Prejudice Meets Pride (2 page)

Both girls’ frowns turned into smiles, and their adorable giggles sounded. Emma breathed a sigh of relief. Now all she needed to do was follow through on that promise—
after
she found a job. Hopefully the girls could be patient.

“All right,” said Emma. “Now that that’s settled, what do you guys say we unpack the car, find my phone, and call your daddy?”

“Yay!” They both cheered as they raced for the door. Emma watched them go, wishing for some of their energy. After two days in the car, she wanted to collapse on one of the dusty mattresses and shut her eyes.

Instead, she followed the girls outside. It didn’t take long to unpack the small trunk containing their meager belongings, and soon they huddled together on the couch, waiting for the Facetime call to go through.

Noah answered after the second ring, and his thin face filled the screen. His eyes looked tired, his hair disheveled, and his face was covered with a day’s worth of growth. He looked about the way Emma felt.

“Daddy!” both girls cried in unison. “We miss you!”

“I miss you too, kiddos.” The longing expression on his face said as much, not that Emma would have thought otherwise. When it came to being a dad, her brother was the best. It was the providing part that presented the challenge.

“So what’s the house like? Does it smell like moth balls?” Noah asked.

“What’s a moth ball?” Adelynn made a face, apparently not liking the sound of it.

“We’re going to share a room,” Kajsa interrupted, sounding ready to burst. “Aunt Emma’s going to paint a big tree on the wall and hang swings and—”

“And there will be lots of fairies!” Adelynn inserted, moth balls forgotten.

“And stars!” Kajsa added.

“Sounds like the perfect room for my girls,” he said. “I’ll be excited to see it at Christmas.”

“If it’s done by then,” Emma teased, tickling the girls and making them giggle.

“What’s the neighborhood like?” Noah asked.

“It’s nice,” said Emma. “This house is the only eyesore on the street. It’s much smaller than the rest, in disrepair, and the yard is hideous. The poor neighbors are probably wishing someone would level it.”

Noah chuckled. “With your creativity, I’m sure you’ll have it spiffed up in no time.”

If Emma had any money to her name, she’d agree, but right now she was more worried about how she’d afford groceries or buy more Pull-Ups for Adelynn, who still wet the bed half the time.

“I sent you a check, Emma. Cash it, okay? Please?”

“Okay,” Emma answered, knowing she never would, or, at least, hoping she’d never have to. That had been the deal. He’d make the big bucks, send some of it to her, and then try to save as much as he could from the rest. But Emma wanted him to save more than just the rest. With two little girls to raise, he would need it eventually. She, on the other hand, just had to get through the year.

Noah glanced at his watch and stifled a yawn. “Sorry to make this so quick, girls, but it’s late here, and I’ve got to be up at the crack of dawn. I’ll talk to you longer tomorrow.” He placed two fingers to his lips then planted them on the camera. “Kisses to my girls. I love and miss you both.”

“Love you too, Daddy,” they chimed.

“Hey, Emma?”

“Yeah?” Emma paused, her thumb hovering over the End Call button.

“Thank you,” he said.

“No problem.” Emma closed the laptop with a snap. She glanced around, feeling the weight of responsibility land on her shoulders like a heavy blanket. If she had more energy, she’d load the girls back into her car and hit the grocery store tonight, but she couldn’t do it. She needed a break from the car, and they did too. Besides, they’d already eaten a hamburger and fries for dinner and could survive on the few remaining snacks until morning. Maybe they could even make French toast or something—anything besides cold cereal.

Forcing her shoulders back, Emma straightened. She could do this. They’d somehow made it through the past two grueling weeks, had almost made it through today, and they’d get through tomorrow. In no time at all, things would look up.

But that was before Emma promised the girls a bath and soon realized she’d forgotten to turn up the water heater.

The sun sank behind the horizon, coating the world in an eerie gray twilight that happened to be Kevin’s least favorite time of day. Everything felt like gloomy indecisiveness until the sky turned inky blue and streetlights and homes flickered to life again. Kevin hated indecisiveness.

He punched down on the gas, enjoying the way the wind whipped at his face as his new red Lexus IS convertible immediately responded. Zero to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds was nothing short of impressive. Not that he regularly drove that way, but he’d tested it out once or twice.

After making it through ten years’ worth of school and internships in only eight years, Kevin’s two-year-old pediatric dental practice now thrived, and this car was his reward. At the age of twenty-eight, his life was right on track, as it should be. He’d worked hard to get to this point.

Kevin turned down his street and slowed when he spotted an old and unfamiliar, sickly-yellow car on the side of the road. As he neared, he realized it was parked in front of the shabby, abandoned house next to his. He slowed his car to a stop and looked past the hideous Datsun to the house beyond, where a light flickered behind the curtain hanging in the front window, as though someone was watching TV. With the unkempt house as a backdrop, the car looked like it fit right in.

Great, just great.
Kevin let his head fall back against the headrest and frowned. Eighteen months ago, he’d purchased his first home on a beautiful suburban street. The house next to his wasn’t spectacular, but Maude had done the best she could to keep it up, and the yard had looked really nice. But ever since she’d passed on, it was like the house had died with her, and no one had come to claim it.

Until now.

A tap on his shoulder made him jump.

“Hey, Kev,” said his neighbor, Becky, who lived across the street from the eyesore. Half of her short, blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, with the rest escaping because it didn’t quite reach the elastic. A smudge of dirt marred her cheek.

“Hey, Beck.” Kevin didn’t have to strain his neck to look at her. Her height matched the length of her hair. Short. “Looks like you’ve been working in your yard again.”

“How can you tell?” she teased.

He gestured to her cheek. “You’ve got a little something right there. It’s too early for chocolate, so it has to be dirt.”

She didn’t bother trying to wipe it away. “It’s never too early for chocolate.”

He chuckled. “I still think it’s dirt. No yard could look that good without some residual damage. Your knees are all muddy too.”

“Okay, Sherlock, I take it you’ve also noticed we have some new neighbors?” She nodded in the direction of the ugly car, smiling as though she’d just given him some great news.

But it wasn’t great news. Kevin wouldn’t be surprised if he woke up to a flamboyant display of pink flamingos scattered around the land of the dandelions. Although there was no moving truck yet, so maybe not. He brightened. Maybe they were just here to clean up the house and post a for sale sign. Then maybe some people who actually cared a little about appearances would move in instead.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Kevin said. “Kind of hard not to. That car, uh… definitely makes a statement.”

Becky laughed and leaned her hip against his car door, probably leaving smudge marks. She folded her arms across her chest. “I can’t wait to meet them. That house has been empty way too long.”

“You think they’re here to stay?”
Please no.

“I hope so. They looked like a cute little family, and we need more kids on this street.”

“Kids?”
Great.
Kevin enjoyed children and all—they were part of his job—but visions of tricycles and sidewalk chalk and toys scattered around the brittle grass entered his head. Yes, he knew all about the trail of destruction they left behind. The Lego table in his waiting room had taught him that much.

“Two little girls,” said Becky. “They were adorable.”

“I thought you hadn’t met them yet.”

“I haven’t,” said Becky. “I was in the kitchen when they showed up and couldn’t help peeping.”

“Oh, so now who’s Sherlock?” Kevin said dryly.

Becky playfully slapped his shoulder. “After work tomorrow, I’m going to take them dinner so I can meet them. Maybe I’ll bring Sam along. She’ll make a great babysitter if they ever need one.”

Kevin shook his head at Becky. “There’s no moving van. My guess is they’re not here to stay.”

Becky pushed away from the door and gave his car a tap. “Go ahead and believe the worst, if you want. I, on the other hand, will take them dinner tomorrow and hope for the best.”

But that was just it. Kevin
was
hoping for the best. “You do that, Beck. I’ll see you later.”

His foot hit the gas pedal once again, and as he pulled up his drive and waited for his garage door to open, the skies had darkened enough to make the streetlight down the road flicker to life. A small smile touched his lips as he pulled into his pristine garage.

No moving van, no new neighbors.

“I’m
starrrving
!” said Adelynn in her typical melodramatic way.

“Me too,” added Kajsa, directing a frown at the woman ahead of them in the checkout line.

Emma tapped her sneaker against the grocery store’s marble tile. If only she’d come last night. Then the girls wouldn’t be so whiney, and she wouldn’t be standing in one of two open checkout lines, waiting as the woman in front of her haggled over the price of a package of bologna that was supposedly on sale, but wasn’t ringing through that way. Now they were waiting for a manager.

Casting a quick glance over her shoulder at the growing line behind them, Emma’s fingers clenched the handful of coupons she carried. She’d become an expert at coupon clipping over the years and replenished her stash with every Sunday paper.

Now, however, the coupons seemed like a bad idea, especially considering that the attractive guy behind her was impatiently tapping his foot as well. Tall, with dark hair and startling blue eyes, he made Emma feel like a frump in her faded yoga pants and old college t-shirt. Even the girls looked dreadful, sporting ratted hair and rumpled clothes—something that had added to Adelynn’s bad mood that morning. She hated not having her hair done.

Emma suddenly wanted to move to the back of the line and let all the others go ahead of her, but she could only imagine what the girls would say if she did that.

“I’m soooo hungry!” Adelynn bent over and plastered her little hands to her stomach.

“How can you be hungry again? You just had a bunch of snacks at home.”

“But it wasn’t
breakfast
.”

“Well, we’re almost through the line. Then I’m going to make you some really yummy French toast, remember?” Emma said, mentally pleading with the woman in front of them to hurry.

“But I’m hungry
now
, and French toast takes
forever
to make!” Adelynn said.

“Can we have some juice, too?” Kajsa said.

Her nerves completely fried, Emma glanced at the groceries on the conveyor belt, willing a carton of juice to magically appear. But it didn’t. And since there had been no coupons for juice in her stash, Emma had stuck with only milk. “Sorry, Kajsa, but I didn’t get any juice. Maybe next time.”

Kajsa’s lips began to tremble, and her mouth turned down. “But Daddy always buys us juice.” Tears formed in her eyes and quickly began to fall.

Emma cast a frantic glance to the woman in front of her, who had just accepted her receipt and was finally on her way.

“I want my daddy!” Adelynn added her two cents.

Not knowing what else to do, Emma grabbed a bag of Dum Dums and ripped it open, sending the contents flying all over the belt. “Here, have a sucker,” she said, grabbing two and praying the treat would pacify the girls until she could purchase the groceries.

Kajsa quieted first and wiped at her eyes, taking the sucker with a frown. Adelynn followed suit, and Emma breathed a sigh of relief that she’d thought to get the suckers as an incentive for the girls.