Free Survival Paranoia (Survival series) by Kay Glass Page B

large community was down there, full of houses the tourists kept as summer homes. Lorna followed the little girl’s pointed finger, at first hesitant but then with more excitement. It was five miles away from the beach, but that wouldn’t be too tough for a child to walk, Lorna reasoned. And before long they reached a house that made the child bounce up and down in her car seat.
    She was cautiously optimistic as she turned in the driveway. This was obviously somewhere the child felt safe, but Lorna was afraid of what they’d find inside. She started to tell May to remain in her seat and wait for Lorna to check it out, but she underestimated the little girl. The vehicle had barely come to a stop before the back door flew open and May was running to the front door. Cursing soundly, Lorna rushed after her and gripped the child’s shoulder tightly with one hand. The little girl banged her fists on the door, and no one was more surprised than Lorna when the door actually opened. She grabbed the girl and pulled her back as a man dropped to his knees, weeping as he reached out for the child. She struggled free of the restraining hand and launched herself into the man’s arms, and Lorna relaxed.
    That was how she ’d first met Todd Vine and was properly introduced to Maxine. The formerly mute child was now an effervescent wonder, bubbling over with conversation and laughter as she hugged her daddy close. He couldn’t seem to let go of her , either, and tears continued to run down his face as he thanked Lorna over and over again.
    He wasn’t much older than Lorna herself. Over a dinner he insisted on providing her with as thanks, he filled her in. He was a single father- Max had been born when he was only sixteen, and she was no sooner born than her mother had abandoned them. He was twenty now, and Max had run off on her birthday three days previously. She was indeed four, and he was out of his mind with worry. Apparently her cat had taken off, and the little girl followed the cat, or so she told them during dinner that night.
    “Thank you,” he said for the tenth time. “Thank you for bringing her back to me. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Todd lowered his voice to a whisper, flicking his gaze towards his daughter. “I thought she was dead, and I planned to…” He drifted off, but Lorna nodded. She understood exactly what he had been planning to do.
    She studied him. Todd was handsome in a rugged, redneck way. He wore a ripped flannel shirt and jeans with the knees torn out. He had at least three days’ worth of stubble on his face and his blue eyes sparkled with tears and happiness. His brown hair was shaggy and she could tell he’d been running his fingers through it relentlessly. As she watched, he lifted one tanned hand and did so again.
    “It wasn’t a problem,” she said as she realized he was waiting for her to speak. “I got her some clothes and stuff, since I didn’t know how long she’d be with me,” she added with a shrug. “I’ll bring them in. And thanks for dinner.” She got to her feet, feeling out of place in the warm house that radiated love and comfort. She tugged the hem of the sweatshirt she was wearing, an absent gesture she made when nervous, and the n tucked her hair back behind her ears. Her last ponytail holder had broken days ago, and she was annoyed with it hanging in her face and blocking her view of her surroundings. As soon as she found scissors, she vowed yet again, she was hacking it all off.
    But Todd wouldn’t stand for the idea of her leaving. He insisted she stay with them, and Max, who hadn’t quit talking since she’d been reunited with her father, quickly agreed. So Lorna found herself tucked into a guest room upstairs, admiring the rose-printed wallpaper of the bathroom while she soaked, enjoying the first bath she’d had in more months than she cared to think about. And that night she slept, deeply and untroubled, for the first time since fleeing the