Driftwood Bay (Hope Harbor #5) - Irene Hannon Page 0,58
wink.
Molly poked her finger in the sand, her lips flat. “He’s nice, but he doesn’t want me.”
Whoa!
Where had that come from?
“Why do you think that?” She brushed back a strand of hair that had worked loose from Molly’s ponytail, her heart aching for the child whose eyes were sad beyond her years—like Elisa’s.
“’Cause.”
Not helpful.
“’Cause what?”
“’Cause I heard him talking on the phone one night.” Molly sniffed and wiped the back of her hand under her nose. When she continued, her voice was so soft Jeannette had to lean close to hear it above the crashing surf. “He said he promised my daddy and Nana he’d take care of me, but he didn’t know what to do with a little girl and wished I was still with Nana. He sounded m-mad.”
O-kay.
That kind of overheard conversation would be enough to make anyone feel unwanted, let alone a child who’d lost everyone in the world she knew and loved.
Be careful how you respond, Jeannette.
“How long ago did you hear that, honey?”
Another lift of her thin shoulders. “At the beginning. In the other place we lived.” She hung her head. “I wet the bed one night, and after he changed everything, I heard him on the phone.” She gave Jeannette a sidelong glance, expression earnest. “But I don’t wet anymore. I’m a big girl.”
Pressure built in Jeannette’s throat. “I can see that. And you’re also brave. It’s hard when everything in your life changes, and the people you love go away.” The last few words rasped, and she swallowed.
Molly scrutinized her. “Are you sad too, ’Nette?”
“Sometimes. I miss the people I loved too.”
The girl took her hand. “I’ll be your friend. And I gave you the heart I found. Maybe it will help you not be sad.”
Mercy.
Now Molly was consoling her.
How had this conversation gotten so off track?
She had to regroup and focus on Logan’s niece.
“I’m sure it will help me feel better. Thank you.” She squeezed the girl’s hand. “And you know what? I think your uncle might be sad sometimes too. Nana was his mommy, and your daddy was his brother. He must miss them.”
“He never says so.”
Another insight to pass on to her neighbor on the QT.
“Sometimes people don’t talk about what’s in their heart. And sometimes, if everything changes, people don’t know how they feel. It takes them a while to figure it all out. I bet he was trying to do that the night you heard him on the phone. What do you think?”
That earned her another shrug.
“Well, all I know is what I see since you came to Hope Harbor—and I think he loves you. Why else would he take you to tea and get you a dog and buy you ribbons for your hair?” She reached over and tweaked the yellow one Molly was wearing today.
“I s’pose.” The girl fingered the silky strands.
But all of that didn’t erase the overheard conversation—or its effects.
It might be best to try a different tack.
“Can I tell you something? I have a feeling your uncle is glad you came to live with him. Being all by yourself can get lonesome.”
Molly rose, walked over to where the crab had disappeared, and poked at the sand with a stick—but the crustacean continued to hide. “He told me that one night.”
Jeannette’s eyebrows rose.
Kudos to him—and so much for the conventional wisdom that said men didn’t share their feelings.
“There you go.”
Molly swiveled toward her. “Do you need someone to love too?”
Whoops.
That wasn’t a subject she wanted to discuss with Logan’s niece.
From up near the dunes, Toby began to bark.
Yes!
For once, the dog’s timing was impeccable.
Jeannette stood and brushed the sand off her jeans. “Toby! Here, boy!”
The dog ignored her.
Of course.
Apparently another game of chase the beagle was on her agenda.
“We’re going to have to round him up again, Molly.”
“He likes the beach.”
“I do too—but we can’t live down here. If he comes toward you, try to grab him.”
“’Kay.”
They separated as they approached the dog—but instead of watching them with the typical roguish gleam in his eye as he planned a last-second escape, his attention remained fixed on whatever had caught his interest on the beach.
Even when they were a mere six feet away, he stayed hunkered down, gaze riveted on the sand in front of him.
Highly suspect.
But Jeannette wasn’t about to question her good fortune.
She swooped in and snapped on his leash.
Only then did she check to see what had distracted him.
“Oh!” Molly breathed the word as she squatted down on the sand beside a