AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mandy?”
“I—I loved him. Like, forever and ever.” She took a deep, wavering breath. “I n-never did it with anyone before. H-he said helovedme and promised he’d be careful. I didn’t think anything could happen with just one time. And then...”
“You got pregnant.”
The girl nodded. “I didn’t even have a chance to tell him, with everything that happened.”
Jolie nodded, remembering hearing about a poacher who’d killed deer up in the higher ranges. Bobby had run away after his car accident, and for a while, some locals had thought he was that poacher.
“When you did tell him?”
Mandy laid her sandwich on the folded sack and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. “I didn’t.” Her voice came almost too softly to hear. “M-my dad did.”
Anger flared to life in Jolie’s chest, but she steadied her voice before speaking. “What happened?”
“Y-you don’t know? My dad went to Robert Maxwell on the day of Thea’s wedding and demanded money.Money!Like I was just a bill to pay off.” The humiliation in the girl’s voice was palpable.
Jolie stared at her. In all the rush and excitement of that day, she’d never known that this was going on. “And Bobby?”
“Dad said Mr. Maxwell called Bobby right into the room and yelled at him.” Mandy’s voice grew almost too soft to hear. “B-Bobby said he didn’t care about me. He said he never h-had, andif I got pregnant it had to be with someone else. But I n-never...I never even dated anyone before him.”
Mandy was sobbing silently now. Jolie scooted closer to wrap an arm around her shoulders and drew her close.
Dad had spoiled Bobby terribly as a child, all of them had. They’d protected and coddled and loved him, perhaps far too much.
Now Bobby drank too much and ran wild. When had he become so callous, so self-centered? Andstupid?
Jolie pressed on, needing to know the truth. “Your dad...is he still angry about this?”
“I—I can’t go back there. He...I...”
“You don’t ever have to—you’re eighteen and can decide where you want to live.” Jolie chose her words carefully. “Do you know where your mom is right now? Could you stay with her?”
“She...left ‘cause Dad hit her a lot. She disappeared.”
“Oh, honey.” Jolie gave her shoulders an extra squeeze. “I am so very sorry.”
Mandy lowered her gaze. “I left home almost two weeks ago,” she said in a small voice. “I—I stayed with some friends, then with my second cousin...just moved around.”
Poor thing.“If you’d like, I can contact the authorities. We can make sure that your father—”
“No!” She stiffened. “Please,no.”
“Okay, okay,” Jolie soothed, giving her hand an extra squeeze. “I won’t.”
Mandy gave her a wary look. “Promise?”
“Promise.” Jolie thought fast, seeking safer ground. There would be another time to delve into her past, to try to set things right. “Do you have a job?”
“I...I did.”
“What happened?”
“Some days, Dad wouldn’t let me go to...if there was work at home. Then a couple of times he came to the drugstore and he was...was...” She sniffled, rubbed at her nose angrily. “They said they couldn’t have him coming around like that. Before that, I worked at the post office. They decided they just didn’t need the extra help. But I know they let me go ’cause of Dad.”
The daughter of a drunk. Homeless and pregnant at eighteen in a small community where someone should have interceded on her behalf. Well,someonein the Maxwell family was going to take care of this girl and her unborn child.
If Bobby wasn’t man enough to take responsibility, then Jolie would take over.I may never have a family of my own, but this niece—or nephew—is going to have the best of everything,she vowed silently.
