Someone to Trust Read Online Free PDF Page B

very much, or at least I hope it’s an emotion that strong, for you to be throwing us away.”
    “Please, Helen.” He sounded almost distraught. “I am not throwing you and Megan away.”
    “Really? Have you even considered how this is going to affect your daughter, Ray?”
    “I’ve considered little else. I honestly don’t want to hurt the two of you. I just feel like I need to do something for me.”
    Megan was unable to believe what she was hearing. Her father was leaving!
    What about her? What about her mother? Who was this woman stealing her daddy away? Didn’t she know he had a family? Didn’t she care?
    Another thought occurred to her. What had they done to make him want to leave? To make him go to this woman instead?
    “Very well then. Go.”
    When the door was suddenly opened, Megan saw her mother standing with a stiff back and a chin tilted up. When her parents realized she was standing there, her mother shook her head sadly and her father seemed to be grasping for words. Her father set the suitcase down in the hallway as he came to her.
    “I’m sorry, pumpkin,” he mustered.
    Megan opened her mouth to speak but no words formed. Her father leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
    “I love you and will give you a call in a couple of days to see how you’re doing.” He picked up his suitcase and walked determinedly down the stairs. For a number of seconds, Megan remained numbly rooted to the spot in the hallway and watched as her father reached for the doorknob; it was almost like she was dreaming.
    “No!” Megan cried hoarsely. “No, Daddy. Please don’t go.” She was finally able to mobilize her legs, but she did not recall going down the steps. Her objective was to reach her father and convince him to stay. She’d beg and plead if she had to. Throwing herself bodily into him, she squeezed her thin arms around his waist as tightly as she could.
    “P-please, Daddy, don’t leave us. We love you. I love you, Daddy. D-don’t do this.” She was nearing hysteria, hiccoughing as she talked, frantic to stop what was beyond her control.
    He knelt down. “Honey, don’t do this; I love you. This won’t be forever…just for a while. Besides, Daddy will still be seeing you. I just need some time for me right now. Understand?”
    Of course not. She could only shake her head that she didn’t. Her father kissed her on the forehead a second time and walked out of their home.
    Megan collapsed into a heap on the floor, crying to the closed door, “Daddy…Daddy, please. Come back! Don’t leave us!” Her body was racked with sobs. She felt her mother’s arms go around her. Sitting on the marble floor in the foyer, her mother rocked her as when Megan was a baby, stroking her hair and murmuring soothingly, their tears mingling.
    Megan shook herself from her reverie and wiped the tears from her face. She was still sitting at a picnic table in the riverside park but the squirrels were long gone. It was disconcerting that some memories still had the power to make her cry, to make her feel like that frightened eleven-year-old. She wasn’t sure what had brought on the unwanted recollection, unless it was seeing Lee with his blonde wife.
    Megan glanced at her watch in disbelief, realizing an hour had already passed. She had been away from the cabin the entire morning and Sir would most definitely be in need of a walk. Quickly, she gathered her trash and tossed it into a nearby bin before making a hasty walk to where her vehicle was parked.
    Well, she thought with a twist of humor, I’ll have to thank Lee and his wife for a little extra exercise for the day.
     

Chapter Five
    As Megan walked up the front steps to the cabin, she noticed the door was slightly open.
    “Oh, great!” she muttered. In her haste to get to the post office, she must not have made sure the door was closed tightly behind her. The door being open meant only one thing—Sir was on the loose! He would never have been able to