Almost a Family Read Online Free Page A

seat back and forth.”
    “Fine,” he said quietly. She could feel the heat from his body as he leaned inside further, reaching to pick up the keys from the small table by her left hip. Her heart beat just a little bit faster at the his nearness.
    “Okay!” she said brightly to Sara while her insides trembled. It wasn’t only Jason. She was going to see Kim, too, and was afraid of what she might see, how she might feel seeing her sister lying broken in a hospital bed. She hadn’t seen Kim in a couple of years. This wasn’t exactly how she’d envisioned their next meeting.
    “We’re all ready. Got your card?”
    Sara held up her folded paper in a fuzzy mitten.
    “I’ve got my purse. Let’s go.”
    She locked the door behind them, leaving on the porch light. The sedan was already warming up, and Jason came forward to scoop up Sara and secure her in her seat. Head held high, Molly opened the passenger door herself and got inside, buckling her seat belt.
    He pulled out of the drive, everyone eerily quiet.
    She glanced over at his legs. He was in jeans again, faded ones that creased at the knee as he sat. His jaw held a hint of dark stubble, and his fingers—those long, glorious fingers—were gripping the steering wheel, encased in brown leather gloves that matched his coat.
    Fingers that had touched her intimately years before. Fingers that had wiped her tears and had fed her chocolates at Christmas. Fingers that he’d once loved to sink into her hair…ones that had touched her skin…
    Scowling, she turned her head and stared out the window at the inky darkness of the river as they headed into Fredericton. Ten minutes. In ten minutes, they’d be at the hospital and out of this silent prison. In ten minutes, she could stop smelling him and feeling him so close.
    “Uncle Jason?”
    “Yes, sweetie?”
    “Are you mad at Aunt Molly?”
    Before she could stop it, Molly’s head swiveled in his direction and his gaze met hers. She felt her heart leap at the emotion there. It wasn’t animosity. It was acceptance. Acceptance of the inevitability of how things were between them. She wondered if her eyes mirrored the same thoughts. That the things they hadn’t resolved six years ago still hung between them.
    He looked in the rearview mirror as he answered the child. “No, Sara. I’m not mad at your Aunt Molly.”
    “Then why aren’t you talking?”
    Molly hid a smile and waited for his answer.
    “Aw, we’re just thinking about seeing your mommy again. I know she’s excited to see you.”
    Molly’s lips curved deeper at his clear manipulation, turning the topic away from them.
    “I made her a card.”
    “I see that. She’ll love it. I know she misses you. But she still has an owie, okay? You’ll have to be very careful getting up on her bed and stuff.”
    “I know.”
    Molly stared out the window again, wondering about the thought process of a three-year-old. What did Sara think and understand about what had happened to her mother? Did she even grasp the enormity of the accident? Cracked ribs and a ruptured spleen were nothing to fool with, and neither was a concussion. It had been the better part of a week and this was the first time Kim had been alert enough to see her own daughter. Molly didn’t even know exactly what had happened. All Kim had been able to manage through the medications was a brief phone call asking for help. The weak, thready voice on the line had frightened Molly sufficiently. She’d started making arrangements as soon as her hands had stopped shaking. She had meant to ask as soon as she arrived, but seeing Jason had made her so uncomfortable that she’d tried to keep their conversations to a minimum.
    Now her sister was well enough for them to visit, and Molly was glad Kim was recovering nicely despite the seriousness of her injuries. She hadn’t hesitated to come and help, but she only had three weeks off and then she had to be back to work. She thought back to the files she’d