Read Online When Lightning Strikes Twice by Barbara Boswell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Barbara Boswell
Ads: Link
into the ambulance and reclaiming it.
Rachel watched Carla Polk Cormack, curvy and voluptuous in snug jeans shorts and halter top, hanging on to Quint; she watched him enfold the woman firmly in his embrace. An unfamiliar yet thoroughly sickening sensation hit her squarely in her middle.
“Is that the husband?” someone standing nearby asked Rachel.
She supposed she must appear to be some sort of authority-figure-in-the-know, her conservative brown suit, cream silk blouse, and sensible shoes setting her apart from the other onlookers, who were dressed in shorts, tank tops, and sandals.
Well, she did have some information to impart.
“He is her stepson,” Rachel said coolly.
She didn’t add that Carla was five years younger than Quint, and that the two of them seemed to share a very close bond. She didn’t have to. Wasn’t a picture worth a thousand words? Certainly the image of Carla clinging to Quint while he physically comforted her spoke volumes.
Those spectators dedicated to watching the fire remained oblivious to everything else, but the newly revealed information about the couple spread quickly through the restless group who’d gathered to observe the ambulance takeover.
Rachel left as the snickering and innuendos began, but she overheard some remarks as she made her way through the crowd.
“Stepson, huh?”
“She’s sure not like the wicked stepmother from out of them fairy tales.”
“Maybe she is a wicked stepmother. But I mean wicked in a whole different way, if you get my drift.”
Everybody got it.
Rachel searched the street, hoping for a glimpse of hercar or the policeman who had parked it.
She had to get out of here!
“Omigod, I know you! You’re Rachel Saxon.”
Rachel turned to see a Sheely approaching her. She didn’t know which, but it was definitely one of the red-haired Sheely sisters. The girl was carrying a wriggling, disgruntled blond toddler in a bright blue sunsuit.
“I’m Sarah Sheely. I met you at your cousin Wade’s apartment last summer, but you probably don’t remember. Your cousin is good friends with my brother Tim and sister Dana,” Sarah continued to list her reasons for addressing Rachel, while the child she held made a concentrated effort to escape from her grasp. “And—um—my sister Katie works at your law firm,” she added nervously.
Rachel felt like a dragon lady. Was she really so unapproachable that one needed credentials to speak to her? “Hello, Sarah.” She tried to sound friendly, not forbidding as she stared at the little boy struggling in the young woman’s arms. “Is—that Quinton Cormack’s child?”
“Yeah, this is Brady, and he shouldn’t be here,” Sarah replied frankly. “A fire is no place for a two-year-old but I had to bring him along because I couldn’t leave him alone and the neighbors said I
had
to come over here and try to calm Carla down. She was going beserk in their living room.”
“Having seen her at the ambulance, I understand their desperation,” Rachel murmured.
“I have to talk to Quint. I’ve been trying to, but he’s totally busy with Carla,” Sarah complained. “I couldn’t even get near him. Some nurse just pushed me out of the way.”
“The emergency rescue team would fend off anyone who tried to take Quint away from Carla at this point. She might regroup and hold their ambulance hostage again.”
Rachel heard the note of sarcasm in her voice and was instantly ashamed of herself. Carla’s son was in danger and she’d sounded …
jealous
was the word that instantly sprang to mind, but Rachel rejected it, appalled. She wasnot jealous of Quint’s attentions to his terrified young stepmother!
Purposefully, she started the thought all over again. Carla’s son was in danger, and that ambulance crack she’d made had sounded … less than sympathetic.
“I feel very sorry for Carla,” Rachel recited dutifully.
“Well, things are about to go from bad to even worse for the Cormacks unless
Rachel watched Carla Polk Cormack, curvy and voluptuous in snug jeans shorts and halter top, hanging on to Quint; she watched him enfold the woman firmly in his embrace. An unfamiliar yet thoroughly sickening sensation hit her squarely in her middle.
“Is that the husband?” someone standing nearby asked Rachel.
She supposed she must appear to be some sort of authority-figure-in-the-know, her conservative brown suit, cream silk blouse, and sensible shoes setting her apart from the other onlookers, who were dressed in shorts, tank tops, and sandals.
Well, she did have some information to impart.
“He is her stepson,” Rachel said coolly.
She didn’t add that Carla was five years younger than Quint, and that the two of them seemed to share a very close bond. She didn’t have to. Wasn’t a picture worth a thousand words? Certainly the image of Carla clinging to Quint while he physically comforted her spoke volumes.
Those spectators dedicated to watching the fire remained oblivious to everything else, but the newly revealed information about the couple spread quickly through the restless group who’d gathered to observe the ambulance takeover.
Rachel left as the snickering and innuendos began, but she overheard some remarks as she made her way through the crowd.
“Stepson, huh?”
“She’s sure not like the wicked stepmother from out of them fairy tales.”
“Maybe she is a wicked stepmother. But I mean wicked in a whole different way, if you get my drift.”
Everybody got it.
Rachel searched the street, hoping for a glimpse of hercar or the policeman who had parked it.
She had to get out of here!
“Omigod, I know you! You’re Rachel Saxon.”
Rachel turned to see a Sheely approaching her. She didn’t know which, but it was definitely one of the red-haired Sheely sisters. The girl was carrying a wriggling, disgruntled blond toddler in a bright blue sunsuit.
“I’m Sarah Sheely. I met you at your cousin Wade’s apartment last summer, but you probably don’t remember. Your cousin is good friends with my brother Tim and sister Dana,” Sarah continued to list her reasons for addressing Rachel, while the child she held made a concentrated effort to escape from her grasp. “And—um—my sister Katie works at your law firm,” she added nervously.
Rachel felt like a dragon lady. Was she really so unapproachable that one needed credentials to speak to her? “Hello, Sarah.” She tried to sound friendly, not forbidding as she stared at the little boy struggling in the young woman’s arms. “Is—that Quinton Cormack’s child?”
“Yeah, this is Brady, and he shouldn’t be here,” Sarah replied frankly. “A fire is no place for a two-year-old but I had to bring him along because I couldn’t leave him alone and the neighbors said I
had
to come over here and try to calm Carla down. She was going beserk in their living room.”
“Having seen her at the ambulance, I understand their desperation,” Rachel murmured.
“I have to talk to Quint. I’ve been trying to, but he’s totally busy with Carla,” Sarah complained. “I couldn’t even get near him. Some nurse just pushed me out of the way.”
“The emergency rescue team would fend off anyone who tried to take Quint away from Carla at this point. She might regroup and hold their ambulance hostage again.”
Rachel heard the note of sarcasm in her voice and was instantly ashamed of herself. Carla’s son was in danger and she’d sounded …
jealous
was the word that instantly sprang to mind, but Rachel rejected it, appalled. She wasnot jealous of Quint’s attentions to his terrified young stepmother!
Purposefully, she started the thought all over again. Carla’s son was in danger, and that ambulance crack she’d made had sounded … less than sympathetic.
“I feel very sorry for Carla,” Rachel recited dutifully.
“Well, things are about to go from bad to even worse for the Cormacks unless
Similar Books
