Leave It to Chance Read Online Free PDF Page A

Same number. A sense of hope rose.
    “Hello?”
    “Sierra?” It was Madge speaking in an urgent whisper. “I’m so sorry, dear. I thought Ron wouldn’t mind if you stayed a month or two until you got back on your feet, but I didn’t know our grandson, Ronnie, would need the house.”
    Ah. “That’s okay, Madge. I understand.”
    “Stay in touch, dear.”
    Sierra smiled, imagining the woman hunkered in a corner of her kitchen, nervously listening for Mr. Flannery’s footsteps. “I will. Bye.”
    Apparently it was her lucky week. A horse she couldn’t keep, her kids reeling emotionally, a plumbing issue, and now the threat of eviction. But she might have a job! Maybe Mr. Flannery would let her stay until her first paycheck.
    Sierra found her mom and youngest son in the upstairs bathroom, crouched behind a plumber who was intent on winding a cable down into the toilet. Ick!
    “Hi. What happened?”
    Her mom started, but the plumber barely gave her a glance. Two little crow’s-feet made perfect indentations between her mother’s brows. They’d been there forever, even in Sierra’s baby pictures. Today the furrows burrowed a few millimeters deeper. “Trevor flushed a ball down the toilet.”
    Sierra raised her eyebrows at her four-year-old. “You did, Trevor?”
    His blond head nodded sadly. “I thought it would float.”
    Sierra squished through the wet towels covering the vinyl floor and wrinkled her nose. Those would need a lot of bleach. She held her arms out. “Come here.”
    Trevor burrowed his face against her neck when she picked him up, his body tense. She carried him out to the hall.
    He raised his head. “Grandma got mad.”
    “She did?”
    He nodded. “She said, ‘That was naughty!’”
    “I’m sorry, sweetie. Grown-ups get angry sometimes.”
    “I wanted you to come home.”
    She kissed him. “I’m here now.”
    “Got it.” The male voice rang with satisfaction.
    She set Trevor down and peeked into the bathroom. The toilet gurgled as the man wound the cable free.
    “You know which ball it was, don’t you?” The crow’s-feet made an intense “V” above her mother’s nose. “Montgomery Dental Office.” The words were said with a flourish, as if Michael had planned on having their son plug up her toilet with one of his dental giveaway toys.
    “Figures.” Today nothing would surprise her.
    “Call him, honey. You shouldn’t have to pay for this.”
    The absurdity of her mom’s comment struck her, but she tried not to let it show. “Michael didn’t put the ball in the toilet, Mom.”
    Her mom’s eyes snapped fire. “No, but he gave it to Trevor.”
    “I need to pay the plumber.”
    Her mom’s thin lips tightened, tension bristling in her frame. Then her shoulders dropped. “I’ll clean up here.”
    Sierra gave her a quick smile of thanks and headed downstairs for her purse. The plumber finished scribbling on the form clamped to a metal clipboard, ripped off the top copy, and gave it to her.
    A fine bead of perspiration broke out across her forehead. She wrote the amount in her register and did a quick tally before writing the check. Michael had better get her a check, one that actually had funds to back it up.
    Her fingers were loath to let go. The plumber gave her a funny look as he tugged the check out of her hand.
    When Sierra walked back into the kitchen, her mom emerged from behind the louvered doors that housed the washer and dryer. As the rumble of the washer gyrated into action, her mom washed her hands at the sink using brisk motions and a healthy squirt of antibacterial soap, rubbing the towel with meticulous precision into the crevasses between each finger, then turned toward her.
    Sierra knew that look.
    “Honey, I came across something I think we need to discuss.”
    “Oh?” Sierra swiveled toward the fridge to pull the last package of hamburger from the freezer and popped it into the microwave. It bought her a few moments.
    “I found this behind the