Read Online Town Square, The by Ava Miles - Free Book Online Page A

maze.
    He would have walked by, but he heard a sniff and then the unmistakable sound of a woman crying softly.
    Cripes , he thought, and ran his hand through his hair. Why wouldn’t she give up? Then he realized she couldn’t. It was her father, and because he loved his family too, he could understand.
    “Harriet?” he called out softly.
    Her head jerked up, and she dashed a hand at the tears streaming down her face. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m almost finished.”
    He walked forward, his hesitance making him drag his feet. Being nice to her was the last thing he should do, wanted to do. Yet, here he was, fishing out his handkerchief and handing it to her. “It’s clean. So, what box are you on?”
    The dainty way she wiped her nose reminded him what a city girl she was. “Eighteen,” she whispered and extended the file she was holding to him.
    Ah, God , he thought. The medical reports on the babies who’d died. He’d gotten drunk after reading through those the first time.
    “He lied,” she said in that soft tone. “My father lied.”
    He sat on one of the boxes encircling her, the cardboard giving a bit. He’d been wondering when this moment would come. Part of him had dreaded it.
    Her father had fallen off his pedestal.
    “Yes,” he said, wanting to reach out and stroke the lock of fiery hair that had come loose from her bun.
    The file fell to the floor. “Those poor babies,” she said. “I keep reading the mothers’ statements about how healthy they were, and how they sickened and died so quickly after drinking the formula.”
    He hung his head. Interviewing the four mothers who had agreed to speak to him had been the hardest experience of his life. The other women had been too inconsolable to talk to him, and their husbands too angry.
    “Let’s get you a cup of coffee, and when Maybelline gets back from her walk, you can go home.”
    He pulled her up and helped her step over the boxes. She leaned against him for a moment when she stumbled. Putting his arm around her, he waited until she found her footing, trying to ignore the thrill of touching her. Once she steadied herself, he stepped back. Like he’d been doing since he discovered who she was and why she was here.
    She followed him to the kitchen and sat at his farmer’s table. Since he drank coffee throughout the day, there was already a pot of it on the stove. He grabbed mugs from the cabinet and poured them both a cup. She didn’t reach for hers when he set it in front of her. She just stared unblinkingly at the table, which he’d covered with one of his mother’s old plaid green tablecloths.
    “Arthur,” she said, shaking her head like she was shaking off a daze. “I owe you an apology. I came here…thinking…” Her fingers feathered her brow. “I don’t know what…”
    “Let’s leave it at that.” Knowing she was sorry did a lot to abate the anger he felt, but he still didn’t want to see her suffer.
    “You’re letting me off too easy,” she murmured, reaching for the cup.
    Probably, and he didn’t want to think about that either. His mouth quirked up, likely his first smile in days. “What do you want me to do? Tie you to ol’ Bessie in the barn and have her drag you down Main Street?”
    Her mouth changed and then fell flat again. “They used to do that around here, right?”
    “My granddad told tales.” He took a sip of coffee. “So what are you going to do now?”
    He hoped she wouldn’t go through the rest of the boxes. It only got worse from there.
    Her finger traced the plaid squares on the tablecloth. “I don’t know. I’d hoped to restore my father’s reputation, if not his sanity, but now… Our family is in disgrace. We don’t have anything to go back to. I couldn’t find a job back home, and Maybelline was asked to leave college.”
    Jeez, he hadn’t imagined anyone other than their father reaping the consequences of his actions, and he hated that Harriet and Maybelline were paying for