Free Genesis: A Harte's Peak Prequel by Maria Michaels Page A

it’s just that…” Lexi glanced from him to Maggie and then back again. She groaned, threw up her hands in the air and stomped back inside the house.
    Jack tossed a match on the charcoals and stepped back from the growing heat of the flames. He couldn’t help it when his gaze followed Maggie as she sighed and walked to the edge of the deck where she stared into the forest of trees behind them.
    “These teenage years are going to be one big carnival ride. I can tell.”
    “Hopefully, you like roller coasters.” He tried to keep his tone light, teasing. The effort exhausted him.
    Maggie turned to him. “I don’t. They make me sick.”
    The pain in those green eyes nearly undid him. “This might be my fault. She knows you told me about her father and the boxes.”
    “If anyone misspoke, it would be me. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything, but I’m grateful you helped me look.”
    “We didn’t get through everything yet.”
    “Sometimes I wonder if I should bother. Finding those boxes won’t bring Matt back, and Lexi will realize that when we find them. Then what?”
    “The next step. Facing reality. But the truth is having tangible memories does help.” He spoke of himself. Now he finally understood his ridiculous attachment to Robert’s cigar. The surly teen had inadvertently taught him something about himself.
    “You’re probably right. I apologize again for my daughter’s rudeness.”
    “If it helps, she’s wrong. That dress looks great on you.”
    Maggie folded her arms across her chest. Great. He’d made her uncomfortable. “From Lexi’s reaction, you would have thought I’d come out here in a swimsuit.” She shook her head.
    Jack swallowed at the image that formed in his mind and tried to think about bunnies and puppies. “She doesn’t care for anyone paying you attention. That sounds pretty normal right now.”
    “I won’t be able to date until Lexi is eighteen and out of the house. The funny thing is my boss, Vera, has been bugging me to get a life and start dating.”
    “Sounds like she wants you to be happy.” He covered the grill and stepped away from it.
    “I don’t think I remember how to date.”
    “Would you like a refresher course?” What are you doing, Jack?
    “I think I remember this part. Are you flirting with me?” She smiled.
    “If you have to ask, I must be doing it wrong.” He smirked.
    She covered her face with her hands and laughed. “I’m such a prize.”
    Yes, you are. Jack managed to keep his thoughts to himself and only laughed along with Maggie.
    “I’m sorry, too, Jack.”
    “For what?”
    “Are you kidding me? For the way I behaved when you told me about the cigar. I jumped to conclusions and accused you of being unfair.”
    “But you brought me back the cigar. It took a lot of courage to admit that you were wrong.”
    She could have kept the cigar, and no one would have been the wiser.
    “As a Christian, I’m compelled to do the right thing. Now to convince my daughter to feel the same way.”
    “All teens rebel.”
    “You haven’t met my Bible study partner’s daughter. She’s sixteen and collects food for the homeless and leads a youth Bible study. Not all teens rebel.”
    “The ones I’ve seen do.” He didn’t want to go there right now. In this quiet twilight air, with Maggie’s soft voice and only the sound of a light wind brushing through the trees, he could fool himself into thinking that he might avoid the nightmares tonight.
    “I blame myself. Lexi wasn’t raised in the church from the time she was a small child like some of the other kids. Matt and I used to argue about whether we should take her to Sunday school. Matt was a believer, but thought his parents had pushed religion down his throat, and he rebelled because of that.”
    “My grandfather used to take me to church, but he was the only one who ever did.” James Butler had been the only member of his family to tell Jack he’d never give up on him. Even when