Chapter 3 - The Cold Porch and Warm Arms
Mia didn't hit the stone steps.
Two soft, wrinkled hands caught her under her arms, lifting her small frame securely off the ground.
Mrs. Gable, the sixty-year-old housekeeper in her spotless grey uniform jacket, pulled Mia tightly into her chest.
Mia buried her wet face into Mrs. Gable’s wool shoulder, her small body convulsing with silent, ragged breaths.
The brass latch clicked behind them as David stepped onto the porch from his home office.
His blue dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, his dark trousers creased perfectly at the ankles.
His eyebrows pulled together as he saw his daughter weeping into his housekeeper's neck.
Veronica stepped out onto the stone porch, her chin held high, her finger pointing straight at the child.
"Your daughter stole my necklace! I caught her!" Veronica shouted, her voice ringing out across the green front lawn.
"She hid it in her bag, David! Look at her!"
David’s dark eyes flicked from Veronica’s flushed face down to his daughter's pink backpack lying on the stone threshold.
May you like
His jaw set into a hard, rigid line.
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