Free Finding Sky (A Nicki Valentine Mystery Book 1) by Susan O'Brien

over to our beach chairs and retrieved my phone from the pool bag. Keeping an eye on the kids, who had started a cannonball splashing contest with three unfamiliar boys, I dialed Mom. I tried her cell first, still thankful she had one. Like Kenna, she resisted technology until someone practically staged an intervention.
    “Hi sweetie!” she answered. Clearly she’d mastered caller ID. “You’ll never guess where I am.”
    “Where?” I asked.
    “With Aunt Liz!”
    Well, babysitting was out. Mom’s sister Liz lived in Siesta Key, Florida, so Mom must have flown out to see her. I couldn’t imagine why she was there or how she’d get back in time to babysit tomorrow. Before I could ask, she answered.
    “Now don’t worry about tomorrow night. I’m flying back tomorrow afternoon and can be there by six, as long as you pick me up at Dulles. My flight gets in at five. But listen, I had to fly out to see Aunt Liz last minute. She broke her ankle playing tennis, and she had a million obligations. I insisted on coming out to help.”
    How Mom was going to help Aunt Liz with her obligations, I couldn’t fathom, since Liz is a priest and my mom can’t substitute at church, handing out communion, preaching, and doing funeral after funeral.
    For me, visiting Aunt Liz was like escaping to another world, and I’d done it anytime my parents would let me. She lived alone in a rectory by a tiny beachside church, where I spent hours daydreaming in creaky wood pews, deciphering stained glass windows, skipping rocks in the waves, sniffing salty air and asking Aunt Liz questions I couldn’t ask anyone else—and actually getting answers. I’d never become a churchgoer, though. Maybe because nothing compared to the peace I felt with Aunt Liz. Or maybe just because I was lazy.
    “Is she okay?” Aunt Liz was petite but hardy. The fact she’d broken her ankle worried me. I hoped it wasn’t a sign of aging or things to come.
    “Oh, you know Aunt Liz. Nothing stops her. We got her crutches and everything she needs. Problem is it’s her right foot, so she can’t drive. But the congregation has been wonderful. She’ll be well cared for.”
    “I can’t believe you flew down there,” I said. But then again, I could. Mom was a practical, take-charge person. “I’m glad she’s okay. I wish I was there too.”
    “So does Liz. She keeps saying how long it’s been. Sophie was a baby last time she was here. We were looking at pictures.”
    Guilt flooded me from head to toe. I looked at Sophie waiting her turn at the diving board as Jack jumped off. They had changed so much since Liz saw them at Dad’s funeral—Sophie from a toddler to a little girl, Jack from a preschooler to a kindergartener. They’d love a trip to Florida, and so would I.
    “Ugh. Tell her I’m sorry,” I said. We made plans to meet at the airport, and I told her about Kenna.
    “My gosh! Don’t you think you’re taking on a little much? I mean what do you really know about this stuff?” I rolled my eyes. As relatives often do, she neglected to sugarcoat the truth.
    “I’m taking on a lot much. But I don’t think I have a choice.” I glanced at the kids and waved to send a double message: I’m here if you need me and I’m watching, so behave yourselves!
    “I’m sure the young woman is fine, just terribly scared,” Mom said.
    “I hope you’re right.” Here came the hard part, asking for help. “Anyhow, I might need a little more babysitting than usual.”
    “Fabulous, I’d love that.” Considering Kenna’s hardship, fabulous seemed a little over the top, but I was grateful.
    “Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate it.” We reviewed our plans to meet at Dulles the next day, and then Aunt Liz got on the line. I wished her a blessed recovery, filled her in, got updated on Florida life, and made some requests. “Could you pray for Kenna and Andy...and the birth mother and the baby? Oh, and me!” I added at the last second. “I really don’t