Ask Mariah Read Online Free Page B

pointed in another direction.
    "We're not going home," he said. "I told you, I have to go to work so I can make money to buy you clothes and toys and food. Okay? Now, listen, if you go to school, I'll buy you a big pizza at Grandpa's restaurant and we'll rent a movie tonight."
    The girl standing next to him stopped crying. He turned to her in relief. "All right, Rose?"
    Rose pointed toward home.
    "How about a triple-fudge sundae after dinner?" the man tried again. "And we'll go to the zoo on Saturday. You love the zoo."
    "He might end up giving them the house before he's through," Nora said with a chuckle.
    "You are bad," she replied as Rose ran to join her sister. She felt sorry for their father. He looked like a nice guy who was completely at his wits' end. "It's strange," she said, watching him move from bribery to threats. "The girls haven't said anything to him. I wonder if they speak."
    "They may not talk, but they can certainly scream." Nora winced as a loud, piercing shriek rang down the street.
    Their father grabbed each girl by the hand and tried to drag them into the school. Joanna had seen enough. She walked down the steps with a welcoming smile.
    The girls looked up at her and their screams stopped with such abruptness that the silence was deafening. Joanna smiled a little nervously, not sure what to do now that she was here. She was rewarded with two matching exuberant grins. She couldn't believe the instant turnaround.
    "Mama!" they cried. "You came back."
    Joanna's mouth dropped open as the two girls hurled themselves into her arms, laughing and crying and calling her Mama. She couldn't do anything but cuddle them. They wouldn't have settled for less.
    Their father looked shocked. His light blue eyes widened in disbelief. "My God," he said. "You look just like her. The same dark hair, the same eyes, the same mouth."
    Joanna swallowed hard as his intense gaze moved from her hair, to her eyes, to her lips. "Their -- their mother?" she asked tentatively.
    "Yes." His voice turned gruff. "She died a year ago."
    Joanna's heart broke at the thought of these young girls being motherless. No wonder their father looked frazzled and the girls had difficulty separating from him. He was the only parent they had left. Still, she felt uncomfortable about her own position and decided it was time to clarify the situation.
    "My name is Joanna," she said.
    "No, Mama," one of the girls corrected her.
    "I'm sorry. You must think we're crazy. It's just the resemblance." He waved a hand toward the girls. "Look at them. Don't you see yourself?"
    Joanna licked her lips. Yes, there was a slight resemblance, but it was just in the coloring of their hair and eyes. She didn't really look like them. Although ... A stray thought ran across her mind that if she did have children they would probably look something like these two.
    "I guess we do look a bit alike," she conceded.
    "More than a little. My name is Michael Ashton," he added. "These are my daughters, Lily and Rose."
    "It's nice to meet you." She extended her hand and an incredible feeling of warmth crept through her as Michael's fingers curled around her palm. "I'm Joanna Wingate."
    "Wingate? That doesn't sound Italian."
    "I'm not."
    "Angela, my wife, she was Italian." He cleared his throat. "So, do you want the girls to call you Miss or -- "
    "It's Miss, but Joanna will be fine,"
    "Joanna," he repeated with another long, searching look. His gaze turned toward the girls. "I know she looks like Mommy, but she's not. She's ... Are you their teacher?"
    "Yes. First grade, right?"
    "We already did kindergarten," Lily explained.
    "That's good. I bet you learned a lot, too," she said. "How would you like to be in my class this summer?"
    Both girls beamed at her, their tear-streaked faces glistening like rainbows in the morning sun. Joanna took each one by the hand. "Tell me your names again."
    "I'm Lily, And she's Rose. She's the youngest by two minutes," Lily added. "Sometimes people