Read Online Her Hometown Hero by Margaret Daley - Free Book Online

the back of the house.
    When she entered the room, Carrie hid something behind her back. But Kathleen caught a glimpse of what it was. “Are you two ready to get trounced?”
    “Are you?” Jacob said, then giggled and covered his mouth.
    Carrie punched him in the arm. “He’s acting like a dork again.” She put on an innocent expression and continued. “Yes, we are. C’mon. I’ve got the cards laid out in a neat pattern like you taught us.” Carrie moved to the side to reveal forty animal cards in eight neat rows, all complete except one.
    “One’s missing?” Kathleen made her way to the game table and took her seat.
    “Oh, no. I still have this to put down.” Carrie held up a card with a goat on it. “We can all see where I put it. That’s only fair.”
    “Yeah. The only way to play a game is fairly. Whose turn is it to go first?”
    “Mine,” Jacob shouted then quickly flipped over two cards—matching penguins. Then he flicked over a pair of cows. When he finally lost his turn, he had five sets of animals.
    “My turn.” Carrie proceeded to make a few matches, clapping between each one.
    “You would think you children have X-ray vision,” Kathleen said casually and chose a rabbit and a cat card.
    Jacob reached for his first choice.
    “Another match. Remarkable.” Kathleen looked pointedly at her niece and nephew.
    Carrie’s mouth turned down in a pout. “Okay. Okay. We knew where the cards were.”
    “You did?” Kathleen widened her eyes as though she hadn’t already known that fact. “That’s cheating.”
    “We weren’t cheating. We were playing with ya.” Jacob shoved all his cards onto the others on the table.
    “Just joking?”
    “Yeah,” her nephew said, dropping his head.
    “For the record I knew you two were up to something. It was written all over your faces. But cheating is when you don’t play fairly and don’t give everyone the same chance to win.”
    “You have been so sad lately. We wanted to cheer you up. We were gonna tell you after the game was over, but then Jacob got greedy.” Carrie glared at her brother. “We were gonna match just one or two each turn.” She waved her hand at his matches strewn over the cards. “Five! You ruined our joke.”
    Her niece’s voice rose the more she talked, but all Kathleen really focused on was the first sentence about her being sad. When she’d visited the ranch in the past, she’d spent a lot of time with Carrie and Jacob. The whole family, her included, went on outings around Cimarron City. But not this time. Clearly the kids had noticed the difference.
    “Ouch! You hit me,” Jacob yelled.
    “No, I didn’t. You got in the way of my hand.” Carrie pushed her chair back and jumped to her feet.
    Kathleen grabbed Jacob before he flew out of his chair and went after his sister. His face red with anger, he plopped against the cushioned back.
    “Aunt Kit, she did it on purpose.”
    Carrie jammed her fisted hand against her waist. “I talk with my hands like Aunt Kit, and one day I’m gonna be a ballerina just like she is.” Her niece stuck her tongue out at Jacob.
    How did this get so out of control? flashed across Kathleen’s mind as she pushed to her feet and planted herself between her niece and nephew. Usually she was more attuned to Carrie and Jacob, but she’d been so absorbed with her situation that she’d neglected them. It was time to make things right.
    She placed one arm around each child and said in a soft voice, “Let’s sit on the couch and talk. I have something I need to tell you and should have days ago.” She still didn’t know how she was going to, but keeping it a secret wasn’t working, either.
    Carrie’s forehead crinkled with worry. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Mom said you’re still recovering and not to bother you.”
    Kathleen pulled the eight-year-old against her. “You can bother me anytime. But I will admit I haven’t been myself lately.” I’m not sure if I