LITMIR.BIZ

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been for watching Jimmy Conway, Travis wouldn’t have had a clue what a father was supposed to do. Jimmy was a good dad, a real good dad. He instinctively knew the right thing to do, to say. He’d raised himself a pair of danged fine sons, too.

      But Jimmy had a good dad himself. Travis had long accepted the sad fact that a man who never had a real father could never expect to be one.

      Which was exactly why Travis had long ago vowed to never, ever have kids.

      “Travis?”

      “Hmm?” He looked up, blinked and saw Sue Anne frowning. “Sorry. Guess I was lost in space.”

      “So what’s new about that?” She smiled, a maternal, loving kind of grin that always made Travis feel, well, special. “You look tired, kid. Why don’t you go take a nap or something?”

      The reminder made him yawn. He rolled his head until his neck cracked, stretched and set the soda can on the table. “Maybe later. Right now, things are still pretty much a mess out there. As soon as the garage finishes washing and fueling unit six, I’ll be on my way and see where I’m wanted.”

      At the word wanted, Peggy Saxon’s face popped into his mind with startling clarity. Eyes like a field of spring clover, hair that sparkled like a wood-stoked campfire, and a tweaked-up nose spattered with the cutest freckles he ever had seen. Now, there’s a woman who could make a man crazy with want.

      Apparently, Travis’s eyes glazed, because before he knew it, Sue Anne was on his case again.

      “Doggone it, Travis, you’re so danged tuckered you can’t even keep your wits about you. There’s no way I’m letting you back on the streets.”

      He yanked off his hat, ruffled his hair and issued a frustrated sigh. “That’s not it, sis. I was just thinking about— Aw, hell.” He slapped the Stetson against his knee before resettling it on his head. “She’s all alone, you know? She hasn’t got anybody at all.”

      Sue Anne blinked. “Who’s all alone?”

      “Peggy…er, Mrs. Saxon.”

      “Ah, the twins lady.”

      “Can you believe those poor babies are going to grow up without a daddy?”

      Sue Anne shrugged. “We did. Long as they’ve got a mama, they’ll be okay.” She widened her eyes, realizing what she’d said. “I’m sorry, hon. I didn’t mean—”

      “I know, sis.” He leaned back, understanding that his sister feared his feelings were hurt, but not certain how to explain that when it came to their mother, he couldn’t recall enough to have any feelings at all. “I know you and Mama were real close, and I know how much you miss her. Thing is, I don’t, because I can’t remember anything about her.”

      “I wish you could.” Sue Anne fiddled with the microphone cord. “You missed out on so much, Travis. That pains me.”

      “I didn’t miss out on nothing. I had you.” He glanced up and sighed. “Aw, geez, you’re not going to tear up on me, are you?”

      “Getting a cold, that’s all.” Sue Anne sniffed and cleared her throat. “I shouldn’t have left you so soon.”

      “You didn’t leave me. You got married. There’s a heap of difference.”

      “You were just a kid.”

      “I was nine, old enough to take care of myself.”

      “No, you weren’t.” Sue Anne rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands, just as she’d done years ago when she’d been a tearful sixteen-year-old creeping into her baby brother’s room to tell him she was running off to get married. “I should have taken you along instead of leaving you with him.” She spit the last word out like a bad taste, then issued an irritated grunt and spun back to the console. “Go take a nap, Travis.”

      “Is that a boss-type order, or a mommy-type order?”

      She glowered over her shoulder. “You aren’t too big to whup, boy.”

      “Hell, no one’s too big for you to whup.” Travis stood, rolled the kinks out of his shoulder and strode across the room. “Jimmy still have those chain saws out in the shed?”

      Sue Anne was on her feet now. “What are you up to?”

      “Same as always, about five foot ten.” Grinning, he tipped his hat. “If you need me, I’ll be on Rourke Way. You’ve got the address.”

      With that, he sauntered out the door, whistling.

      * * *

      From her third-floor window, Peggy gazed out at the dark town. A few lights were visible in the distance—glowing windows in the police station across the square and in a squat building down the block that she thought was the telephone company. Apparently, those locations were relying on generators, as was the hospital. Everything else was black, cold. Dead-looking.

      She shivered.

      “What are you doing up, Mrs. Saxon?” The night nurse scurried across polished linoleum, whispering loudly enough to rouse the other occupant of the ward, a woman who’d given birth only a few hours ago. “It’s after midnight,” the nurse scolded. “You should be sleeping.”

      “It’s too hot to sleep.”

      “There’s not enough power for air-conditioning,” the nurse murmured, stopping beside Peggy’s abandoned bed long enough to indulge in a pillow-fluffing frenzy. She looked up and brightened. “A sponge bath might make you feel better. Shall I bring a water basin and a washcloth?”

      “No, please don’t bother. I’ll be fine.” She gazed back out the window, fighting fingers of fear that she couldn’t quite identify and was powerless to control.

      Clucking her tongue, the woman snagged Peggy’s arm, hustling her back to bed. “My dear, you really must get some rest. You’ve a big day on Monday. The blackout will soon be over, and you and your beautiful little ones will home, starting your new life together. Isn’t that wonderful?” Without waiting for an answer, the nurse tucked in the bedclothes, patted her patient’s stiff shoulder and left the room.

      Peggy winced, swallowing a sudden surge of tears. She wasn’t really going home. Home was a cheery clapboard house a thousand miles away, a place where her beloved mother had once baked cookies, bandaged skinned knees and hugged away loneliness. There had been nothing on earth that Peggy’s mom couldn’t fix with a loving kiss, a soothing word. She’d raised her daughter alone, without the slightest hint of financial or emotional support from the husband who’d abandoned the family when Peggy was barely four. Her mother had worked, slaved, sacrificed everything for her child. When she’d died, Peggy’s entire world had collapsed.

      So Peggy didn’t have a home anymore. All she had was temporary use of a dilapidated structure in a town of friendly strangers, a town in the throes of crisis. Like her mother, Peggy had been abandoned to raise her family alone. Unlike her mother, Peggy didn’t have the foggiest notion how that could be done.

      Although Peggy had squirreled away as much money as possible during the past six months to get her through the upcoming maternity leave, but she’d still have to dip into her small savings for food, baby supplies and medical costs until she could return to work.

      And then what? Even if she could afford the exorbitant price of good day care, how could she hand her precious children over to strangers?

      How could she not? She had to work, had to support her babies.

      “Oh, God, Mama,” she murmured into the darkness. “I wish you were here.”

      Then she turned into her pillow and wept.

      * * *

      The moon was out. Travis thought that a good sign. No more rain, at least for a while. Grand Springs could dry out, clean up. Clear the roads.

      The last item

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