THE SANCTUARY Read Free Page B

was also ready for food and attention. As the bulky feline nuzzled her leg, she made a mental note to start buying senior cat food. “Time for both of us to go on diets,” Julia told Chesapeake as she rubbed his head and chin.
    Meanwhile, Bree began crying upstairs. Her oldest child, Marla, was supposed to be watching her baby sister but was probably texting someone or experimenting with strange shades of mascara instead. No doubt, she was the one who had been tying up the phone line when Lydia’s aunt had tried to call. It was exhausting having a fifteen-year-old girl in the house. They had been having more than the usual amount of troubles lately as Marla tested her boundaries. Two weeks ago, she tried to go to school wearing purple eye shadow, black eyeliner, and blue mascara—and nothing but a long, belted T-shirt and boots. Three nights ago, she had found her whispering on the telephone at one o’clock in the morning. When Julia told her to hang up, Marla put up her finger, indicating just one more minute. Julia had patiently waited for two minutes before she disconnected the phone herself.
    Before she could check on Bree, she heard her twin nine-year-old sons fighting in the backyard. The sounds escalated and then one of them began crying.
    She didn’t even know where her son Bobby was. She seemed to recall the twelve-year-old saying that he was going down the street to a friend’s house to play video games. Or was that yesterday? It suddenly came back to Julia why she didn’t have time to worry about makeup and manicures.
    “John Archibald Reynolds, I know you can hear me. Stop pretending you can’t and come help me, please ,” Julia begged as the house got louder with the sounds of disgruntled kids and pets.

    It was after nine o’clock, and the house was finally quiet. The kids were all asleep or at least secure in their rooms for the night. Julia had finished bathing, brushing, and applying ointment to Max a few minutes ago. The dog was already comfortably nestled inside a large towel in the middle of their bed, snoring softly. She had brought the last load of clothes upstairs from the dryer and had just begun to sort them when her elusive husband appeared. He sat on the bed and rubbed the dog before taking off his shoes.
    “Where have you been all day?” Julia asked irritably.
    “Just working on some stuff,” John said.
    “What sort of stuff? What stuff keeps you too busy to help me with our kids? And that keeps you away from work? Daddy says that you’ve barely been there the last few days. So where do you go?” Julia asked.
    “Your daddy giving you progress reports on me now, is he?” John’s voice was thick with sarcasm. “That figures.” He jumped up, grabbed his shoes, and heaved them into the closet.
    “He’s worried. Frankly, so am I. You’ve been so distant lately. I just don’t know what’s going on with you,” Julia said worriedly.
    “Yes, you do. You just won’t admit it.”
    “No, I don’t. I don’t have the slightest idea what’s bothering you, so why don’t you tell me? Is something going on at work? I know that you and Daddy don’t always see eye to eye about how to run the paper mill and that has to be frustrating. But listen to me, you can’t take it personally. Daddy knows he’s going to have to give up the reigns one of these days, and that makes him hold on tighter while he can. You know what a control freak he is. I can talk to him, get him to ease up a bit if you like.”
    “I don’t give a shit about the mill. I never did. I wanted to be a soldier,” John grumbled.
    And there it was. The elephant in the room. What had been simmering and festering inside her husband all these years. The resentment. The anger. John had been in the MCROTC program at USC. He planned to serve in the US Marine Corps. But then Julia had gotten pregnant as soon as they got married (it must have happened on their honeymoon) and it had been a difficult pregnancy. Truth be told,