Saving Grace by Darlene Ryan

Copyright © 2006 Darlene Ryan
    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.
    Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
    Ryan, Darlene, 1958-
    Saving Grace / Darlene Ryan
    (Orca soundings)
    ISBN 1-55143-668-X (bound) ISBN 1-55143-508-X (pbk.)
    I. Title. II Series.
    PS8635.Y35S29 2006        jC813’.6       C2006-903257-2
    Summary: Evie is determined to care for her baby—even if
it means kidnapping her.
First published in the United States, 2006
Library of Congress Control Number: 2006928468
    Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
    Cover design: Lynn O’Rourke
Cover photography: Getty Images
    Orca Book Publishers                               Orca Book Publishers
PO Box 5626 Station B                              PO Box 468  
Victoria, BC Canada                                      Custer, WA USA
V8R 6S4                                            98240-0468
    www.orcabook.com
    Printed and bound in Canada
    09  08  07  06  •  5  4  3  2  1

For Judy

Chapter One
    I ran across the bare front yard. What kind of home for a kid didn’t even have any grass? I shoved the car seat onto the front seat of the truck and jumped in.
    â€œGo!” I yelled at Justin.
    He stared at me with his mouth hanging open. “Jesus, Evie,” he said. “What the hell did you do?”
    â€œWill you just drive? Come on. Move the damn truck. Go!”
    â€œGo where?”
    I leaned across the baby seat and smacked his arm. “I don’t care. Just get us out of here now.”
    Finally Justin put the truck in gear and pulled away from the curb. I frigged with the seat belt, trying to thread it through the bottom part of the car seat. The baby was still asleep.
    I got the belt buckled, sat back and fastened my own. We got to the stop sign where the road from the subdivision crossed the old highway. “That way,” I said, pointing to the right.
    Justin looked over at me. Then he looked at the baby. But he turned and started up the old river road. “You said you just wanted to see her,” he said.
    â€œSo I lied.”
    â€œEvie, you can’t just take someone else’s kid.”
    I reached into the car seat and stroked the baby’s cheek with one finger. It was the softest thing I had ever felt. Bits of dark hair, the same color as mine, stuck out from under her pink hat. “I didn’t stealsomeone else’s kid, Justin,” I said. “She’s mine and I’m keeping her.”
    Justin pulled one hand back through his own hair. “Dammit,” he muttered.
    Okay, so he was kind of pissed. But he’d change his mind. He’d see that this was the right thing to do. And anyway, I knew how to get around Justin.
    I looked down at the baby again. My baby. Not the Hansens’. They weren’t even good parents. I knew because I’d been watching that house for almost two weeks.