Read Online Close to the Broken Hearted by Michael Hiebert - Free Book Online Page B

Somehow, the moonlight still managed to find gaps between them to shine through and, once Leah turned off the lamp on her nightstand, a pale gray light fell into the room. It was enough to cast small shadows on her sprayed white ceiling. She stared up at that ceiling, unable to stop thinking about poor Sylvie Carson all holed up in that little house with that newborn. The times Leah managed to release those thoughts, her brain just switched over to ciphering about this woman who had suddenly appeared into her little Abe’s life claiming to be his aunt.
    Could Billy have had a sister? Was it possible he kept that sort of information private all those years? Do you keep that sort of thing hidden from your wife? Then she started second-guessing herself—wondering if it’s really a lie if you just don’t mention it. Because deep down, Leah didn’t want to believe Billy was capable of ever lying to her.
    But could it all be true? And parents . New grandparents for Abe. That idea both excited and scared Leah. The last thing she wanted to do was see her boy get attached to someone only to lose them. The first time that had happened was almost too tragic to survive. She doubted she could manage it a second time around.
    But Billy certainly did have a ma and a pa; he just rarely mentioned them. Not that he was one for being too outspoken. She used to tell him he could keep the devil’s secrets in a poker game with Jesus if he’d wanted to.
    Did he lie to her?
    She couldn’t figure it out.
    One thing was for sure. She wasn’t getting any sleep tonight. It didn’t help that she went to bed so early. The room grew darker. The cherrywood of the dresser across the room became lost in the shadows of the waning light, but she could still make out the bright white face of the clock set on its top. It was barely ten. She’d only tucked Abe in a half hour ago. From the living room, she heard the sound of canned laughter coming from the television. Caroline was still up, no doubt cuddled in a blanket on the sofa. That girl was a night owl during the summer, and she always had that damn television set so loud it was a wonder Leah ever managed any sleep.
    That’s when the phone rang and Leah nearly jumped out of her pajama bottoms. Her head and pillow had been right beside the nightstand where the phone sat between the bed and the lamp.
    Figuring it was likely Sylvie, she quickly answered it. The last thing she needed was a reason for Abe to give her any more back talk about handing out her home phone number than he already had.
    She was surprised, though, when the voice on the other end didn’t belong to Sylvie Carson at all, but to Police Chief Ethan Montgomery whom she’d just spoken to barely four hours earlier.
    â€œEthan, what is it?” She hoped it wasn’t Sylvie blackmailing him at the station again. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to the girl about it yet. She figured that was a conversation best done in person when it came to someone like Sylvie Carson.
    â€œLeah, we got ourselves a problem.”
    â€œI figured that. Otherwise, why else would you be callin’ me at all hours of the night?”
    â€œSince when is ten all hours of the night?”
    â€œSince I got a boy comin’ home tellin’ me he met his auntie in the street today. Can we just move past this part of the conversation?”
    â€œYou know what tomorrow is, don’t you?” Ethan asked.
    â€œSunday.”
    â€œI know it’s goddamn Sunday. You know what else it is?”
    â€œWhy don’t you just assume I don’t and tell me and save a whole bunch of time?”
    â€œTomorrow is the day our old preacher man gets released.”
    Oh dear Lord Jesus, how did Leah forget that? She’d marked it on her calendar at work barely two weeks ago. Eli Brown finished his sentence tomorrow after spending over seventeen years in jail. Twelve of them in the Federal