Every Precious Thing Read Online Free PDF

his head. “Said she was an only child, and that her mother had died a few months earlier. That was the reason she’d moved out here, you know, to start fresh.”
    “What about her father?”
    “She said he left when she was young, never really knew him. So it was just her and Emily.”
    “Well, then, what about Emily’s father?”
    “Sara told me he was a guy she’d gone out with a few times, but it didn’t work out. She never even told him about Emily.”
    All nice and neat and packaged so that it sounded believable while being extremely difficult to disprove.
    Logan handed back the note. “Thanks for letting me see this.”
    Alan returned it to the bottom of the jewelry box, and put the box back into the closet. When he came out, he hesitated in the doorway. “There was something else she left.”
    “What?”
    Looking like he really didn’t wand to discuss it, Alan said, “It’s…in Emily’s room.”
    Without another word, he headed into the hallway.
    Emily’s room was near the top of the staircase. There was a dresser and a toy chest and a kid-sized bed, but the star was the walls. They had been turned into a giant mural of rolling hills and rivers and castles. There were knights on horses, a prince and princess in a carriage, and kids playing in a field. This wasn’t some amateur job done by a person with limited skill. This was a beautiful, detailed work of art.
    “Sara painted it,” Alan said, as if reading the question on Logan’s mind. “Took her three months to finish.”
    “It’s amazing.”
    “It is, isn’t it?” For a few seconds it seemed that Alan had forgotten about everything else, and was simply enjoying what his wife had created.
    To Logan it was more than just a mural on a child’s wall. It was an attempt by a mother who knew she wouldn’t be around for long to leave something lasting for her little girl.
    About two feet down from the ceiling, a narrow shelf ringed the room. On it were dozens of small stuffed animals. Dragons and bunnies and bears and turtles and several other creatures looked down into the room, guarding it from some imaginary evil. Alan used the frame of Emily’s bed to step up and reach between two of the animals. When he came back down, he was holding a small, square box.
    “This was at the foot of the bed when I got home,” he said.
    He opened it. The first thing Logan saw was a photograph of Alan holding a younger Emily in his lap. They both appeared to be laughing. Alan pulled the picture out, revealing a ring underneath. Turning the photo over, he held it so Logan could read the message scrawled on the back.
     
Pls. give the ring to Emily when she’s old enough. Tell her it was always worn with love.
     
    Logan didn’t want to ask, but he knew he had to. “Her wedding ring?”
    Alan nodded. “This is the picture she used to keep in her wallet. It was right in front so anytime she opened it, she’d see us. Why would she leave this here?”
    Logan didn’t immediately reply. Some definite ideas were running through his mind, but he wasn’t sure how much he should say because there was no way to know if he was even close to being right. He realized, though, he had to say something.
    “If you ask me, I’d say she didn’t leave you.”
    Alan stared at him. “She’s been gone for a month and a half. It sure looks that way to me.”
    “What I mean is she didn’t leave you. Yes, she’s gone, but you’re not the reason. There’s something else going on. Something that made her think she had no choice but to go. I don’t think it has anything to do with you.”
    Alan seemed unsure.
    “Look at it this way. When people go on the run, the thing they fear even more than getting caught is for anything to happen to those important to them.” Logan moved his gaze to the mural. “Look at the wall. That’s the work of a parent who truly loves her child, and wanted to give her something special. The woman who painted this, if she was leaving her