Blind Trust by Jody Klaire Page B

small that Martha feared she
would burst into tears at any moment.
    “It’s been a long day,” Martha offered. “Why don’t you finish up
your food and I’ll pop by to set up a bed for your guest?”
    Two beaming faces on one side contradicted a thin-lipped grimace
on the other. Martha left them to it and tried to imagine what could make
Serena so unhappy. Was it the boy? No, she had been just as sullen last night
before the avalanche. She’d assumed it was tiredness from a long drive, but no,
the weariness was very much evident even today.
    Martha put on the steaks for her boys and watched the trio
quietly. Yes, there was a story there lurking beneath the surface, she only
hoped for them at least, it involved a happy ending.

 
    Chapter 10
     
    MARTHA WAS AS good as her word, and as I was not exactly parental
material, she helped to sort out the little guy with a bath and some bedclothes
before helping me tuck him in.
    Now, lucky for me, I had gotten to know my half-sisters before
leaving Oppidum and the youngest was only four so I had learned a lot of kid
stuff from her.
    One, was that kids, no matter how freaked out and lonely they
were, loved a bedtime story. Even more so, they loved an acted-out bedtime
story.
    The second thing I learned about kids was that they knew when
something wasn’t right. You see, back in Oppidum, Renee had been a part of that
bedtime story act. You’d never believe just how good a bear she could be but
she did the noises like no other sane person I’d ever seen.
    So, it didn’t surprise me when Zack “asked” if Renee was sad. What
did surprise me was how much I wanted to protect him from the truth. I told him
that she was sad because of the avalanche, which I knew was a lie. It seemed
like a better thing than to tell him that I didn’t have one iota what was
happening with her and that I was pretty
sure she was either pre-menstrual or needed therapy . . . or both. So I
stuck with the avalanche theory and hoped by the morning Renee would reappear
and Doctor Miserable would go hike over a high place.
    I came downstairs, and Renee was sitting on the sofa, her feet
pulled up as she stared at the crackling fire. The shutters and curtains were
all closed and I wondered why she would want to close off such a beautiful
view. If I couldn’t tell by my burdens that she was healthy, I’d have been
worried that she was getting sick.
    “You want somethin’?” I asked, heading into the kitchen for
something to do. I needed to get her talking somehow or we’d both end up being
committed, well, I would be re-committed, but same difference.
    Not hearing an answer, I raised my eyes to see her staring into
space as though she hadn’t even heard me. “You enjoying the orbit over there or
what?”
    Again, she was unseeing, unhearing, and my skin prickled with
worry. Growing up, I didn’t have nobody I was close to and Nan had been much
like Zack and never spoke. I didn’t know whether it was normal for people to
change all of a sudden. If it was normal to block people out. Had I messed up
so bad that she didn’t even want to look at me? If so, I sure as shoots didn’t
know how to fix it. Being at odds with Renee gave me a stomach ache.
    “Nan,” I muttered under my breath. “You’re my guru, any ideas?”
    I wouldn’t normally bother her but there was nobody else to ask. I
didn’t figure Blob as much of a people person. He was sitting on the sofa next
to Renee and I was pretty sure that he was asleep by the snoring sounds.
    “What’s up, Shortstop?” I smiled at the breezy voice. I missed her something terrible.
    “I think I broke her,” I said, motioning to the brooding protector
in the corner. “How do I fix it?”
    “You call me up to get me chasing ghosts and now you ask me about
your troubles?”
    I sighed and nodded. I was a terrible person and she really needed
to get some rest instead of listening to my whining. “I don’t do people so
well.”
    “Don’t be such a