Dawns Everlastin' (former title: Dusk Before Dawn) Book 2 Read Free Page B

rough time without their father, and said she believed a
visit from their aunt would make a world of difference. For the
first time, I realized I knew nothing about the boys."
    What is he thinking? she wondered, moistening her lower lip with the
tip of her tongue.
    "Jack had never sent
pictures. All I'd ever gotten was a call after each of them was
born."
    A dispassionate, "Charmin',"
was all Roan said.
    Me or
Jack ? Is it just
my imagination, or is he taking this all out of context?
    An edge of perplexity to her
tone, she continued, "I arrived in London six days ago. Carrie and
the boys were there to greet me. I remember thinking she didn't
look old enough to be married, let alone to pass for a stepmother
to three children.
    "The first couple of days
went relatively well. Oh, the boys proved to be royal hellions, but
then I've never really been around children. I just kept telling
myself that these were Jack's boys and that I only had a few days
left to be with them. Little did I know at the time, I was psyching
myself up to fall into Carrie's trap."
    When she fell silent for a
time, Roan turned his head and narrowly eyed her. "Wha' kind o'
trap?" he asked gruffly, as if driven to satisfy his
curiosity.
    A tremulous smile quirked at
one corner of Laura's pouty lips. At long last he was responding.
"She suggested I take the boys out for the day. A picnic at the
playground. She even packed our lunch. What a disaster that turned
out to be. Kahl took a dive in a brook. Alby vanished for nearly
two hours and, while I was searching for him, Kevin heavily
peppered all the food. They fought me every inch of the way when I
dragged them back to the house. Carrie wasn't there. I just figured
she went shopping or visiting."
    With a nod of his head, Roan
straightened his gaze to the hearth. A muscle ticked along his
well-defined jawline.
    Laura swallowed a moment's
disappointment. Was she losing him again?
    "When she didn't return that
night, I really began to worry. The following morning, Kevin
informed me that she'd packed up her things, and had told the boys
that they were going to return to the States with me. I went into
shock. Kevin handed me a letter she'd instructed him to give me
after she'd left. Basically, it said she refused to raise the boys.
She was off with her new boyfriend and it would be useless for me
to try to find her."
    "Charmin'."
    One more 'charmin'' out of
him, and I swear I'll...
    "Things became really
complicated when I couldn't find the boys' birth certificates. I
took the house apart and couldn't find a one. Then that evening, a
large burly man showed up at the door, informing me the house was
supposed to have been vacated two days prior. He wouldn't listen to
a word of reason. Two men were waiting in his van. The three of
them stormed into the house and barely gave me enough time to pack
two bags of clothes for the boys. Then they rudely ushered us out
onto the street."
    Laura cranked her head to
one side to observe Roan's reaction. A flutter of nervous tension
moved in her abdomen at the sight of his grimly set
mouth.
    "Carrie had at least left
her car and the keys in the ignition." She moved to the back of the
settee. "What else could I do? It didn't seem very important at the
time that I hadn't touched a stick shift in ten years, or that I
hadn't a clue how to drive on British roads."
    She returned to her former
position, absently wringing her hands at his continued
silence.
    "The sidewalks roll up in
St. Ives after five o'clock. I had no idea where I was going. I
drove until dusk then the boys and I slept in the car that night.
In the morning, I found a small cafe and checked the phone
directory for the closest American Consulate. A waitress was kind
enough to highlight the shortest route to Edinburgh on the map I'd
purchased. After that, I went to a gas station across the street,
and we started out."
    Damn you, Ingliss! Do you
even have a heart?
    "The storm began shortly
after we entered Scotland. I