AllFreeNovel
Share Us
br />
He caught Rachel's arm in a death grip and steered her into the crowd. "If you don't back off, you're never going to see that Bible."
She looked back to make sure Edward was following. "I can't stand that woman. She's deliberately torturing me."
"Another couple of days won't make any difference. Let's get something to eat."
"Don't you ever think about anything but your stomach?"
He slipped his thumb beneath the short sleeve of her monarch butterfly dress and stroked her upper arm. "Every once in a while other parts of my body have been known to grab my attention."
Her skin broke out in goose bumps. At the same time, she found herself wishing he felt something more lasting toward her than sexual attraction. "Are you buying?"
He looked amused. "I'm buying."
She turned her head and glanced over her shoulder. "Come on, Edward. We're going to eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"You love watermelon. I'll get you a piece."
As they walked toward the food tents, Gabe heard the boy dragging his sneakers in the dirt. When he considered how much of Rachel's meager paycheck had gone toward buying those sneakers, he wanted to tell the child to pick up his feet, but he knew he was being unreasonable, and he kept silent.
They headed toward the center of the field, where several whole pigs roasted on spits above a large pit of glowing coals. Rachel wrinkled her nose. "I think I'll have corn on the cob instead."
"I thought you country girls were immune to being sentimental about animals."
"Not me. Besides, we raised soybeans."
He'd never been much of a fan of pig roasts himself, so he didn't give her a hard time. Before long, they were sitting at one end of a long picnic table with plates of buttered corn. He'd added a hot dog and coleslaw to his own meal in an attempt to get her to eat more, but she'd refused, and now he was stuck with food he didn't want.
"You sure you wouldn't like another hot dog, Edward? I haven't touched this one."
The boy shook his head and picked at the wedge of watermelon on his plate. Ever since they'd sat down, Gabe had watched him stealing glances at the next table where a man ate with his son, who looked to be around Edward's age. Edward gazed over at them again, and Rachel noticed.
"Is that boy in day care with you, Edward? You seem to know him."
"Uh-huh. His name is Kyle." Edward looked down at his watermelon. "And my name's Chip."
Over the top of Edward's head, Rachel gave Gabe an exasperated look. At the next table, the boy named Kyle and his father picked up their empty paper plates and disposed of them in one of the trash cans. Edward watched them carefully.
After the last paper cup had disappeared, the boy turned toward his father and raised his arms. His father smiled, swung him up, and set him over his shoulders.
An expression of such naked longing crossed Edward's face that Gabe winced. It was a simple thing… A father carrying his son on his shoulders. But Edward was too heavy for Rachel to carry that way. Too heavy for a mother to carry on her shoulders, but not a father.
Pick me up, Daddy! Pick me up so I can see!
Gabe looked away.
Rachel had witnessed the entire episode, and he saw her painful reaction as she took in one more thing in her life that she couldn't control. She opened her purse to distract herself. "Edward, I think you're wearing more food than you've eaten. Let me clean you—"
Her hands grew still, then dipped inside and began to riffle through the contents. "Gabe, my wallet's gone!"
"Let me see." He took her purse and, looking inside, saw the orderly clutter of a pen, a grocery-store receipt, a folded wad of toilet paper, a small plastic action toy, and a tampon that was coming out of its wrapper. He could just guess how much she begrudged spending her precious money on tampons.
"Maybe you left it at home."
"No! It was in my purse when I gave you that tissue to wipe your shoe."
