Suspicion Read Online Free PDF Page B

crazy."
      "The judge’s docket was full. That’s the first date she had available."
      "Can I see him?" Alison asked after a while.
      "Sure." Kate took a strand of hair that clung to Alison’s wet face and tucked it behind the girl’s ear. "I’ll see if I can arrange a visit for you sometime next week."
      "Thanks."
      Her face expressionless again, Alison began to set the table. As Kate busied herself with the rest of the meal, she threw an occasional glance toward the teenager. God. how she missed the way they used to be, more like sisters than mother and daughter. That moment they had just shared, however short, had made her realize how badly she wanted her sweet, young daughter back.
      "You need to be a little more patient with her," Rose Fairchild had told Kate a few days ago when the two women had met for one of their weekly lunch dates. "She’s had to deal with an awful lot lately-the divorce, a new home, a new school. And puberty." The gray eyes, so much like Eric’s, had twinkled with amusement. "It’s been a while since I was a teenager, but surely von remember what it was like, don’t you, dear?"
      Maybe Rose was right. It wasn’t easy to be thirteen. Maybe Kate was the one who was being too demanding, not Alison.
      Holding back an uncharacteristic sigh of self-pity, Kate took a Sara Lee pound cake from the freezer and set it on the counter to defrost. Alison was the most important person in her life and she would not give up until she had won her back. No matter what it took.
    Four
      In spite of Kate’s efforts to salvage what was left of the evening, Alison had remained cold and distant throughout dinner, answering Kate’s questions about school in monosyllabic sentences that only added to the tension. At eight o’clock, claiming to have homework, she had retreated to her room, looking more sullen than ever.
      Now, alone at the kitchen table, Kate stared pensively into a mug half-filled with cold coffee. What did she have to do to set things right between her and Alison? The only person the child seemed to care for these days, besides her grandparents, was Eric. Not that he wasn’t deserving of his daughter’s love. If one was to discount his lack of parental guidance and his inability to say no, Eric was a good father. He was fun, understanding and generous to a fault.
      A knock at the door made her jump. She glanced at the kitchen clock on the wall. Ten-fifteen. Who could it be at this time of night?
      She stood up and went to the door, cautiously peering out the narrow side window. But before she could make out the shape on the front step, her visitor knocked again, this time more insistently.
      "Kate, it’s me. Eric. Open the door."
      "Eric." Not bothering to conceal her irritation, Kate punched in the code on the security system and opened
      the door. Her former husband stood on the threshold, dressed in jeans, a navy duffle coat and black Reeboks. With his blond good looks and youthful physique, he looked more like a college student than a thirty eight year old divorced man. "What do you want?" she snapped.
      If he noticed the edge in her voice, he didn’t show it. Instead, he walked past her. "I need to talk to you."
      Kate let the door swing shut behind him. "You could have picked a better time."
      "This couldn’t wait." At the kitchen doorway, he glanced toward the second floor. "Alison asleep?"
      "It’s ten-fifteen on a school night. Of course she’s asleep."
      It wasn’t until Eric had stepped into the kitchen and was in full light that she saw the changes in him. The year-round tan he worked hard to maintain seemed to have faded, and there was a haunted, almost desperate look in the handsome gray eyes.
      Her first thought was for her former mother-in-law. "What is it? Has something happened to Rose?"
      "My mother is fine." Raking both hands through his hair, he began to pace. "It’s me. I’m in big trouble, Kate." He