her sons, who’d to stand beside her, and his eyes narrowed once more.
    “I’d suggest you still make other arrangements for your sons’ care. Obviously they’re too much for your mother to handle.” With that comment he pushed past her and strode out of her room.
    Emma stood stunned, her arms wrapped protectively around the boys, listening to him stomp down her stairs and out the front door. Her breath stuck somewhere between her lips and her lungs. For the first time since going through the nightmare of a paternity suit during her divorce did she fear losing her sons.
    “Mommy…” Ben whined from her left side.
    “...you’re squeezing us too tight.” Brian finished from the other side.
    Their words broke the spell the doctor’s tirade had cast over her. Emma glanced into her sons’ worried faces. She hoped the apprehension stemmed from the punishment they knew awaited them and not from the angry words of the doctor. She released her grip on them, sitting down hard on the bed. “Okay, you two. What were you supposed to be doing instead of diving out of old man Thompson’s tree?”
    They immediately lowered their eyes, standing before her like prisoners facing the guillotine. She didn’t buy it for a second. “Benjamin?”
    Her oldest—and usually the instigator—lifted his soft puppy-brown eyes to her. “We were supposed to be watching the Mutant Turtles movie...”
    “...while Mama went to pick beans.” Brian finished, his matching eyes pleading with her not to be too angry with them.
    Emma closed her eyes and counted to twenty. Then she glanced at the clock. Three hours until her shift at the Café started. “We’ll discuss what your punishment is after I finish work tonight. Is that understood?”
    They both nodded.
    “For now, you’ll march to your rooms and take a nap.”
    “Aww, mommy,” Brian whined.
    “That’s not fair,” Ben complained.
    Emma crossed her arms over her chest and gave them her best stern-mother expression. “Two boys who ignore the family rule about wandering off when Mama is supposed to be watching them, climb Old Man Thompson’s tree — which is defying another rule—and end up each breaking an arm and having to see the doctor should be happy I only want to put them to bed.” She had to hide a smile when they both lowered their heads in