Father to Be Read Online Free Page B

hug for me and tell him I love him.” She swallowed hard. “I love you, Mom.”
    “I love you too. And I really do hope you’ll be happy there, even if I haven’t acted like it. It’s just that we’ve gotten used to having you nearby. We’d hoped to have you here always.”
    “I know. But it’s not so far. Think about coming for a visit, will you?” She hesitated only a moment. “I’ll talk to you later, Mom.”
    “You be careful.” It was Kathleen’s standard farewell, whether on the phone or in person, and all her life Kelsey had heeded the advice. It was part of the reason she’d wound up in Bethlehem.
    After hanging up, she turned toward the car and realized that the courthouse was down the block. Since she still hadtime to blow before her three o’clock appointment, she drove the short distance to take a look at her new office. She could see what she had and what she needed before tomorrow’s trip to Howland to meet with her new supervisor.
    Most of the spaces in the courthouse parking lot were empty. The cars there, she assumed, belonged to the police officers and sheriff’s deputies whose departments filled the first floor. Ignoring the elevator, she climbed broad stairs to the second floor, where city and county offices shared space with courtrooms, and followed an arrow to the third floor, where her own office was tucked among a dozen others.
    The frosted glass in the door had been recently painted with the department name. She tried the knob and the door opened with a creak. The reception area was small and about as elegantly decorated as she’d expected—pale green walls, industrial carpet, beige metal desk, and orange plastic chairs. The sole door in the opposite wall led into her office, also pale green, beige, and orange. Two windows looked out on the street, but the view was blocked by the four tall file cabinets lined up across the wall. Once she squeezed behind the desk and leaned way back in her chair, she found she could see a wedge of the street below.
    “An office with a view,” she murmured with a grin as she propped her feet on the scarred desk-mat. What more could she ask for?
    She turned her attention to unpacking the box she’d brought up from the car. Her degrees came out first, a bachelor’s and a master’s, then the personal stuff—a box of tissues, a makeup kit for emergency touch-ups, a bottle of aspirin, a bottle of antacid. There were a couple of silk plants that looked real, a duplicate of her home address book, and a few family photographs.
    The last item in the box was also a photo, framed, itscolors faded with age. It was a yearbook picture, enlarged to five by seven inches—a pretty fifteen-year-old girl who hadn’t lived to see sixteen. She and Steph had been born only three days apart, had lived only two houses apart. They’d grown up together and had been best friends forever. Steph was the reason Kelsey did what she did—Steph, and a need for atonement. For absolution.
    She stroked a fingertip across the frame, then positioned it on a corner of her desk. Every time she looked up, she would see the picture and remember. She would work a little longer, try a little harder.
    With a glance at her watch she decided it was time to go. When she was outside in the sun once more, she paused for a moment. The fragrance of flowers drifted over from the square, along with the sounds of children playing while parents watched from park benches. It was such a lovely, peaceful scene, with no loud music causing the very ground to vibrate, no shouts or arguments, no traffic backed up in the street.
    She closed her eyes, breathing in deeply of clean air, peace, calm. The tension seeped from her neck and shoulders, drained out of her fingertips, and fell away. The sensation made her smile as she headed for the parking lot, but the smile faded as she neared her car.
    She’d parked beside a mud-splattered truck. Now a man stood behind both vehicles, hands in his pockets,