When Hearts Collide - By James, Kendra Page 0,14
being so maudlin. You haven’t really considered having children. You wouldn’t know what to do with one. You’d kill it by neglect, just the way you’ve killed every plant you’ve looked after. You don’t have a green thumb nor whatever color thumb you need to raise a child.
She started counting the concessions. There wasn’t a car on the road, but she automatically put on her signals and slowed for the turn. Creeping at a snail’s pace, she watched for the number. Picking up the card, she verified the address. It should be the next one.
The driveway was bordered with trees, shadowy and sinister. It made her think of Mandalay in Rebecca. Would she find a Gothic mansion at the end of the driveway? Molly followed the winding roadway. It wasn’t Mandalay. Instead, three hundred feet from the road, she saw the silhouette of a large Cape Cod. A house sheathed in darkness. This doesn’t look good. What if no one’s home?
Her body ached with exhaustion. She’d been tired before the accident, and despite the adrenalin rush that had kept her going at the accident scene and the hospital, now she was ready to drop. All she wanted to do was hand over the child and find a place to lay her head.
How far was it to Tillsonburg? Were they still holding her reservation? Molly yawned. Could she even make it that far? She might have to stop at the next motel, no matter how dilapidated it looked. Maybe, after she dropped off the child, she could pull to the side of the road and catch some shuteye. But one look at the shadowy forest made her shiver as images of evil creatures catapulting out at her flashed through her mind, vanquishing any thoughts of stopping by the roadside.
Lights flashed on as she approached the house and for a second her heart leaped with hope, but they were motion sensors. Otherwise the house remained in darkness. Molly parked on the interlocking bricks in front of a three-car garage and glanced in the back seat where Gracie remained in dreamland. Crossing to the white double front doors, she rang the bell. Chimes echoed inside. She waited several minutes. No one came. No lights flickered. She pressed on the doorbell, then waited three minutes before knocking loudly. Still no response.
Now what am I supposed to do? Does being his pretend wife give me permission to go into his house?
Digging the keys out of Pearce’s black leather shoes, Molly headed back to the front door. The motion light had switched off, and Molly waved her arms to make it come back on. She sorted through the keys. There were so many of them. Which one is the house key? She picked one, swallowed the golf ball lump in her throat, and inserted the key into the lock. It didn’t fit. She selected another one. Not that one, either. The third one slid into the chamber. Thank you. She twisted the key. It didn’t turn. Just her luck. All bad.
Molly went through the ring again. Another one looked like a house key. She took a deep breath, said a prayer, slid it into the lock, and twisted. The chamber turned. She gave the door a push and it whispered open.
“Hello. Is anybody home?” The house remained silent and dark. “Hello. Hello. Is anyone here?” She leaned further into the foyer.
It was a large open area, the space beyond pitch black. She ran her hand blindly along the wall, searching for the light switch. Her fingers felt a row of three buttons. She flipped the first one, immersing the area in bright light. Her eyes were drawn upward to the glimmering crystal chandelier hanging twenty feet above. It looked like a hundred glass pieces shimmering like diamonds. Glad I don’t have to clean that baby.
Molly ventured into the foyer, her sandals clattering on the ceramic tiling. The sound echoed through the emptiness. “Hello. Hello.” No one answered. She ventured farther into the house.
She called again, this time loud enough to wake the dead. Obviously no one was home, dead or alive. Her shoulders sagged. What now? First, get Gracie out of the car and into bed. Then maybe I can find a phone book with some relative’s name in it. Where is the child’s bedroom? Molly looked up the circular staircase leading to the second level. It must be up there.
She took a quick tour of the rooms on the first level. Living room to