Page 386 of Redemption (Sempre 2)


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She thought it would be fun, not having to share anything, but it turned out the lack of chaos only led her to get into more trouble by herself.

The little girl still didn’t move from the spot in the yard, firmly rooted in the ground as her mama approached. She wiggled her toes, digging into the dirt, trying to distract herself, and couldn’t stifle the giggle that escaped her lips that time.

Oops.

“What’s so funny?” her mama asked, crouching down in front of her.

She shrugged her shoulders again, head still down, as she whispered, “It tickles, Mama.”

Maura Miranda DeMarco could only be described as a tiny tornado, a ball of energy that couldn’t be tamed. She was tiny, shorter than the average seven-year-old, but her size didn’t impede her at all. She would jump any hurdle, climb any obstacle, and solve any problem in her way. A combination of both of her parents—her dad’s daring personality with her mom’s strong exterior—she had proven to be a force of nature since the day she was born.

Her appearance, though, contradicted her fiery personality. Long lashes framed a set of big green eyes, eyes she had gotten from her dad, while soft waves of brown hair fell into her face. Her pale complexion had a constant pink flush to her round cheeks, splashes of freckles dotting her nose. She looked like a porcelain doll, vulnerable, breakable, when she was anything but.

The girl was tough as nails. If you asked her dad, he would say she came into the world screaming and hadn’t shut up since.

Usually bold and unrestrained, Maura was uncharacteristically quiet as she stood in front of her mama in the yard.

Reaching over, her mom grabbed Maura’s hands and pried her fists open, surveying the bloody scrapes. Wordlessly, she led her into the house, taking her straight to the kitchen and sitting her on the counter beside the sink.

“You know better than to run off like that,” she said quietly, washing out her daughter’s wounds. “We have to know where you are at all times.”

“I forgot,” she said. “I didn’t mean it.”

“I know, but you have to remember.” Her mama paused, sighing. “It’s not safe otherwise.”

Not safe seemed to be her parents’ favorite thing to say.

“I’m sorry. Really, really, really sorry.” Maura stared at her with wide eyes. “Really, Mama.”

A smiled tugged her lips. “I believe you, sweetheart.”

A throat cleared behind them. Her dad stood just inside the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. “I don’t know if I believe you. You didn’t throw in enough ‘reallys.’”

“Really, Daddy!” Maura said, nodding so furiously she nearly knocked herself off the counter. “Really, really, times twenty-nine hundred thousand million.”

“And how many is that?”

Maura opened her mouth to reply but only offered silence. She looked to her mama after a moment for an answer. “Mama?”

She laughed. “It’s a lot.”

“A lot,” Maura agreed, turning back to her dad. “It’s a lot, Daddy.”

Her mama excused herself as her dad strolled over to the counter, stopping in front of Maura. She gazed at him with her big green eyes, hesitance with a tinge of fear lurking in them.

She thought she was in trouble.

“You know, you scared your mother,” he said. “She hates it when she can’t see you. She’s afraid you’ll go missing.”

“Forever?” Maura asked. “Like those other people Mama talks about that no one sees?”

He nodded. “She’s scared you’ll disappear.”

Maura stared at him, her forehead scrunched up as she processed his words. “Where would I go if I disappear?”

“Don’t know,” he said. “You’d just be gone.”

“And I wouldn’t be able to see you and Mama?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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