Free Second Child by John Saul Page B

going to have a problem? I talked to Phyllis yesterday, and they’ve been getting a room ready for you. In fact, they’ve gotten a couple of rooms ready, so you can choose. And apparently Melissa hasn’t talked about a single thing except her sister for the last two days.”
    Teri heard the words but wasn’t certain whether to believe them or not. For the last two days she’d beentrying to convince herself that it was going to be all right, that her father really did want her, that he wasn’t going to send her away somewhere.
    But he’d let her go once, a long time ago, when she was almost too small to remember.
    What if he decided he didn’t want her again?
    What would she do?
    Melissa watched the plane touch down and taxi toward the terminal. Unconsciously, her fingers went to the sleeve of the white sweater tied around her neck and began kneading nervously at the knitted material.
    “For heaven’s sake, Melissa,” Phyllis said sharply. “Don’t fidget. And can’t you leave that poor sweater alone? It was perfectly clean when we left the house this morning, and now look at it.”
    Instantly, Melissa’s hands dropped away from the sleeve. She shoved them in the pockets of her shorts, then changed her mind. “What if she doesn’t like me?” she asked.
    Phyllis’s lips tightened as she gazed down at her daughter. “Well, I don’t suppose there’s any reason why she shouldn’t,” she replied. “If you’d just make an effort, everyone would like you. But if you won’t try, you can’t expect to have a lot of friends.”
    Melissa bit her lip, wishing she hadn’t asked the question in the first place. Nervously, she reached up to run her fingers through her hair, then stopped herself as her mother’s oft-spoken words rose up in her mind. “How can you expect to have nice hair if you treat it like that?”
    And then, finally, the plane was at the jet way, and a moment later she saw her father coming toward her, his leather garment bag slung over his shoulder. She darted forward, throwing her arms around him as he let the bag slide to the floor, and a second later she felt his lips press against her cheeks.
    “Miss me?” she heard him ask, and she nodded vigorously. Then he gently freed himself from her hug and turned toward the girl who now stood next to him. “This is your sister, sweetheart.”
    Melissa’s breath caught in her throat as she looked at Teri for the first time. It seemed to her that Teri was evenmore beautiful than her picture. Her eyes were a deep blue, and her hair, combed back from her face, looked like she’d just washed it. She was wearing a white blouse and a pair of khaki shorts very much like the ones Melissa herself had on, but on Teri the clothes seemed to hang just like they did on the models in the magazines. “?-Hi,” Melissa stammered uncertainly, feeling even gawkier than usual in front of her half sister.
    “The least you can do is kiss your sister, Melissa,” Phyllis said, prodding her forward. Melissa felt herself flush, and took a step toward Teri, but then Teri, apparently sensing her self-consciousness, grinned at her.
    “Maybe you’d better not,” she said. “I feel all grungy.”
    “Well, you certainly don’t
look
grungy,” Phyllis declared, stepping past Melissa to put her arms around Teri. “Do you remember me at all? I used to take care of you when you were just a baby.” She hugged Teri close and her voice dropped. “We’re all so terribly sorry about what’s happened,” she went on. “How dreadfully awful for you.”
    Teri gave her stepmother a hug but said nothing. There was an awkward moment, broken finally by Charles.
    “Why don’t we get out of here?” he asked, picking up the garment bag with one hand. “Where’s the car?”
    “In the lot,” Phyllis replied. “Why don’t you and Melissa bring it around while I help Teri find her baggage.”
    “I—I don’t have any,” Teri said softly. “I only have a few things Father