Riley's Torment, A Moon's Glow Novel #2 (2 page)

“Julia!” I
yelled, slamming the door behind me.

She glanced up
from her desk right inside the entryway. Her dark brown hair was
pulled back out of her face in a twist, with a pencil stuck inside.
I smiled; she was always hard at work and never cared about her
appearance. Of course, she dressed well, but if she spilled coffee
on her blouse or got ink on her pants, she’d just shrug and
continue with whatever she was doing. I dodged little Isaac as he
shot from the toy room into the game room and stood next to her.
She glanced at the little boy, who was holding a toy airplane, and
grinned before acknowledging me. “The first family is up in your
office.”

That caught me
off guard; they were early. “Really?”

She nodded and
took a sip of the coffee in her hand.

“Did you see
that the house next door is for sale?”

She nodded
again, this time adding a raised brow. “Yeah, so?”

“I’m going to
buy it!” I explained before rushing down the hall to the stairs.
She stared at after me with a shocked look on her face. She too
wanted to expand, but with all the dead ends we had faced, she had
given up.

The first group
had gathered along the sofa on the back wall. As I stood in the
doorway, my heart ached when I noticed the little boy about eight
years old stick two brand muffins in his pockets. There was a
basket of them on the table. Julia must have left them out for the
families. I gulped down the lump in my throat before I stepped
inside. I had never experienced poverty in my life, and since I
started here, I had gotten used to it, but it never got any easier
to see. My instinct was to wrap my arms around the boy and give him
all the money and food we had, but I now knew that wasn’t the right
approach.

When the father
noticed me, he smiled. It was cheerful enough, but it didn’t reach
his eyes. There was too much turmoil and worry in the hazel
depths—there wasn’t room for much else. Unfortunately, it wasn’t
the neediest family I would see today, and I would have to turn him
and his children down.

“Good morning,
Mr. Cartwright,” I said, holding my hand out for him to shake. He
stood up and wrapped his callused one in my smooth pampered palm,
and I cringed again. I couldn’t take his family in, and it tore at
my heart. I knew from the report that he had lost his wife two
years ago. After that he had gone into a depression, losing his job
and eventually his house. Right now he and his son and older
daughter were staying in the basement of friends. It wasn’t the
best situation since the friends were also on hard times, but at
least they had a roof over their heads.

“Thank you for
meeting with us, Miss Banks. I was told there was a room opening
up?” The room was more of a suite. There were a few reserved for
families. It held two rooms that backed onto a tiny common one. It
wasn’t huge, but it gave families space from each other.

“Yes, there is,
in a week. Anna gave me three files that would work out well, and
unfortunately we only have one room at this time.”

His smile
faltered. “Yes, she told me that you would be choosing the family
that would get the room today.”

I nodded,
clearing my throat. That damn lump just wouldn’t leave. “Yes, I see
here that Cole and Hannah go to school at the other side of
town?”

“Yes, but we
can move them.”

“I don’t want
to go to another school,” Cole whined, yanking at his father’s
faded coat sleeve.

Hannah, who was
hunched on the sofa staring down at her feet, shot her little
brother a dirty look.

“Mr.
Cartwright, have you been looking for another job?” I hated prying,
but the residents needed to be willing to work.

“Yes. And I
have a few interviews next week.”

“Good.” Maybe I
wouldn’t have to feel so guilty after all. “If you’d like, we could
help you out with that. Julia has a session on how to act during
interviews, and we have suits in storage if you don’t have anything
appropriate to wear.”

His face
brightened. “That would be wonderful.”

I glanced at
the kids and smiled. “Would you two like to have some breakfast? I
heard it was pancakes today.”

Both children
looked at their father with questioning eyes; when he nodded, they
jumped up and ran for the stairs.

When we were
alone, I cleared my throat. “Unfortunately, Mr. Cartwright, we are
unable to take you and your family in at this time. Another family
is in more need right now. They don’t have friends as generous as
yours, and they have nowhere to go.”

He frowned and
gazed down at the floor.

“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.

Finally,
the evening had begun, and since I had been planning it for so
long, I was filled with excitement. I was wearing the same black
and gray striped dress I had on the first night Nate told me he
loved me. He looked incredible in a navy blue dress shirt and dark
gray jeans. His pale blond hair still damp from the quick shower he
had when he returned home, curled along his collar. We were seated
at the table, eating the meal I had prepared. It had taken a week
of cooking sessions with Mona to get the food perfect. The first
batch was inedible. The chicken was raw, and the potatoes were hard
as rocks, although I would never admit my food mistakes to Nate. He
was a great cook, and his smile was always slightly condescending
when I screwed up. He thought it was hilarious that I had never
cooked before I met him. I never had the need to. I grew up in a
mansion with a cook, who was also my Nanny and now more my mother
than my biological one.

"Mmmm. This is
really good," Nate mumbled as he shoveled scalloped potatoes into
his mouth.

I traced the
rim of the round oak table with a fingertip, staring at him over a
rose scented candle. I had used his family’s old china and
decorated the island and fireplace with more candles. I was going
for romance, and I had to admit the place looked great. There was
also music playing softly from speakers I had set up around the
room. It had taken me all morning to download all the slow songs I
wanted.

"You sound
surprised," I teased, with a cocky grin.

Once he
swallowed, he flashed me that slight sheepish smile. "I'm not," he
protested, his lips spreading wider exposing both dimples, humor in
his vivid blue eyes.

Why didn't I believe him?
He looked so striking with his eyes sparkling and
the mischievous smile that lit up his whole face that I almost
forgot that his amusement was at my expense. I shook my head as I
stabbed a piece of juicy white meat.