Read Online Lost Innocents by Patricia MacDonald - Free Book Online

all, it was one thing not to trust a stranger with your child. But a diaper bag? She stifled the urge to protest. “Okay, well, go on,” said Maddy. “And good luck.”
    As Bonnie rushed out of the coffee shop, her burdens bobbing in her thin arms, Maddy walked out to the lobby.
    Doug turned at her approach and smiled briefly, then glanced at his watch. “Are you ready?” he said.
    Maddy sighed. “Prepare yourself,” she said. “We’re having houseguests.”
    “Houseguests? Who?”
    Maddy glanced over her shoulder, as if to be sure no one was listening. “You know the people in the van?”
    Doug frowned at her as if she were speaking a foreign language.
    “In the accident,” she persisted. “Oh, honey, the man just got out of surgery, their car is in the garage, and they have nowhere to go. They’re from Maine somewhere. They don’t know a soul here. She’s up checking on him right now.”
    “Why can’t they go to a hotel?”
    “They haven’t got any money,” Maddy whispered. “He was headed here to see about a job. He’s been out of work. Something we can sympathize with.”
    Doug frowned. “Well, we can give them enough money for a hotel.”
    “And how will they get around? They can’t afford cabs. This woman has a tiny baby.”
    Doug sighed.
    “It’s our fault they’re in this mess, Doug,” Maddy pleaded. “I can’t just leave them here.”
    “Don’t say that, Maddy,” he snapped. “Don’t go claiming responsibility. You didn’t say that to her, did you?” he demanded.
    Maddy shook her head, which was a lie, and she knew it.
    “It was an accident,” he said. “That’s all anybody needs to know.”
    “All right, it was an accident. But can’t we do the decent thing?”
    “Maddy—” Doug’s response was interrupted when he was nearly toppled by an extremely tall young man on crutches far too short for him. He was hobbling across the lobby, his countenance a terrible combination of fury, pain, and sorrow.
    Doug looked at him curiously. “That’s Cliff Sobranski,” he whispered to Maddy.
    “Who’s he?” Maddy asked. Suddenly she saw the couple from the lounge hurrying to catch up with the young man. The woman called out to him, her voice full of motherly concern, but the father’s face was like a thundercloud.
    “He’s the top basketball prospect at the university. The NBA has been scouting him in his junior year,” Doug said.
    “I heard the doctor telling his parents he had two torn ligaments in his ankle,” Maddy whispered.
    “Oh no,” said Doug. He looked stricken as he watched the distressed family trail out into the night. “That poor kid. He had the whole world at his feet. He could have had it all. Unbelievable.” Maddy watched Doug, and she could see he was thinking of his own injury, his own truncated career. Part of her felt sorry for him, but part of her wanted to say, “So what? There are a lot worse things in life than that.” She held her tongue. There was no use trying to discuss it because he always told her that she simply didn’t understand.
    At that moment Bonnie appeared, looking frantically around the lobby, jiggling her fussing baby to try to quiet him. Her expression relaxed when she saw Maddy and Doug. She hurried over to them. “I thought you’d be gone,” she said.
    Maddy wondered why she would think that. “I said we’d wait.”
    Bonnie shrugged as if to express her lack of faith in such promises.
    “Bonnie,” said Maddy, “this is my husband, Doug Blake. Doug, this is Bonnie Lewis. The one I told you about.” She turned to Bonnie. “How’s your husband doing? Did you see him?”
    “He’s out cold. He didn’t know I was there.” Bonnie turned to Doug. “Your wife invited us to stay,” she said anxiously, “but if you don’t want us there…”
    Doug forced a brief smile. “No, no,” he said. “It’s no problem. Let me just go see if the cab is here.”
    Maddy gave the other woman an encouraging smile as Doug