Rescuing Liberty: Perseverance Book 1 (11 page)

“
Cook?” I plugged my nose. “It doesn’t
smell like food.”

He chased us out with a spatula.

Temporarily banned from the garage and
left to our own devices, Ashley and I raided the kitchen for pots
and pans to use for collecting rainwater.

“
I’m cold already,” Ashley complained.
“What if I freeze to death because you’re making me get clean?” She
stacked another pot on the counter, following my lead.

I scrunched up my nose. “I hate to
tell you this, but you already smell dead.”

“
Hey!” She raised each arm and
sniffed, wrinkling her nose. “Well, okay, but you stink
too.”

“
Yep. And it will feel so good to be
clean.”

While we waited for the pots and pans
to fill, we swept up the broken glass and closed all the curtains.
Then we consolidated the collected rain water into one large pot
and headed upstairs with it.

The master bathroom was breathtaking.
A mahogany vanity with dual sinks rested atop the Tuscan-style tile
flooring. In the corner sat a lavish, sunken tub. I ran the tips of
my fingers over hand-painted lilies on the backsplash behind the
sinks. “I could live here. I wouldn’t even need the whole house.
This bathroom is all I need.”

Ashley nodded. “Totally.”

I closed the door behind me, catching
a glimpse of the king-sized mahogany sleigh-bed. “Okay I want the
bed too.”

Ashley pulled back the shower curtain,
revealing the tub’s jets. “Look Libby.”

“
Oh my. It’s even a
Jacuzzi.”

We stared longingly at the tub.

“
I really miss hot
water.” Ashley dipped her finger in the pot of rain water and her
eyes widened. “I don’t smell
that
bad.”

I sniffed. “Yes, honey, you do.” I
handed her a container of body wash and pointed toward the
towels.

Ashley sponged herself
clean, complaining a little louder with each dip of the washcloth.
I stared at a wide variety of toiletries, longing for comforts that
seemed more fantasy than reality.
Hot
water, indoor plumbing, a safe place to live, three square meals a
day.
Stuffed in the back of a cupboard I
found a new, disposable razor.
Having legs
that don’t look like they belonged to an orangutan.
By this time
Ashley’s lips
were turning purple so I walked over and helped her to speed up the
process.

“
Libby?” she asked.

“
Hmm?” I dumped more water on her hair
and massaged the soap out.

“
I know we didn’t talk about it
because Connor showed up and all, but I was so scared of that guy
at the lake.” Water dribbled down her face and she reached for the
towel. “I thought he was gonna kill me.” She dabbed her eyes and
wrapped up her hair. “You’re so strong and you’re not afraid of
anything. I wish I was more like you.”

I tapped her on the nose.
“Ash, that’s not true. I was terrified that something would happen
to you. But
my
life … it’s never been in my control.” I handed her a bottle
of lotion. “This stuff smells wonderful. You should use
some.”

She sniffed the open cap, dumped a
large glob on her hand, and rubbed it in. “What do you
mean?”

“
I told you, you stink!”

She swatted at me with a dry towel. “Not
that, about your life.”

I took a deep breath. “Do you believe
in God?”

“
Yeah. We went to church.” She handed
me the lotion.

“
Well, I believe that God is in
control. My life—and death—are part of His plan, and no matter what
I do, I can’t change what He’s planned for me.

She scrutinized me for a few moments.
“So my parents dying … that was part of God’s plan?”

I wondered if it was possible for me
to actually swallow my own foot. Ashley was watching me though,
waiting for an answer that I didn’t have. So, I decided to be
honest with her.

“
I don’t know how to answer that,” I
replied. “All I know is God has no restrictions, is contained by
area, and has limitless grace. He sees all things; all beginnings
and ends. We only see a small piece of the puzzle, and without His
foresight, we can’t even begin to understand the whys of what He
does.” It wasn’t a great answer, but it was all I had. In truth, I
was angry that He would allow this child’s parents to be taken from
her.

Forcing a smile I wrapped my arm around her
shoulders. “You should go see if Connor has caught the house on
fire yet while I clean up.”

She scampered off, leaving
me with my dark thoughts.
Why did they
have to die? Why have so many died? Why do I have to live? Are You
still there?

There was no response, so I
stripped and began navigating through my scary jungle of leg
hair.
This isn’t so bad. Razor, shaving
cream, a beautiful house to shelter us from this storm.
As I consciously choose to focus on the good and
not the bad, the soap and razor empowered me, reminding me of
things I could do and problem I could fix.

That’s life I guess. You do
what you can, and hope it’s enough.

By the time I walked out of
the bathroom, I smelled like a bouquet of flowers; jasmine scented
lotion, gardenia deodorant, lilac foot rub. I’d forgotten how good
it could feel and smell to be a woman. I snatched a bottle of sun
block and stuffed it in Ashley’s open pack. The corner of a picture
frame caught my eye. I “accidentally” nudged it with the sun block,
until it tilted enough that I could make out a wedding photo in the
silver frame bordered by roses. Intrigued, I picked it up and
stared at the faces of strangers.
Must be
her parents.

Her mother was stunning; blonde with
blue eyes and a perfect button nose. The only feature Ashley shared
with her seemed to be her stubborn jaw. Her father’s hair was as
dark as Ashley and Connor’s, but his eyes were the blue-green color
of the ocean. He was handsome in his own way, but with features
that were very different from Connor’s. Very different from
Ashley’s. I slid the picture back into her pack, and pondered
genetics.

After my messy curls were neatly
plaited and out of my face, I strolled downstairs to see what the
others were up to. Connor had bowls on the table and was ladling
some sort of soup into them.

“
Mm.” I leaned over my bowl and
breathed in mouth-watering poultry spices. “Chicken noodle soup?
Where’d this come from?”

“
I found some cans of food in a locked
pantry in the garage.”

“
Locked?” I raised an eyebrow at
him.

Ashley handed us each a spoon.

Connor shrugged. “Whoever broke into the
house probably did it early on and wasn’t extremely desperate or
smart. There are all sorts of treasures in the garage.”

“
Oh? Like what?” I shoved a spoonful
of soup into my mouth. “Oh my, this is good. I don’t even remember
the last time I had chicken noodle soup.”

Ashley slurped noodles.

Connor swallowed. “I cooked the soup
in a pot on the barbeque. The propane tank is about half
full.”

“
That
is
quite the find. What
else is out there?” I asked.

“
Oh you know … garage
stuff.”

Curious, I asked, “Like—?”

“
Tools and stuff. You probably
wouldn’t be interested.”

If the soup didn’t taste so good, I would
have been tempted to dump it over his chauvinistic head. But since
I was hungry I chose to ignore him and worry about sleeping
arrangements.

Ashley had slept between Connor and me
ever since we’d made peace. At first she hadn’t been thrilled about
his proximity, but the benefit of Connor’s body heat quickly
outweighed her indignation. As soon as we finished eating I tugged
her upstairs where she and I sunk into the pillow-top, king
mattress, claiming it while Connor disappeared into the
bathroom.

Within moments her
breathing leveled out. I sat up and pushed the loose hair back from
her face, tucking it behind her ear. Her nose was peeling from a
previous sunburn.
Glad I found that sun
block. It will protect my child.
My
child
.

Ashley was my child now, regardless of
blood or DNA. I couldn’t imagine that even an actual maternal bond
would cause me to love her more. In Ashley I’d found hope and
companionship. She was someone to protect and love. To her, my
humanity would be held accountable. Connor was wrong. I would
protect her with my life. Each day her presence helped restore my
faith in mankind. Just watching her sleep was so peaceful I started
to drift off myself. Then I heard the bathroom door
open.

Connor stepped into the room and the
musky smell of male body wash accompanied him. I mentally
reprimanded myself for the little flutter in my chest. Even before
the disaster, my love life had been severely lacking. Romantic
interests were always neglected for my career, and men were never
understanding about such things.

My two sisters had chosen families and
houses. I became a business professional and never regretted the
decision. My work had been my life. I’d dated rarely, and long-term
relationships were well beyond my grasp. So I reasoned that it was
my own lonesomeness—and definitely not Connor—which aroused my
senses in response to his presence.

He sat uncomfortably close to me on
the bed, invading my personal space. The sweats I’d found made me
look like a balloon whereas Connor’s black sweats accentuated the
muscles in his legs. I was both thankful and disappointed that I
couldn’t see the back of him. A black muscle shirt completed his
ensemble and it hugged his impressive chest in all the right
places. Dressed like this, his proximity made breathing very
difficult.

He watched the peaceful face of his
sleeping niece for a few moments before addressing me. “I never
thanked you for taking her.”

I smiled at Ashley. “And you don’t
have to. I didn’t do it for you.”

With the wedding photo fresh in my
mind, I studied Ashley’s face, comparing her to both parents. Then
I looked at Connor. They shared so many features; nose, eyes, lips,
even their eyebrows were the same. “You’re not really just her
uncle, are you?” Once again curiosity had taken control of my
mouth.

He swallowed, and looked at me like I
was crazy. “What? Of course I’m her uncle. What does that
mean?”

Somehow I knew he was lying
before the words even left his lips.
“Oh,
please. You’re good, but you’re not that good. I saw the picture of
her parents.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know
wha—”

“
Stop. I held up my hand. You promised
you wouldn’t lie to me.”

He eyed me and I stared right back,
refusing to blink. Finally he gave in and confessed. “Jacob
couldn’t have kids. Cathy wanted a child, but Jacob wouldn’t agree
unless it was a relative.” He shrugged. “I knew she was desperate
when they asked me.”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“
Cathy never liked me.”

“
Ashley said her mom was smart.” I
smirked.

Connor ignored the jibe.
“My brother is … was a good man. Always there for me, and he never
asked anything in return. Well, until they wanted a child. I
couldn’t say no to him.” He shook his head. “It was my one chance
to help Jacob. And Ashley brought them both so much joy. I tried to
talk him out of it at first, worried that he’d resent the child,
since he couldn’t … since she wouldn’t
truthfully
be his. But I should have
known better. Jacob was the best father. That reminds me, there’s
something I have to give her.” He walked over to his pack and
pulled a little bronze figurine out. He studied it for a moment,
and then stuck it in Ashley’s bag.

“
What’s that?” I watched as he walked
back toward the bed.

“
Oh just something Ash got Jake. I
thought she might want it.”

I sat there, dumbfounded. I looked
down at the sleeping child. She slept on her side, facing the
center of the bed, looking young and frail. “What are you going to
do?”

“
Do?” He shrugged. “I’ll take care of
her like I promised.”

“
No. I mean are you going to tell
her?”

He glanced at Ashley.
“Maybe eventually. I don’t know. If you had a dad like Jacob,
wouldn’t you be disappointed to find out that
I
was actually your father? She’s
been through so much. I don’t want to be responsible for any more
hard knocks. She’s just a kid.”

I nodded. “I understand.” My hand
reached for his in an attempt to comfort him. His skin was still
damp and he smelled oh so good.

He looked at my hand, then his eyes
traveled up my arm and lingered a little too long on my
chest.

I removed my hand and crossed my
arms.

He smiled. “You helped us, you know.
She hated me so much, but you forced us to talk. She wouldn’t even
hear me out until you came along. Thanks.”