Broken Things (Faded Photograph Series) by Andrea Boeshaar Page B

the chance.
    The drive took her longer than she anticipated. She’d gotten caught in the late afternoon traffic and then wound up taking a wrong turn. It was nearly six o’clock when she finally entered the quiet neighborhood in which she had lived thirty years ago. Located about five miles away from the area in which Steve and Nora resided, Allie was amazed at how much the same everything appeared. Oh, perhaps, the trees were taller and the houses sported a different color of paint than what she’d remembered. But overall, it seemed like the same old place.
    Nostalgia filled her being as Allie parked the Cavalier and climbed out. She strolled to the edge of the front lawn, staring ahead the two story, brown stucco house in which she’d lived with her mother, stepfather, and stepsisters. She recalled vividly how each spring her mother used to plant marigolds in front of the hedges. In another flowerbed alongside the house, Mom liked to plant an assortment of annuals, usually whatever she’d find on sale. Strange, after thirty years she still missed her mom.
    Children’s laughter wafted on the warm wind, and for a moment Allie thought she’d imagined it―until a group of kids rounded the house, chasing each other. She smiled, watching their antics. She thought about her own son, Nick, remembering when he was a boy. She had tried to shelter him from Erich’s unpredictable angry moods as best she could, even sending Nick to boarding school during his elementary years. Consequently, she missed some of very important times in her son’s life. But Nick was all right with it and said he had fond memories of his younger years. He wasn’t holding on to any baggage from his boyhood. Amazing how alike Logan Callahan and Nick seemed.
    Car doors slam shut behind Allie. Startled from her reverie, she turned and watched two of Oakland Park’s finest come her way.
    One of the officers was Jack Callahan.
    She froze.
    He narrowed his eyes. “I had a feeling I’d find you here. As soon as we got the call and I heard the address, I just had a feeling…” He turned and muttered something to his partner who ambled up the front porch steps and rang the doorbell.
    Allie was confused. “What’s going on?”
    “The woman who lives in this house says you’ve been watching her kids for a half hour. She was afraid you were some weirdo, getting ready to nab them.”
    “Oh, that’s ridic―” Allie cut herself off short. Why wouldn’t the woman think such a thing? In this day and age, a mother couldn’t be too careful with her precious children.
    She glanced at her high-heeled feet before bringing her gaze back to Jack. “I should have introduced myself and explained that I used to live here.”
    “Your family’s long gone, Allie, and so are your friends” Jack’s tone sounded terse. “You’ve got no business back in Oakland Park, and you know it.”
    The remark stung. So much so, it brought tears to her eyes. But, blinking back her emotion, she knew Jack spoke the truth.
    “You’re right. I guess I shouldn’t have allowed myself the luxury of reminiscing.”
    “Sign of old age.” Jack flipped his palm-size notebook open.
    Allie watched him closely and took a few steps forward . “I’m not afraid of growing old. Are you?”
    He didn’t reply, but kept writing in that little book of his.
    “I hope to be a grandmother soon.”
    Finally pocketing the spiral-bound pad, he looked at her. “Bully for you. Now, you’d best be on your way.”
    “Sure.” With a parting glance at her former home, Allie headed toward the rented auto. Reaching the door, she turned back and, finding Jack’s eyes on her, she decided to ask one more question. She walked back and stood a couple of feet away. “Jack, do have any idea what happened to my stepfather and stepsisters? Any idea where I might find them?”
    She watched while he seemed to wrestle with something threatening to explode within him. She knew that look and almost took a