Blind Loyalty - M J Marlow (i am reading a book .txt) 📗

either side of the room. A door between the beds led into a bathroom and another door on the other side of the room led out into the hallway. Her eyes followed the cream colored carpeting out to where two boys, twins, were hovering.
“My nephews and your half-brothers,” Lora told her. “Patrick and Ryan Jeffries. Their father is my older brother, Adam. You’ll meet him soon.” She looked at her kindly. “I am your aunt, Doctor Lora Winbourne. Sarah is my daughter.” She looked over at the boys. “Well come on in, if you’re coming. She’s not going to bite.”
Joanna watched the tall dark-haired boys warily as they came up to the bed, smiling in welcome. There was no threat in them, however; and she relaxed a bit. They were very handsome, their rugged looks reminding her of the pirates and swashbucklers she had seen in the old classical movies her father had allowed her to watch. It was obvious that they were both athletes from their well-muscled arms and lean frames.
“You’re pretty,” Ryan, the older twin, said bluntly. “It’s going to be nice to have a little sister around.”
“She’s too pretty,” Patrick stated as he looked at Joanna. “We’re going to have to beat the boys off with a stick!”
“That’s enough of that!” a man snapped from the doorway. Joanna looked up, startled as she saw the older version of the twins standing there; but he had a neatly trimmed goatee on his more mature face and there was silver among the black along his temples. His dark blue-green eyes were filled with humor and she was intrigued. This was the man she had seen with Rachel at the hospital. “You’ll have to excuse my sons, Joanna,” Adam said as he walked into the room. “They tend to speak before they think.” He held out his hand, smiling gently. “I’m Major Adam Jeffries,” he said as she shook it. “Welcome to our home.”
Joanna looked at the nice people, all smiles and concern. She knew they thought they were helping her, but all she wanted was to be home. They were related to her, but she didn’t care. She had never had anyone but her Father, and she wanted to be with him! She burst into tears and turned away from them. Lora looked at her family as she stroked Joanna’s back and then turned to murmur encouragement to her.
“We know this is hard for you, Joanna,” Lora said gently; “but we are going to do all we can to help you feel at home here with us.”
The family spent the next half hour describing what life in this house, the town, and the school would be like for her. Joanna began to relax and decided to enjoy this new experience. She was being given a chance to learn about things her father had been denying her all these years.
“Dinner’s here!” Rachel called as she stepped into the room. She looked at Joanna in relief. “Feeling better, Joey?”
“Better.” Joanna nodded and smiled as the woman used the pet name she’d chosen for her. Everything would be all right if Rachel was here. She got off the bed and Adam caught her as she stumbled. “No!” She cried out in fright and backed away from him. “Don’t touch me! Rachel!” she sobbed as she looked for her friend.
“It’s all right, Joey,” Rachel said gently as she moved past him and took Joanna in her arms. “He wouldn’t hurt you.” She stroked the girl’s back and murmured to her until Joanna began to calm. “Adam only wanted to help you.”
They went along a short landing and down three stairs to a landing that overlooked the entry hall of the building. The landing ran along all four walls and short stairs led off into other rooms. The house was impressive with its marble columns and mahogany woodwork. They went down the main stairs and headed around them to the kitchen. Take out cartons were waiting on the large table off to one side. “We don’t use the dining room,” Rachel explained to her, “unless we’re having a dinner party for some of the Judge’s cronies.” She handed Joanna a plastic plate and a fork. “Help yourself, Joey. You’re part of the family now.”
Joanna wasn’t certain she knew what that meant. It has always been just her and her father before. She was overwhelmed by the noise that came with being part of a ‘family’. There were at least three conversations going on as they ate and she was finding it hard to follow them. The back door to the kitchen opened and Winbourne walked in.
“Grandfather!” He smiled as his grandchildren cried out their greetings. He saw Joanna surrounded by his noisy brood, and couldn’t help but smile; it was where she belonged. For a moment, his Hannah was back.
She was astounded when he took off his suit coat, pulled off his tie, rolled up his sleeves, and joined them at the table. This was not the austere judge now, but a man enjoying time with his family. He smiled as his grandchildren told him about their day. He looked at his other grandchild and saw her sitting silent and watchful. So unlike like her mother, he thought as he smiled at her reassuringly. Hannah had always been the life of the party.
“So Joanna,” he said to her finally when the din moved away from him; “are you feeling better? You had us worried by your little fainting spell.” She looked at him in confusion. She didn’t remember fainting. “Quite understandable,” Winbourne smiled at her gently. “I am sorry we came at you like we did. I should have come alone and talked to you before we took you out of that house.” He said the phrase ‘that house’ as if it were a curse. “You understand why we had to bring you here, don’t you?”
“I believe you think you needed to bring me here,” Joanna replied, knowing he was only trying to help her. “Are you really my Grandfather, sir?”
“Your mother was my daughter, Joanna,” Winbourne told her, “like Rachel.” He saw the shock on her face and wished he could have had more time to prepare her for this. “Your mother was married to the Major,” he nodded to Adam, “and had Patrick and Ryan with him,” he nodded at the twins; “before she left him and married your father. Lora is Adam’s sister and she was married to my son, Michael.” He looked sad. “He was a firefighter.” He ruffled Sarah’s hair and smiled at the girl fondly. “This little live wire is their daughter.”
“This is too much,” Joanna whimpered and backed away from them. She could hear her father’s voice in her head telling her not to get too close to these people. They were using her to hurt him. They were telling lies. “I need to think!”
She saw the lake out the window and she was drawn to it. She needed some quiet so she could think. She was away from the table before anyone could move and stood a moment on the terrace letting the night air caress her hair and skin. Silence reigned here and she felt calmer. She looked in the window to see the family chatting away and longing filled her. She wanted to be part of something like that so badly it hurt. She headed down to the lake, drawn by the quiet.
“Hey, Sarah,” a young man who was sitting on the pier by the lake smiled as he got to his feet. His smile died only slightly as she came out into the light and he saw she was not Sarah. “You’re not Sarah.” When she did not speak, he pressed on. “I’m Aidan Murphy,” the fire-haired boy with his dark green eyes smiled at her. “My family lives in the monstrosity next door.”
He took a step towards her and stopped when he saw the fear in her eyes as she backed away. So she was one of those kind of ‘guests’. He had met them before and he knew not to do anything to startle her.
“So you’re one of the Judge’s strays?”
“Strays?” Joanna was confused. She remembered Patrick using that term. She sat down on a boulder nearby and waited for him to explain. He didn’t seem to care that she hadn’t said a word to him. He was the kind of person who liked to hear himself talk, she guessed. He was certainly a nice looking boy, she found herself thinking as he remained where he was. He seemed to understand not to do anything to startle her and she relaxed. “The Judge takes in strays?”
“He doesn’t trust the foster care system in certain cases,” Aidan told her. He did a handstand and went into the splits and she was intrigued. He was a gymnast? “So what are you in for?”
“In for?” Joanna was becoming more confused by this boy by the minute. Did he think she was a criminal? He certainly did not look frightened at the prospect. She should say something to him but she wasn’t going to spread those dreadful lies about her father. She wanted her father! She did not want to be here meeting new people and doing things without him. “Judge Winbourne is my grandfather. I’m not ‘in’ for anything.”
Whatever Aidan was about to say was not spoken as laughter floated down the trail ahead of Sarah and the twins. Joanna saw Sarah go to Aidan and the way the boy embraced the girl made Joanna uneasy. She did not trust the boy. There was something altogether too smug about him. He reminded her of her father, Joanna realized. She wrapped her arms around her body and shivered. She smiled shyly as Ryan put a jacket around her shoulders.
“It gets a little nippy by the lake at night, little sister,” he explained. “Aunt Sarah thought you’d need something warmer to wear.” Joanna noticed then that he and the other children were wearing jackets. He leaned against the boulder next to her and smiled when she did not flinch. “Don’t let Aidan get to you,” he said as he caught her eyeing the stranger. “He’s got his father’s nosy ways, but he’s a good guy.”
“Aidan is the son of our town sheriff,” Patrick said before his twin could continue. “His sister, Bridget, works with Aunt Sarah at the clinic, and their older brother, Connor, is at Oxford.” He strolled down to the water and pulled up a six pack of root beer. “Anyone for a brew?” He looked surprised when Joanna giggled. “You can laugh!”
“Of course she can laugh, idiot,” Sarah said as she glared at her cousin. “She just needed time to settle in, like Mom said. Let’s leave these he-males for a minute, Joanna.”
She held her hand out to Joanna and the two girls walked away from the pier. They sat down on a pile of boulders along the shore a few yards away and watched the sun going down.