Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            Fingers pinched her chin. “Hey,” Graham repeated more firmly.

            She looked up, surprised to see him kneeling in front of her.

            “You were starting to panic,” he said. “I could see it on your face.”

            She nodded, then slowly backed away from him, deliberately not breathing through her nose. He smelled like the toilets, but he was doing it for her, for them, to get them all out of here, so she wouldn’t say a single word about it.

            He grinned, unoffended. “I believe the word is ‘pungent.’ I think Joshua is torn between making someone else dump the pots while making me take a bath, and letting me continue because no one else wants to do it. And we don’t have water for baths anyway. I brought you a snack,” he added, reaching for the bowl of broth that he’d set on the floor.

            Hayley took it gratefully. It was the fifth bowl of broth she’d had that day. Joshua made sure that she got food “for the baby,” but it never seemed enough. Tamar had been slipping her extra too, but Hayley knew that she was taking the other woman’s own rations.

            She studied her brother as she sipped the broth. “What have you done?” she whispered, feeling a little of his good mood lighten hers.

            Solar panels, he mouthed.

            Hayley swallowed her gasp of delight. They were alone because Joshua had moved his other wives into quarters he’d claimed after declaring himself the acting pastor. It was temporary, he’d assured everyone, saying, Magdalena will soon give birth and she needs privacy for that. I will relinquish this space when Pastor and Sister Coleen return.

            It had been then that Hayley had realized Joshua’s expansion had been into Pastor’s quarters. It hadn’t sat well with the community, but Joshua reminded them that Pastor himself had left him in charge.

            Graham said that tempers were short, and Hayley had heard shouting and fights all the way back in her little cubicle. She didn’t leave her space except to go to the toilets. She didn’t have the energy to even listen to the discord.

            Graham and Tamar had become her windows to the world of Eden. Such as it was.

            You got the solar panels hooked up? she mouthed back.

            Graham nodded slowly, but his eyes were sparkling. He’s enjoying this. Her little brother had developed a taste for disruption. God help the world once we get back.

            “I’ll hook up the computer tomorrow,” he whispered. “I’ve been carrying it out in boxes that smell like shit. Because they once held shit.”

            “Makes sense, then,” Hayley murmured, hope blossoming. “What can I do to help you?”

            “Just stay here and stay safe.” He patted her stomach. “Keep little Zit safe, too.”

            Hayley mock-scowled at him. “Her name is Jellybean.”

            “Forever to be known as Princess Zit.” He rolled to his heels. “Gotta go. Curfew soon.”

            “You’re respecting curfew?” Hayley asked. “Really?”

            He winked. “My stepbrothers are offended by my bouquet.” He mimed twisting a knife. “So I show up extra early.”

            “I love you,” Hayley murmured. She never let him leave now without saying it. He was in constant danger. If someone found the solar panels or the computer, they’d beat him. Or worse.

            But he was twelve years old and cockier than hell. “Ditto,” he said. Then he was gone, leaving her with nothing to do but think. And maybe to hope. Just a little.




ROCKLIN, CALIFORNIA

            SUNDAY, MAY 28, 8:30 P.M.

            Liza dropped to her knees as soon as she entered Tom’s kitchen, because Pebbles had rushed to greet her, tail wagging so hard that the dog should have fallen over. Wrapping her arms around Pebbles’s neck, she nuzzled her cheek against the dog’s fur. “Missed you, sweet girl.”

            Behind her, the door to the garage closed and Tom joined her, kneeling on one knee to scratch behind Pebbles’s ears. “I’m right here,” he said blandly. “Did you miss me, too?”

            She pivoted on the floor, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I did. Every single one of the twenty minutes since I last saw you.”