From me to you:
Thanks for the worldwide interest. I would really enjoy reading a review from the international set.
My friends in the USA, thank you for your support.
Chapter 33
Couples begin to talk
The atmosphere in the government sponsored home hung in the air as if waiting a hurricane to strike. Ben stood off to the side, the brown dinner table separating him from an intense looking Ryn.
"Hope, I just got off the phone with Helen." Her taut facial muscles twitched. "How could you talk to her like that?"
"Mama, she's just an old busy body. She should mind her business."
Hope glances at the man she calls her father. Ben takes a breath and lowers his head.
"We are her business!" The raised voice of Ryn causes Hope to step back. "We would not be safe…here…there would be nothing without Helen's help." Ryn's voice strains as she continues. "You would not be here, my child…without her help."
"What about Maddie? She was against Daddy becoming like us. She is jealous." Hope still maintains a distance from her mother. "She wishes little Ted was her child." Hope takes a step toward Ryn. "Don't you see it?"
There is an ear splitting silence after that question.
"Mama, she even had sex with that man that kidnap kidnapped daddy."
Hope takes a breath raising her breasts as a show of strength.
"She wants daddy. How can you stand by and let that human," an expression of disgust takes the young girl's strained face, "break up our family?"
Ryn's hand glances off her daughter's face. Hope grabs her right cheek. Then steps back.
"Ryn!" Ben's tone is forceful. "Let me talk to her. Please."
The argument causes Little Ted to wake up. His human-like cries give a shaken Ryn an excuse to rush up the stairs. Her right hand trembles as she climbs the steps unbelieving of her reaction to Hope's words..
"Hope, please." Ben puts his arm around his adopted daughter.
"Daddy, you should have seen her. Everyone at the Anchor was looking at her." Sobs interfere with her words.
"She…dressed like bad woman. She…even left with that man. The man Joe…from government."
Ben held her tight. Hope's breathing began to steady with the embrace.
"Darling, no one is breaking up this family."
She buries her head in his chest.
"Hope, my baby." Ben places a kiss on the top of her head. "Let me explain about Maddie. I know there are a lot of questions that we haven't addressed. "
"Daddy, mama hit me. Hit me hard." A face full of tears steals Ben's vision.
"She loves you. She did not realize what she was doing." The compassionate man's expression softens. His eyes are close to tears. "Please, remember. She loves you more than life itself."
Easing her onto the beige upholstered chair, Ben pulls another one from the dining room table. He prepares for a conversation; one Ben had hoped never to have.
Ocean Front Restaurant
Gentle breezes streamed through the young woman's soft curls. As her hair flutters about delicate, slender shoulders the stunning figure seated overlooking the marina felt a relief all but forgotten.
"A penny for your thoughts." Joe asks.
"My thoughts now are worth a million." Her smooth skin shows no sign of the tension experienced in the last week. "I have to thank you for tonight. Really, and I don't mean this wonderful food." Maddie sighs.
Picking up his glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, "here's to you. It seems that you have experienced some hard times and dealt with them," he clears his throat. "I can't imagine and will not even think about what it must be like living with that girl." He shakes his head and exhales a short laugh. "I mean, that kid must be unbearable?"
They touch their glasses.
"It's not only her. I mean…I really needed to get away from…" Maddie's throat becomes dry. Sipping the wine frees her words.
"I love them, all. Even Hope. You must know what we've been through. It's just that…"
"Please, don't think of me as a priest or some analyst." He lets out a subtle breath of air from his nostrils.
"My last few days have been a little…well." His eyes look away, "I needed you to be a shoulder to cry on." His chest trembles form the suppressed laugh.
"I don't understand. I mean, you look like you have everything a man could want?" Her words bring a smile to his face. "Those clothes? That car?" She puts both hands on the white and red checkered tablecloth, "and don't tell me you don't know you are a doll?"
Maddie smirks as her mouth slides into a devious smile.
"You didn't see the women when you walked in the Anchor?" She sucks her teeth. "My goodness, even Janine that just got married gave you more than one glance." She clasps her hands together, "and Hope. I thought she was gonna shove her hand in your shirt when she touched your suit jacket."
Shrugging his shoulders, "I'm not interested in the other women at that place." He takes in a shallow breath, "including that oversexed child." His grin grows.
"I'm only interested in one woman." Upper teeth graze a lower lip.
"And she's sitting in front of me."
Maddie's dark eyes are downcast. As she raises her head to speak, moist lips press against each other.
"Do you want go somewhere…and continue our therapy session?" She asks.
His smile ends their conversation.
As the couple leaves the patio and passes the bar, a figure with ashey beige hair follows their movements. She has extraordinary hearing and has heard every word of their touching moment on the patio. Though this is part of the plan, anger travels the length of her body. She presents a grim expression. With eyelids strained over a taut face, the rigid-looking woman picks up the shot glass. Her hand forms a fist around the glass.
"Damn!" The bartender reaches for a clean towel. "Honey, are you bleeding?"
There is no answer from the woman. The glass is shattered, with a small sliver sticking in her palm.
"Oh, dear…" A woman two seats down comes to her assistance. "Here, maybe I should call someone?"
Grabbing the towel, the silent bleeding patron leaves her stool without saying a word.
"Wat dah hell is her problem?" The burly bartender asks.
"Must be a man," the Good Samaritan states.
"Only a man can do that to a woman."
The bartender lets out a short chuckle and nods.