Read Online Knocking at Her Heart (Conover Circle #1) by Beverly Long - Free Book Online
Authors: Beverly Long
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his vacation days so that he can clean up
spilled milk and organize art projects? That’s crazy,” she said, unable to
pretty-up the sentiment.
“Uncle Sam is crazy,” Kelsie
repeated, turning in circles.
“Sorry,” Maddie mouthed.
Sam put a hand on Kelsie’s
shoulder to stop her turning. “I want to make sure my niece is in a safe
environment. It’s not, you know, C.R.A.Z.Y. at all.”
“Sam, I assure you. I’ll work
this out,” she protested. “I will think of someone we can call.”
“I’m not sure who that will be,
Maddie,” Carol said. “Oops, I gotta go.”
Maddie looked over the woman’s
shoulder. Four of the kids were wrestling, their little bodies rolling around
on the carpet, their short arms and legs flailing. The sleeping child was now
awake and crying, obviously not expecting to wake up in the middle of a war
zone.
“I say you give the good doctor a
chance,” Carol said, before she marched into the noisy room. “We need help.”
Maddie watched Carol bust up the
scuffle. There was a bunch of reaching and bending and squatting and Maddie,
with a sinking heart, knew she’d be hard pressed to do anything remotely
resembling it.
She turned to Sam. “We start work
at six-thirty.”
“Won’t be a problem.”
“I can only pay you ten dollars
an hour.”
When a muscle in his jaw jerked,
she thought it was likely he was remembering their conversation of the previous
evening.
“I insist, Sam,” she added, not
willing to treat this as anything but a temporary business arrangement. “If I
can’t pay you, the deal is off.”
“Fine. Ten bucks an hour is
great.”
She needed to deal with the
elephant in the room. “You’re sure you want to do this?” she asked. “I mean,
after what I said last night, I didn’t think you’d feel all that friendly to
me.”
He shrugged. “You were tired, so
was I. It probably wasn’t the best time to have a conversation.”
He was letting her off the hook.
“I handled it poorly,” she said. “Sometimes I can be an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot,” he said,
his tone serious.
“Maddie is not an idiot,” Kelsie
said, starting to turn again.
Oh yes she was. Hadn’t she just
agreed to let Sam into her life? She was a freakin’ idiot. But she wasn’t
saying that word out loud. “You’re sure this won’t interfere with your work at
the hospital?”
“I don’t have any surgeries
scheduled and I’m not on call for a few days. I’d been planning on finishing a research
paper that I’m working on. I can still do that at night, after I leave here.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” she
protested.
“It’s not a big deal,” he said.
Oh, not true. Sam was a slice of
warm apple pie with a piece of cheddar cheese melted on top. A big, big,
deal.
“Come on, Kelsie,” he said.
“You’re making me dizzy. We need to buy your mom something that sparkles.”
Maddie waited until the door was
completely shut behind them before she quietly said, “Like your eyes.”
*
Kelsie ended up buying her mother
a stuffed monkey so Sam took it upon himself to find something shiny for his
sister. He had the jewelry store wrap the gold necklace in a pretty box, and
then he took it and the bag they’d stuffed the monkey in and shoved both of
them into the corner of his trunk.
It felt good to be able to buy
his sister nice things. His mother certainly didn’t have any jewelry to pass
down to her daughters. He remembered the time she’d sold her own mother’s
wedding ring when it looked like they were going to lose their apartment. He’d
heard her crying that night. Years later when he’d reflected upon the memory,
he’d felt like shit. All he’d been thinking about was that if she could get
some money, he wasn’t going to have to change schools again. He hadn’t been thinking
about how devastated his mom must have been. How worried.
Neither his mother nor sisters
were ever going to worry again like that. Ever. He was going
spilled milk and organize art projects? That’s crazy,” she said, unable to
pretty-up the sentiment.
“Uncle Sam is crazy,” Kelsie
repeated, turning in circles.
“Sorry,” Maddie mouthed.
Sam put a hand on Kelsie’s
shoulder to stop her turning. “I want to make sure my niece is in a safe
environment. It’s not, you know, C.R.A.Z.Y. at all.”
“Sam, I assure you. I’ll work
this out,” she protested. “I will think of someone we can call.”
“I’m not sure who that will be,
Maddie,” Carol said. “Oops, I gotta go.”
Maddie looked over the woman’s
shoulder. Four of the kids were wrestling, their little bodies rolling around
on the carpet, their short arms and legs flailing. The sleeping child was now
awake and crying, obviously not expecting to wake up in the middle of a war
zone.
“I say you give the good doctor a
chance,” Carol said, before she marched into the noisy room. “We need help.”
Maddie watched Carol bust up the
scuffle. There was a bunch of reaching and bending and squatting and Maddie,
with a sinking heart, knew she’d be hard pressed to do anything remotely
resembling it.
She turned to Sam. “We start work
at six-thirty.”
“Won’t be a problem.”
“I can only pay you ten dollars
an hour.”
When a muscle in his jaw jerked,
she thought it was likely he was remembering their conversation of the previous
evening.
“I insist, Sam,” she added, not
willing to treat this as anything but a temporary business arrangement. “If I
can’t pay you, the deal is off.”
“Fine. Ten bucks an hour is
great.”
She needed to deal with the
elephant in the room. “You’re sure you want to do this?” she asked. “I mean,
after what I said last night, I didn’t think you’d feel all that friendly to
me.”
He shrugged. “You were tired, so
was I. It probably wasn’t the best time to have a conversation.”
He was letting her off the hook.
“I handled it poorly,” she said. “Sometimes I can be an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot,” he said,
his tone serious.
“Maddie is not an idiot,” Kelsie
said, starting to turn again.
Oh yes she was. Hadn’t she just
agreed to let Sam into her life? She was a freakin’ idiot. But she wasn’t
saying that word out loud. “You’re sure this won’t interfere with your work at
the hospital?”
“I don’t have any surgeries
scheduled and I’m not on call for a few days. I’d been planning on finishing a research
paper that I’m working on. I can still do that at night, after I leave here.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” she
protested.
“It’s not a big deal,” he said.
Oh, not true. Sam was a slice of
warm apple pie with a piece of cheddar cheese melted on top. A big, big,
deal.
“Come on, Kelsie,” he said.
“You’re making me dizzy. We need to buy your mom something that sparkles.”
Maddie waited until the door was
completely shut behind them before she quietly said, “Like your eyes.”
*
Kelsie ended up buying her mother
a stuffed monkey so Sam took it upon himself to find something shiny for his
sister. He had the jewelry store wrap the gold necklace in a pretty box, and
then he took it and the bag they’d stuffed the monkey in and shoved both of
them into the corner of his trunk.
It felt good to be able to buy
his sister nice things. His mother certainly didn’t have any jewelry to pass
down to her daughters. He remembered the time she’d sold her own mother’s
wedding ring when it looked like they were going to lose their apartment. He’d
heard her crying that night. Years later when he’d reflected upon the memory,
he’d felt like shit. All he’d been thinking about was that if she could get
some money, he wasn’t going to have to change schools again. He hadn’t been thinking
about how devastated his mom must have been. How worried.
Neither his mother nor sisters
were ever going to worry again like that. Ever. He was going
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