Anna's Courage (Rose Island Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

before giving a curt nod and changing the subject. “My father agreed to stay with Gabby this morning, and I have Ethan’s bike.” His voice faltered on his brother’s name, but he pushed past it and offered to ride with the kids to school this morning.
    Instead of a typical carpool, Ivana and I had taken turns riding bikes with the kids to school. It was a short ten-minute trip, and I enjoyed the exercise before work.
    “I’ll take them this morning,” I said, grabbing my bicycle helmet from the hall closet. I called for Hailey and Travis, who were using the binoculars to watch a ship cross the bay. Hailey’s eyes were still puffy, but they looked less red this morning than they had at the funeral.
    Once outside, the kids raced down the creaky wooden steps to their bikes. Nick hung back on the porch as I closed and locked the front door. His silent presence gave me the ominous feeling he needed something. Slipping the key into the zipper pocket of my sweatshirt, I asked him if everything was okay.
    He frowned. “I thought residents didn’t lock their doors on Rose Island during the off-season.”
    “I’m probably the only one, but I don’t like to take chances.”
    He glanced over his shoulder at the kids, then back at me. “Can I ask you something?”
    I braced myself for his question of why I’d ignored his e-mails and friend request on Facebook earlier this year, but instead, he asked something completely different. “Do you think it’s okay Hailey goes to school today? She woke this morning on her own, dressed, and announced she was going. I told her she could stay home, but she doesn’t want to. I haven’t been around kids very much, so I just don’t know if that’s normal.”
    I released the breath I’d been holding and chastised myself for being so self-centered. Of course, Nick’s question revolved around Hailey and not my immature response to his gesture of friendship. “If she wants to go to school, I’d let her. Maybe returning to her routine and seeing her friends will be helpful.”
    Nick’s face relaxed. “That’s what the grief counselor said, but I wanted your opinion. I know you’re a good mom, Anna.”
    Warmth spread through me, and I smiled. “Travis means everything to me.”
    “I can tell.” He scuffed his shoe across one of the wooden boards on the porch. “I have a meeting at ten with Ivana’s cousin and his wife before they head back home to San Antonio.”
    “Doug and Caroline Kempner?”
    He nodded and lowered his voice. “It’s about them taking the girls. Adopting them. Honestly, I still don’t understand why the will named me as legal guardian instead of them.”
    “Ethan and Ivana never mentioned it to you?”
    He shook his head. “No. Never.”
    Despite what I’d thought earlier about Nick’s inability to raise the girls, seeing him care for them at the funeral yesterday had made me question my original assumption. “Maybe your brother and Ivana truly wanted you to raise their daughters.”
    A mixture of sorrow and panic flashed across his face. “No, I don’t know anything about kids or being a parent. Plus, I have a three-year obligation to the army, and I’m supposed to deploy again next year. It wouldn’t be fair for the girls to stay with me.”
    Frustration thickened his voice, making me feel guilty I’d implied raising the girls on his own would be easy. “I’m sorry. I know you just want what’s best for them.”
    “I do,” he said, looking relieved that I finally understood his dilemma. “So, do you think the girls would be okay with the Kempners? Besides my father and me, they’re the only relatives.”
    I straightened my ponytail, not wanting to make things more difficult. The last thing Nick needed was a nosy neighbor telling him what to do. “I barely know Doug and Caroline. We met once at your brother and sister-in-law’s housewarming party, and we said hello yesterday . . .”
    “But you don’t think I should leave the