Whispers from Yesterday by Robin Lee Hatcher Page B

back to California. He was a kind and generous man, an old and good friend. He would let her stay in his home again, as he’d done before.
    Sure, Mac would give her charity—if that was what she wanted.
    Yes, she could go back to California. Back to L.A., where everyone was whispering behind their hands about her: Poor Karen Butler. Her father was a crook … Poor Karen. Her father killed himself … Did you know she tried to commit suicide? Have you heard that she …
    It was too awful to contemplate, let alone endure.
    Why don’t you just kill yourself and get it over with? Do it right this time.
    She stopped again. Her breath caught painfully in her throat even as her pulse began to race. Perspiration broke out on her forehead. She wondered if she would be sick.
    She knew that dark, twisted voice, the one tempting her to take the easy way out. She’d listened to it before. Her father had listened to it too.
    Go ahead. Do it. No one would miss you.
    As soon as those words passed through her mind, another thought followed: Grandmother would miss me. Billy would miss me. Maybe Dusty …
    She sank onto the ground and began to sob, overwhelmed by the horrible pain in her chest.

    “All right,” Hal said at last, his tone belligerent, his stance stiff. “So I slept with her. I didn’t mean for her to get pregnant. It’s her own fault. She should’ve been on the pill.”
    “Placing the blame on Patty isn’t going to help matters.” Dusty glanced out the window of his room and saw Karen walking down the drive. Briefly, he wondered where she was going.
    “Are we finished yet?” Hal started for the door.
    Dusty’s attention returned to the boy. “Stay right where you are, Hal Junker. We’re not finished.”
    “What d’you want from me? What’s the big deal? Kids my age have sex. So what? It’s a fact of life.” He released a guttural sound, then faced Dusty again. “Patty probably got pregnant on purpose. You saw her old man. Who wouldn’t want to get away from him? But I’m not gonna marry her, baby or no baby. And that’s something you can’t make me do.”
    “Hal—”
    The boy swore at him. “Save it. I’m through listenin’ to you.” He slammed out of the room.
    Dusty stared at the closed door, debating whether or not to go after him. Finally he decided it would be better to let the kid cool off a bit before they tried talking again.
    Besides, he wasn’t sure himself what needed to be done. Hal was sixteen. Patty was fifteen. Marriage wasn’t the answer. The best thing was for the baby to be placed for adoption. But what Mr. Call wanted was Hal’s hide nailed to the barn door. Period.

    It was the strangest thing. One moment Karen was sobbing inconsolably, and the next, she grew quiet. Her unhappiness and despair were gone. Her desire to run away was gone. Vanished. As if cut from her heart by a surgeon’s knife. She looked at the scars on her wrists again, symbols of all that was wrong about her, and she realized she was no longer afraid.
    The older I get— Sophia’s voice repeated in her mind— the more times I’ve seen the hand of God miraculously change circumstances and bring good out of all kinds of disasters.
    Was it possible?
    She looked up at the blue sky, dotted with cumulus clouds. Was it possible?
    She stood, still looking upward. A moment later, she heard the roar of an engine. She turned to see her Mustang barreling down the drive, coming directly toward her. Just as she took a step back, the car swerved, missing her by mere inches. And then it was past her.
    Hal! That was Hal behind the wheel, driving like a maniac.
    Heart hammering, she spun toward the house. “Dusty! Dusty, come quick!” She took off running. “Dusty!”
    Even before her frantic cries, Dusty must have heard Hal driving away, for he appeared instantly through the kitchen doorway, Sophia right on his heels.
    “It was Hal. He’s taken my car.”
    Dusty leapt off the porch and raced toward his pickup