Double Wedding Ring by Peg Sutherland Page B

of her blue-gray eyes. “I got a job, Mother. I’m going to be managing a store in town. Isn’t that exciting? Imagine, me, managing a store.”
    Sam almost lost his balance, for he knew of exactly one store in the whole of Sweetbranch that needed a manager. And he couldn’t quite imagine his crusty old uncle holding up against the youthful effervescence of Malorie Hovis. He grinned at the prospect. Do the old coot good.
    â€œGood,” Susan said, and Sam’s heart turned over with the understanding of how much more must be in her heart, feelings she couldn’t yet label, couldn’t begin to express.
    He was going to help open her up again. He knew that now. He was going to give her back to her daughter, give her daughter back to her.
    And along the way, who knows, maybe Malorie Hovis could remind Tag that he, too, had been young once. This could be a win-win situation for everybody. He glanced again at Malorie as she chatted and wrapped a strand of hair around a long, lithe finger.
    Everybody, he thought. Maybe even him.
    * * *
    M ALORIE SAT CROSS-LEGGED in the grass and watched Cody’s gleeful attempts to keep up with the other children. She’d brought him out both to keep him from getting underfoot while her mother worked with the therapist and to get away from the disapprovingly watchful eye of her grandmother. As soon as they hit the yard, a small but vocal horde of children had descended from across the street, bringing a rubber ball, a bicycle with training wheels and a bubble-making machine.
    Malorie was relishing every moment she spent with Cody, although she felt she had to sneak around to do it. She’d missed so much of the boy’s first two years. As soon as he’d been born, she was whisked off to stay for the next six months with her grandparents. It will be better that way, she remembered her grandmother saying, in that sharp, certain way she had, as if all the answers had been personally delivered from God straight to her ear. Give everyone a chance to adjust.
    Everyone except me, Malorie thought.
    But maybe that wasn’t true, either. Maybe she had adjusted. Maybe it was only her mother’s injury following so closely on the heels of her father’s death that had Malorie feeling as if her emotions were up for grabs. As if her life might suddenly spurt free of the tight hold she had on it and scatter, like debris in the wind. What would happen, for example, if her mother didn’t make a full recovery, was never again well enough to take care of Cody herself?
    Traitorous, Malorie’s heart gave a leap of excitement at the thought.
    She laughed, suddenly, despite her somber thoughts, as Cody waved to her from his precarious perch on a dent-and-scratch bicycle. His stubby legs were too short to reach the pedals, but two of the little girls from across the street stood on either side of him, holding him securely, giving him a ride. His white-blond hair waved like dandelion fuzz in the breeze and his dimpled smile was bright as the sun.
    â€œYour little brother’s lucky to have you.”
    The deep voice behind her startled Malorie. She jerked her head around to see Sam Roberts standing between her and the house, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his white slacks. His burnished-gold forearms contrasted darkly with the pristine uniform.
    â€œHow did it go?”
    She caught his momentary hesitation.
    â€œPretty well.”
    â€œNot as well as you’d like,” Malorie said. “She’s depressed.”
    â€œShe’s angry.” Sam dropped to the ground beside her. “You would be, too. Acquired brain injury is hard, because she remembers that she wasn’t always like this. She knows she isn’t what the rest of the world calls normal.”
    Malorie winced, felt the now-familiar tug of guilt and pain. “You should have seen her dance.”
    â€œDo you dance?”
    She frowned at the personal question.