“I want to see Emmie! She’s my sister! Like Stella!”
When that news had broken, Elizabeth had been honest with her children, not wanting them to get blindsided by someone’s thoughtless comment.
Harry suddenly took the phone. “What’s all this?”
“He’s homesick,” Elizabeth said. It should have been obvious.
Her ex used his best stern voice—he’d always considered himself the disciplinarian, although he’d rarely been around when such eruptions happened. “Stella, Jordan...stop fighting! Take your brother into the other room. I can’t hear myself think.”
“I can understand why Seth feels that way,” she said, teeth clenched. “And you know he gets carsick. Are you sure you can handle this? Having the kids all summer?”
She heard him sigh. “Miniature golf yesterday was like World War III. At dinner last night, not a single thing on the menu was acceptable to them, including Seth—and of course, he spilled his milk all over the restaurant table.”
“You know he only eats grilled cheese sandwiches when we—when he eats out.”
He bypassed that. “What about Stella? I’ve seen her order pizza before.”
“Only plain, no stuff on it.”
“Then Jordan stuck his finger right in her macaroni and cheese, the only entrée she would eat.” He paused. “Can I handle them? What kind of question was that?”
“Well, from what I just heard—”
He cut her off. “I am not going to debate my abilities as their father. What is this, Elizabeth? I hope you don’t have some harebrained idea to get my visitation revoked merely because the kids are out of control. That’s not my fault.”
“I think it is—you’re there, I’m not—but don’t be paranoid. The court has spoken, your visitation is already mandated, including this summer, and this isn’t getting us anywhere.” She added, “Do you want me to come for Seth? I can bring him home—”
“He’s fine with me. You coddle him.”
Elizabeth’s teeth clenched. “He’s barely six years old, Harry. Stop treating him as if he were one of your aides at town hall who’s expected to jump to do your bidding.”
“As you well know, I’m not mayor any longer, thanks to this ridiculous turn of events. We could have made it work, if only you’d listened to your mother.”
“No,” she said, “you made your choice. Then, when everything became public knowledge about Emmie, I had to make mine. I’m still the town laughingstock.”
He made a scoffing sound. “Aren’t you imagining that? You have lots of friends. I’m sure they haven’t abandoned you because of my little indiscretion.”
“I don’t see that as little. I had standing in this community and now I don’t. My mother isn’t the only one who thinks I should forgive and forget. Of course, that’s due to her own broken marriage years ago...” She trailed off into a lengthy silence. Elizabeth felt tempted to pack an overnight bag and fly to Denver to rescue Seth, her baby, who was showing signs of distress.
“It’s easy to see what I’m up against here,” Harry finally said. “You’ve made me into the bad guy, encouraged the kids to take your side.”
“I did not. Am I the one who took up with Sierra Hartwell, that poor woman?” After a bad car wreck, Harry’s former girlfriend had died, leaving her daughter, Emmie, three years old at the time, with no guardian, and Elizabeth didn’t blame Sierra anyway. The affair had been Harry’s doing. In her view, Sierra was another of his victims. Thank goodness, Emmie lived now with the county sheriff and his wife, who were Elizabeth’s good friends. Her voice trembled. “What kind of person are you? I don’t know you anymore,” she said. “It was your idea to take the children to Colorado. You’re the adult in the room. Try to be there for them, will you?”
Harry took his usual logical stance. “I am here—in this condo with the Front Range of the Rockies in the backyard. They have everything they could possibly want. A playground, swimming pool, hiking trails, game room—”
“Will you ask Seth if he wants me to come?” Elizabeth didn’t hear any commotion from the other room now, but that didn’t ease her mind.
“No, I will not. He’s fine, I told you.” And to be fair, the shouting and tears had stopped. “They’re all watching some movie about animated cars.”
Yet she still couldn’t relax. Sure, some adjustment to being away from home was to be expected, especially for Seth as her youngest, but not being able to comfort him hurt her even more, deep inside, than all the town gossip did. Her three children might as well have been on some distant planet... “Don’t let them spend too many hours on their iPads,” was all she could think of to say, but something else nagged at her.
Elizabeth could imagine him gritting his teeth too. “If I could run the town of Barren, I think I can deal with three children under the age of ten.”
A thought blindsided her before she took her next breath. Were they quiet only because of their fixation on the movie? Or was there someone else in that room she couldn’t see from her helpless place here in Kansas? Another woman to soothe her children? She hadn’t considered that. She wanted to know yet didn’t ask. And wouldn’t Jordan, the tattletale in the group, have mentioned someone else on vacation with them?
“Trust me,” Harry said in that cold tone she’d come to despise, and which reminded Elizabeth of her mother, whose moral authority was never to be questioned.
“Harry, you destroyed my trust.”
HIS TALK WITH Ace O’Leary and the small lie he’d told continued to worry Dallas. As usual, so did his adoptive parents. Dallas had phoned them earlier, but on his way to the McMann ranch this morning to see about a temporary job, he didn’t feel reassured.
“We’re fine, honey,” his mom had insisted from their suburban home near Denver.
“Don’t worry about us,” his dad chimed in, but underneath their expected reassurances, Dallas heard a note of what sounded like a cover-up.
“What did the doctor say?” he asked Millie Maguire. “How
