John Saul by Guardian Page A

was even born. We were both pregnant at the same time, remember? She withJoey, and me with Alison. And we made each other a promise. We swore that if anything ever happened, we’d look after each other’s kids. Well, something’s happened, Alan! She’s dead! They’re both dead! Can’t you get that through your thick head?” Though both she and Alan had tried to keep their voices low enough not to wake their sleeping children, now both Alison and Logan appeared at the door to the hall.
    “Mommy?” Logan asked. “What’s wrong?” Then, seeing the suitcase, the worry in his eyes turned to fear. “Are you going away?”
    Suddenly her pent-up emotions broke free, and MaryAnne sank down on the bed, sobbing. Instantly, both the children were by her side, throwing their arms around her. She pulled them close, then struggled to regain control of her tears. “Something’s happened,” she told them, forcing her voice to stay calm. “Uncle Ted and Aunt Audrey have been in an accident, and I have to go out to Idaho and take care of Joey.”
    It was Alison who understood what her mother was saying. “Y-You mean they’re dead?” There was a tremor in her voice, and her own eyes were already brimming with tears.
    MaryAnne bit her lip and nodded.
    “But why do you have to take care of him?” Logan asked.
    It was nearly a full minute before MaryAnne trusted herself to speak. “Because there’s no one else, sweetheart,” she explained. “I’m Joey’s godmother, just like Aunt Audrey was yours. And that means I have a duty to take care of him now.”
    Logan looked as if he were about to cry. “B-But who’s going to take care of us? Can’t we go with you?”
    MaryAnne reached out and brushed a lock of blond hair out of her son’s eyes. “I’m afraid not, honey. But I won’t be gone very long.” She shot Alan a glance over Logan’s head. “And while I’m gone, Daddy’s going to take care of you. He’s going to move back in this morning, after he takes me to the airport. In fact, if you and Alison get dressed, you two can go along with us, then stop and getsome of Daddy’s things on the way back. How does that sound?”
    Logan brightened immediately. “Really?” he demanded. “Daddy’s going to live here again?”
    “Well, who else would take care of you while I’m gone?” MaryAnne countered, unwilling to answer his question directly. Logan darted back to the room he shared with his sister, but Alison stayed behind.
    “Is
Dad coming back?” she asked, glancing from one parent to the other. “Are we all going to be together again?”
    Feeling both her daughter’s and her husband’s eyes on her, MaryAnne frantically searched for some kind of an answer, but found none. “I don’t know,” she finally said as the silence in the room grew strained. “I can’t tell you right now, darling. We’ll just have to see what happens, all right?”
    Alison hesitated, then nodded and left the room, and a moment later MaryAnne and Alan heard their daughter sending Logan to the bathroom while she got dressed.
    “It’s my room, too!” Logan protested. “You can’t just kick me out!”
    “I can as long as I’m bigger than you,” Alison reminded him. There was a slam as Logan stamped out of the shared bedroom, then another slam as he went into the bathroom to sulk.
    Silently, feeling Alan’s eyes on her, MaryAnne went back to her packing.
    “We’re going to have to work this out, honey,” Alan said, finally starting to help her fold the clothes she’d laid out on her bed. “When you come back, we’re going to have to decide what to do. If we get back together, and I can get rid of my apartment, we’ll be able to afford a room for Logan. He’s ten years old now. He should have a room of his own.”
    MaryAnne put the last of the clothes in the suitcase, closed it, and snapped the locks. “When I get back,” she said firmly. “I won’t talk about any of this until I get back. And then—” She