The Heart's Voice Read Online Free Page A

heard. It was hard to tell with her. “You better come in.”
    She shook her head, glancing at her daughter, who continued skipping. The child appeared to be singing to herself. Becca hefted the boy to a more comfortable position, and he noticed how small and childlike her hands were before quickly jerking his gaze back to her face. “That’s okay. Jenny likes playing on your porch.”
    He wasn’t sure about the name. “Jenny?”
    “No. J-e-m-m-y. Jemmy.”
    “Jemmy.” He pointed at the boy. “CJ?”
    “For Cody John, after his daddy and his grandpa.”
    Dan nodded his understanding. The child was huge, with fat cheeks and thighs, or his mother was very small, or both. Either way, she looked much too young to have two children.
    “So will you help me fix up my house?”
    She might be young, but she was persistent. Dan rubbed a hand over the nape of his neck. Was this God’s will, that he work on her house? He was having a hard time figuring out what God had in store for him these days. He’d come home to Rain Dance simply because he had to go somewhere after the Marine Corps had medically retired him, and at thirty he didn’t like feeling dependent on his parents, especially with his sister, Gayla, busily planning her fall wedding. By helping out Becca Kinder he’d at least be keeping busy.
    “No promises,” he finally said, “but I’ll take a look.”
    She literally bounced, as excited as if she’d just won the lottery. “Oh, thank you, Mr. Holden!”
    “Dan,” he corrected automatically.
    She smiled. “And I’m Becca.”
    “Becca,” he repeated carefully. “Not Becky?”
    “Not Becky,” she confirmed, “but short for Rebecca.”
    “Okay, Becca. When and where?”
    She started to answer him, but then she suddenly turned away. He followed her gaze and saw that Jemmy was about to slip off the end of the porch and down between the hedges. She stopped and cast a measuring glance at her mother, then resumed skipping again. Becca smiled at him and said, “As far as how to find us, just head east straight on outof town to the second section line. Then turn back north. We’re on the left just over a mile down.”
    He smiled because she hadn’t altered the speed or manner in which she normally spoke. “Two miles east. One north. On the left.”
    “Right. There’s no section line road there, but you’ll see the name on the mailbox.”
    “Kinder,” he surmised.
    “That’s it.” She flapped a hand happily. “Oh, you don’t know how long I’ve waited for this! See you then.” As she turned to go, he realized that he’d missed something important, and without even thinking, he reached out and snagged her wrist. A jolt of heat lanced up his arm. He instantly released her.
    “Sorry. Uh, when?”
    Her eyes grew even rounder, and apology was suddenly written all over her face. “I turned my head. Jemmy was about to crawl off into the bushes, and I didn’t even think.”
    “It’s all right.” He brought his hands to his hips, just to be sure he didn’t accidentally reach out for her again. “Tell me when.”
    “Monday’s my day off, so anytime Monday would be great for me.”
    He nodded. “Monday.”
    She smiled, and he drew back, that smile doing strange things to his insides. He wondered if her husband was going to be there, and hoped that he was. It would be best to deal with Cody. Perhapshe should suggest it, but she was already turning away again, calling the girl to her side as she went. Dan backed up and closed the door. Then he suddenly remembered something he’d seen.
    She wore her wedding ring on her right hand and no ring at all on her left. Thinking quickly, he weighed the significance of that, and then he remembered something else. One day down at the store he’d seen two women standing in front of the deli case, watching John Odem carve up a ham. One had leaned close to the other and apparently whispered something that had stuck with him. What a shame about the boy.
    He