Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (40 page)

“I wish we had more rooms and could take in all of the
families Anna sent me, but right now, there is just the one.” He nodded sadly,
understanding flashed in his eyes. “However, I would still like to offer you
help in finding a job and give you the resources of Riley House during the day
whenever you need it. We have a computer room with source sites for employment.
We even have employment sessions with local agencies that come in twice a
week.”

His face brightened. “Really?”

“Yes and we can revisit when another room opens up.
Again, I’m very sorry.”

He stood up and held out his hand. “Thank you.”

“If you’d like to join your children, you’re more than
welcome. You can also stay for a while and take advantage of the computer room.
There are activities for the children as well.”

“I might take you up on that.” He stood to leave but
gave me a smile before descending the stairs.

My stomach dropped to my heels. That was brutal. Next
time, I would have Anna do it. I didn’t understand why she even mentioned the
room to all the families. Usually she picked the neediest and gave us the name.

I snuck in the busy kitchen and said a quick hello to
my friend Lilly who had started volunteering around the same time as she began
dating Eddie. He had been a volunteer when I started and since had become a
friend. He was too busy with his internship at legal aid to continue helping,
so Lilly had offered to take his place. She was taking some business courses at
the local college and it gave her time to help. I trusted her enough to run the
meals when I was busy. Once I grabbed a coffee and checked to make sure Mr.
Cartwright and his family were enjoying their meal, I slipped back upstairs for
my next meeting. It was not as hard of a session. Frankly, I’m not sure why
Anna had suggested them. It was a young couple who had both lost their jobs at
the same time and were now living with their parents. There were no children
involved and despite the bulge in the woman’s stomach, she had a mother who
could help her out. My next visitors were not so lucky.

Two fair-haired boys tumbled into my office laughing
with fists flailing.

“Boys!” called out a frail woman who I knew was in the
late stages of cancer. She had just been informed that she was in remission,
but all the medical bills had wiped out her savings. She had no family and her
husband had been killed two years ago in Afghanistan. He was a soldier and even
though she still collected his pension, it wasn’t near enough to get her out of
debt and into a new house. This woman had suffered so much and there was no way
I was going to give her any more bad news.

I stood up, ignoring the fact that the kids’ clothes
were frayed and dirty. The woman’s hair was greasy and was held up by a rubber
band, but when you lived in a car, there was no way to clean yourself. I
couldn’t wait to take them in.

“Mrs. Murray. It’s nice to see you,” I said, as I
stretched out a hand. When she responded with a thin smile and firm shake, I
decided not to beat around the bush. “I’ve read your file and barring no
problems, you and your family can move in next week.”

Her eyes lit up and welled with unshed tears. “Thank
you,” was all she could manage. But the look of appreciation was more than
enough to express how she felt.

“Would you like to see the room?” I knew that Mr.
Daniels was at the job we had helped attain and his son was at school, so the
rooms would be empty.

The only response was a quick nod and a smile. I took
her arm and led her out.

“Come on, boys,” I called over my shoulder. They
followed behind us as we headed to their new temporary home.

By the time we had finished, it was lunch, so I
brought them down to the dining room to have a meal and introduce them to the
rest of the residents. Mr. Cartwright was in the back corner in a discussion
with Susan, our career advisor. Once the Murrays had their food, I found Julia,
who was eating a small bowl of soup.

“How did it go?” she asked, as I sat down next to her
with a heavy sigh.

“Besides turning down two families? Fine.” The smell
of baking bread drifted in the room, making me hungry. The granola bar I had
this morning was not near enough to fill me.

“We can’t take everyone.” She stirred the cheese and
broccoli soup absently; the spoon clinked against the ceramic bowl.

“We can once we expand.”

“Megan,” she began with a firm tone, pulling her spoon
out.

“We can, as soon as I buy that house and rebuild.”

She shook her head. “You can’t use your own money.”

I sat forward in my chair. “Yes, I can. It’s called a
donation.”

She raised her spoon and pointed it at me. “How do you
have that much, anyway?”

“I inherited it from my grandmother and she would want
me to use some of it to help others.” I drummed my fingers on the table as I
watched her contemplate my words.

She sighed. “Well, it’s up to you, but you’ll have to
run it by Nate.”

As she was speaking, the hairs on the back of my neck
stood up as if someone was watching me. I glanced around the room and didn’t
see anything out of the ordinary. The people in the dining room were focused on
their meal, not me.

“I will tonight,” I finally answered her.

She smiled. “Oh yes, your big night. You’re leaving
early, right?”

I nodded. “Yes, soon.” The feeling of being watched
didn’t leave and when I turned my head I caught a shadow in the French door,
but when I stood up to investigate there was no one there.

Julia came over and stood next to me, her now empty
dishes in her hand. “What’s wrong?”

I shrugged dismissively. “Nothing, I guess. Come on, I
want you to meet Mrs. Murray and her boys.”

We caught up to them in the line for food and I
introduced the family to Julia and the volunteers. Lilly took a liking to the
boys and snuck them some cookies. The mother only smiled, saying nothing of
wrecking their appetites. As I stood and listened to Julia discuss the rules of
the house to Mrs. Murray, I noticed a man at a table, next to the Richardson’s.
He looked to be about twenty with dark brown hair. He was eating soup and
sneaking looks at me. Was he the one I felt watching me?

“Julia?” I said, interrupting her.

She looked away from the woman we were going to help
and glanced at me.

“Who’s that guy?” I nodded in his direction, not
wanting to point. I looked away so he wouldn’t see me staring.

“Isn’t that one of the people interested in the room?”

“No.” I shook my head.

“Then, I have no idea. He came in behind the second
family. I thought he was with them.” Julia looked puzzled.

That was strange; he hadn’t come up with the couple.
When I turned to get a better look at the guy, his seat was empty and he was
gone. All that remained was his empty bowl.

“Oh well, must be a straggler off the streets wanting
a warm meal.” She shrugged. “It happens.”

I smiled, said my goodbyes to the group and went up to
my office to get my stuff. I couldn’t worry about the stranger that had been
watching me; I had a meal to prepare.

Also a preview of Fated Dreams, Book One in
the Affinity Series, available now, by Christina Smith

Brownridge,
Vermont

Three years ago

“How did I get
here?” I asked myself for the fourth time, although I already knew the answer.
My voice was muffled inside the closed, confined space.

It was Saturday night and instead of hanging out at a
party with Derrick and Emma like I was supposed to be, where was I? In a closet
and not the proverbial kind either. I was literally in a closet, fluffy towels
and all. Why? That’s a good question and the only answer I could think of was
my own stupidity.

Stephanie Brown, honey-blonde hair, vivid blue eyes
and a body every boy drooled over, had it out for me. And again the question
was, why? Well, the obvious answer could only be Ryan Crenshaw, her
ex-boyfriend. Not that he wasn’t worthy of her attention—his wheat-colored hair
and soul-deep blue eyes would make male underwear models envious—but he just
wasn’t interested in her anymore.

He told me once that the only reason he liked her in
the first place was because he was new to the school and didn’t know any better.
But once he did, he dumped her right on her cashmere-covered ass. And when Ryan
started eating lunch with me, she decided that I was her enemy. She even
convinced the entire school to hate me and the social-climbing drones of the
student body listened to her. Ever since I started at Hadley Academy six months
ago, the only friend I’d had was Ryan and he was only a friend. As much as
Stephanie, the self-proclaimed queen of the school, thought differently.

Not that I was desperately in need of extra friends. I
had two of the best ones anyone could ask for, but since they attended a public
school on the other side of town, my days were filled with cold stares and the
occasional prank.

I thought my luck had changed a few days ago when the
queen witch herself asked me over for a slumber party with her two best
friends. At first I was skeptical, considering her obvious dislike for me. But
since she had made the effort, I hoped it was the start of a normal life for me
at school, so I agreed against my better judgment.

The evening started out okay. She showed me around her
enormous mansion, making sure I noticed all the expensive-looking furniture,
rich silks and classic artwork that were displayed throughout the rooms.

After a gourmet dinner, I followed Stephanie up to her
room. It was painted red and white, with photos placed perfectly along the
walls. Above her bed was a portrait of the queen herself, which I thought was
tacky.

The distinct scent of an expensive perfume filled the
air; it was such a strong odor I figured she bathed in it or spilled the
bottle. Either way, the smell was overpowering. I used to like that particular
scent, but now I feared I could never use it without thinking of her.

She sat on her bed with her puppets, as I now called
Trudy and Tara, while I took the plush, wine-colored armchair near the closet.

“So Sarah, do you think you’re pretty?” Stephanie
asked.

“Uh…I don’t know, why?”

She scowled. “I asked Ryan why he was talking to you
all the time. And do you know what he said?”

I didn’t like where this was going. “No,” I answered
quietly, afraid to look into her eyes.

“He said that you were sweet and pretty. And that he
liked your dark eyes and your long brown hair.”

I glanced at Trudy and Tara, hoping for help, but
their smirks told me I couldn’t count on them. This wasn’t good.

She didn’t wait for a response before continuing and
really, what was I going to say, she was obviously up to something. A knot of
trepidation formed in the pit of my stomach. “I can’t do anything about your
eyes, but I can do something about that hair.” She bent down and picked up
something hidden under her bed.

I had a feeling I knew what was about to happen and I
hoped I was wrong.

She turned back around, holding a pair of
industrial-size, shiny, silver scissors. Oh shit. Her smile was all steel as
she glanced at me and then at the shears.

Now I knew why they invited me here and it wasn’t to
become my friend.

God, I was so stupid. Why would I think that after
months of her ignoring me, the frost queen would suddenly be nice to me? I
should have known that a girl like her, rich, snobby and just plain mean, was
incapable of change.

Glaring at the scissors, I gulped, making the only
decision I could think of. I took off out the door of her bedroom.

As I ran down the hall, I heard her yell, “Get her,
girls.”

This was so cliché. I was living a horror flick and I
couldn’t believe I fell for it.

So now the
question was, how did I get myself out of this odd situation I suddenly found
myself in?

It was so dark in the closet I couldn’t see the hand I
held out in front of my face. If there was a light bulb in here, I wasn’t going
to turn it on for fear I’d give away my position. A floral scent wafted around
the tiny cubby. I stretched out my hand and felt the soft towels that were
folded neatly on a shelf beside me.

With my head pressed against the door, I sat down on
the floor, trying to think of what to do next. My eyes were closed as I
listened carefully, hearing only my own breathing and the faint sound of
footsteps as they searched another part of the house. I was safe, for now.
Although I knew I couldn’t hide forever.

Since I had nothing else to do, I tapped my knee with
my finger to the tune of the national anthem. It must have helped my thought
process, because I remembered something. I had seen a phone sitting on a stand
in the hall on my way to this closet. Maybe I could crawl over to it while the
crazy girls were occupied and call my mom. Then I could sneak outside and wait
behind some bushes. I really didn’t want a haircut. I couldn’t believe she was
going to chop off my hair just because her ex-boyfriend talked to me and became
my friend.