Read Online At the Scent of Water by Linda Nichols - Free Book Online

curiosity.
    “Delia, this is Annie Dalton. She might come to work with us at the paper. We’re going to Mr. Kroll’s house for dinner tonight.”
    “Hi,” she said.
    When she smiled, Annie saw that she had big new teeth in front and a missing molar. “Hi,” Annie answered and smiled back.
    “I’m going to change clothes,” Jason said, heading down the hallway. “Delia, show Annie around.”
    Delia shrugged and smiled again. “ Well, ” she said. “What do you want to see?”
    Annie laughed. “ Well, what have you got to show me?”
    Delia shrugged again, still smiling. “I could show you my rabbit.”
    “That’d be just fine,” Annie answered, and she followed Delia back outside.
    “Don’t get lost, Delia,” the baby-sitter warned. “The pizza’s going to be here in ten minutes.”
    “I won’t,” Delia said to the baby-sitter. “He’s over here,” she said to Annie and led the way to a hutch in the corner of the yard. “His name’s Thumper.”
    Annie peered into the chicken-wire cage and saw two pink eyes staring back at her. Thumper was an extremely well-fed ruby-eyed white Giant Angora. Her 4-H days came back in a rush.
    “Wow. He’s beautiful,” she said. “Do you take care of him yourself?”
    “Mostly.” Delia opened the cage and took out the rabbit. He was an armful for her and squirmed to be put down.
    “Have you ever clipped him?” Annie asked.
    “I’ve only had him a couple of months,” Delia answered. “But the lady who gave him to me lives down the block, and she said she’d show me how.”
    “I used to have dozens of these,” Annie said, smiling. “But I lived in the country.”
    “On a farm?”
    “Yep.”
    “What other animals did you have?”
    “A big flock of sheep. Cows. Chickens. A dog. A couple of really mean geese. And two llamas.”
    “Wow.” Delia smiled, showing the gap in her teeth. “Where was it? You have an accent.”
    “It was in the mountains of North Carolina. But that was a long time ago. I live in an apartment now. In Seattle.”
    “Are you gonna move here and work with my dad?”
    “I think so,” Annie said. “I’m pretty sure.”
    Delia nodded and put Thumper down in the grass. “I have to guard him,” she explained seriously. “If he gets out of the yard, the dogs will get him.”
    Thumper made a break for the gate, and Delia blocked his way. He tried again, and after a few moments it became a game. Delia and the rabbit playing dodge while Annie watched. She was a beautiful child, so unselfconscious and free.
    “Here I am.” It was Jason, cleaned up and dressed.
    “That was a quick change,” Annie said.
    “I’m pretty low maintenance.” He turned to his daughter. “Give me a kiss,” he said, leaning down. “I’ll be back late, so don’t give Gina any trouble when she tells you to do your homework and get ready for bed.”
    “I won’t,” she promised.
    “Good-bye, Delia,” Annie said. “It was nice to meet you.” She looked hard, memorizing the small lively face, the warm brown eyes and shiny hair.
    “See you,” Delia said. She was back to playing with the rabbit before they turned to leave.
    ****
    Max Kroll lived with his wife, Rachel, in a beautiful house in Hermosa Beach. Actually on Hermosa Beach, and palatial estate would be more descriptive than house. It covered at least two lots and was a low, far-flung sprawl of redwood and arbors, golden, airy wood and high ceilings, bonsai and koi ponds, no doubt financed by his wife’s income as a real estate broker. Annie knew no paper paid this well, whether you were the big dog or not. It was beautiful, clean, open, refreshing. There was nothing about any of it that reminded her of home, and she liked that the most.
    She liked the people, too. She liked crusty old Max Kroll, for all his bluff and bluster. She liked his wife, Rachel, who proved to have a sharp wit. She liked Jason with his quiet ways. They ate on the deck, the surf a regular rhythm in the