From the Heart: Romance, Mystery and Suspense a collection for everyone by Lorhainne Eckhart Page B

an entry table lay on its side with dirt spilling out. Trevor was barefoot, dancing in the soil, with a fistful of dirt he was about to shove in his mouth. Brad yanked his hand down and snatched him up. “Oh you little shit.” Emily covered her mouth, afraid of Brad’s rising temper. But he shook his head and firmed his lips as he turned to Emily.
    “Sorry it slipped. Not a good spot for the plant Emily, you’ve got a two-year-old, I’m surprised you put it so low.”
    Now this was her fault? Oh no, I don’t think so. She crossed her arms and took a step forward. “I didn’t put it there. And Katy would never pull a plant off the table. And it’s been a really busy day. I haven’t had time to go through and childproof this house for whatever Trevor can grab and pull down.”
    Brad’s cheeks tinted a subtle pink. She’d hit a nerve. “Okay, I’m sorry,” he offered. “I’ll get him cleaned up. Do you want to sweep this up?”
    “I’ll clean up. Then dinner’s ready.” She turned her back. Proud she’d said what she did. By the time she tidied up, Brad had Trevor cleaned, changed and deposited back in the living room beside his toy box , where Katy was playing with her baby dolls.
    “Mmm, smells good.” Brad said as he strode to the backdoor, where a rung of a half dozen coat hooks lined the whitewashed wall, and he draped his tan barn coat over one.
    Emily put dinner on the table. When she glanced up, Brad was staring at her with such softness, it shot off a fizz of bubbles in her tummy much like a can of soda pop when you first crack it open. He cleared his throat and cocked his head toward the overstuffed black garbage bag. Brad wrinkled his nose as he sidled up to the offensive bag. “I better take it out. Come on, I’ll show you where we keep the garbage out back.”
    Brad tied the two ends of the black garbage bag and hefted it as if it weighed nothing more than a feather. Emily followed to the back porch, but they both stopped in the doorway of the living room. Trevor was stuck in his own world, barefoot and pants-less again, driving his toy cars over a cloth fringe on the coffee table, patting it down then repeating the exact same pattern.
    “Oh look at that, he’s playing cars with your Katy.” Emily didn’t look up at Brad; what she saw was Katy playing with her Dolly, cuddling her blanket and rubbing her eyes. They were sharing space. When she looked up at Brad, he grinned in a way Emily wasn’t so sure was joy.
    “We better hurry, we’re entering the witching hour and something else could land on the floor.”
    The kitchen clock ticked five. Emily hurried behind Brad to the back porch, where Brad dropped the bag in one of the large black cans, leaning against the side of the house. “Make sure you secure the top down so bears and raccoons can’t get in it. That is a mess I don’t want to be cleaning up in the morning.”
    He was abrupt; the change from laughter to serious, all business, was so fast, Emily felt the foolish warm good-all-over glow he put there earlier wiped away. “I will.”
    He gestured to the door, “Dinner ready?”
    Let me get the kids and we can eat.”
    They walked back in to whining, jumping and the patter of little feet running circles on the hardwood floor.
    “The witching hour, huh?” His lips twitched as he glanced down at Emily. “I’ll get washed up.”
    The most unpredictable man sauntered upstairs, how different a man he was from Bob. A nuisance really, Bob, was on Gina’s color-coded list, to reorganize Emily’s life, of things to handle. Emily sighed. “Katy, Trevor, dinner.”

Chapter Ten
    Emily didn’t bring up the incident with Trevor at the market. She kicked herself for days after, for holding onto it. But every time she looked at Brad, she realized there was some hidden fear he didn’t want to know. She watched Trevor. She tried to play with him, but he just wasn’t quite right. When he wacked his head on the corner of a wall