Child of Mine by Beverly Lewis Page B

Marina, that nice little girl from down the block,” she told him.
    Ah, friend number four on the current list , he recalled with a smile.
    â€œBy the way, how do you like the terraced garden, Jack?” she asked, eyes bright.
    Distracted with the mail, he hadn’t even noticed and felt chagrined. “I’ll take a look right now.” Promptly, he headed for the front door to inspect Laura’s handiwork. There, he surveyed the perfectly spaced rows of pink petunias; deep purple pansies blooming along the perimeter; red, purple, and pink starry-shaped asters; and the narrow silver-gray leaves of snow-in-summer filling in the borders.
    This took a lot of work , he thought, marveling at Laura’s accomplishment, and in a single day, too.
    Moments later, Nattie came running from the back of the house to the front porch with Marina in tow, her blond hair flying, blue eyes streaked with tears.
    â€œMarina’s got a sliver,” Nattie said calmly, exerting her confident leadership. Marina nodded, dramatically holding her right hand up, gripping it tightly with her left.
    Nattie handed Jack a pair of tweezers like a nurse supplying a scalpel to the surgeon. “I told Marina you’re the expert on slivers.” Nattie shrugged, smiling. “Laura says so, too.”
    Sitting on his haunches, Jack met Marina’s worried gaze. “I am the sliver extractor. And don’t you forget it.”
    Marina swallowed hopefully, blinking up her courage.
    Just then Laura called for Nattie to come inside, and Nattie left Jack in charge of Marina’s “surgery.”
    Gently positioning Marina to take best advantage of the sunlight, Jack gripped the tweezers and examined the wound. “It might hurt just a little, but it’ll be over quick, I promise.”
    â€œDon’t dig!” Marina exclaimed, her arms trembling.
    â€œI won’t, sweetie.” Holding Marina’s finger, Jack took a closer look but was distracted by an older model gray Toyota Corolla with darkly tinted windows pulling up in front of their spinster neighbor’s house, a few doors away. Mrs. Madison was a disagreeable soul who kept to herself, who turned off her porch light on Halloween, and who was known to lecture skateboarders from her front lawn.
    Jack turned back to the task at hand—saving Marina from the giant wooden plank in her finger. “Hold still now,” he murmured while Marina held her breath, her cheeks puffing out. Jack took aim, and in one fell swoop removed the sliver.
    â€œTa-da!” he exclaimed, holding up the offending speck.
    Marina’s mouth fell open. She examined the sliver, then her finger, and broke into a wide smile, smothering Jack with a hug. “Thank you, Mr. Livingston!”
    Dramatically, Marina held up her arm and marched back into the house, yelling, “Nattie! Nattie! Your uncle—I mean dad— is a genius!”
    Jack smiled. Fewer joys on earth exceeded the rescuing of a damsel in distress.
    He could hear Nattie from the kitchen. “I told you!” Followed by Laura’s, “Hold still, young lady.” He wondered why Nattiewas being asked to hold still, although it might explain why Nattie hadn’t hung around to observe his supposed life-saving procedure.
    Casually, he glanced down the street again before heading inside, noting that the driver still had yet to emerge from the Toyota. Making a mental note to check on it later, he headed back inside the house.

    Kelly felt heartsick as she watched the obviously caring man with the blond girl on the front steps. Something’s wrong, though. She checked her email only to find that Ernie hadn’t sent the picture of Natalie Livingston yet.
    Instead of getting out of the car, Kelly screwed the telephoto lens onto her expensive Olympus camera. Comfortably hidden behind the tinted glass, she honed in on the front porch, getting a closer look and snapping a couple of shots.