Sanctuary (Family Justice Book 3)
Read Sanctuary (Family Justice Book 3) Online
Authors: Suzanne Halliday
Tags: #A Family Justice Novel
Copyright © 2016 by Suzanne Halliday
SANCTUARY A Family Justice Novel
ISBN: 978-0-9961894-6-0
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by an means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
This book is meant for mature readers who are 18+.
It contains explicit language, and graphic sexual content.
Edited by
www.editing4indies.com
Book Cover Design by
www.ashleybaumann.com
Formatting by
Champagne Formats
Table of Contents
To my wonderful readers
#NoCliffhangers
#HappilyEverAfterGuaranteed
Yes. I really do call it Romantica ~ so there!
Sorry, not sorry for the NSFW language
Seriously, I love you guys
The world breaks everyone, and afterward,
some are strong at the broken places.
Ernest Hemingway
“H
EY, MOVE IT
. That’s my seat.”
Balancing a plate piled with food, some silverware, and a plastic tumbler filled with ice, she fumbled her way to the sofa and managed to lower the armful of stuff onto the coffee table seconds before it all went south in a heap.
“Clumsy to the last,” she murmured with a smirk as she got dinner set up, eyeing the humdrum meal with a total lack of enthusiasm.
“Out of the way, big guy,” she grunted on her way down, grabbing the remote control as she angled her butt to land in her favorite spot on the sofa. George scooted out of her way at the last possible second. Good thing ‘cause she’d come to love the rescue dog despite some initial ambivalence. Sitting on him wouldn’t have turned out well—for either of them.
Patting the overgrown pup on the head, she scratched him between the ears and offered up a half-quirk grin. “Just you ‘n’ me again tonight.” George didn’t care and licked the side of her face with his tongue. She smiled.
“Okay then.” Pointing the remote control at the TV, she turned on the system and waited for it to fire up. “I’m thinking, um …
hmm
.
Reba
, maybe. Or…
Friends
? Whaddayathink, boy? Which will it be tonight? Family life country style or coffee in New York City?”
Ripping the cap off a water bottle, she poured it into the cup of ice and sat forward. Eating at the coffee table in front of the TV was getting to be a habit. Not to mention, a shitty one.
Eyeing the nook where her grandmother’s old-fashioned dining table sat, she pushed aside the memories of a recent meal invading her thoughts. Nope.
Not going there
, she mentally swore. This was her life. Daydreaming about what was essentially a long-term hookup didn’t get her anywhere, so why think about it?
Well, you foolish twit, maybe if you didn’t let him spread you out on your Nanny’s vintage linen tablecloth when he made you the main course, these thoughts wouldn’t be so vexing.
With a hearty thump, George laid one of his big paws on her leg. Could he sense her unease? Probably. After all, it was rolling off her pretty thick these days.
“
Humph.
Reba
, it is,” she muttered into the empty room.
With Barbra Jean and Brock bringing the laughs while Reba tried not to blow a fuse, she picked at her dinner plate and sorted through a stack of mail she’d been avoiding.
Idly separating the junk into a pile for the recycling bin, she stopped a time or two to quickly thumb through some ads, tearing out a couple of random coupons and noting what was on sale and where. Exciting stuff, huh?
Muting the TV during a commercial, she was tearing open a bill when her phone rang.
Ugh.
She hated talking on the phone. Hated the phone as a concept—and for good reason. There was a time when hearing the phone ring sent her scrambling for the bathroom before her stomach exploded.
Her mother’s cell came up on the screen, and she knew there was no way to avoid answering. Not a lot of people understood her phone aversion, but her mom sure did. If she was calling, and not from the house phone, then something must be up.
“Hi, Mom. Everything okay?”
“Heather, darling. We’re all fine, honey. Sorry to call without warning but something wonderful happened and I wanted you to know right away.”
Moms. They always seemed to have a knack for cutting through the noise. Throwing the word wonderful into the mix stalled the anxiety that always bloomed because she feared every phone call was potentially a crisis waiting to happen.
“Travis and Missy are moving back to New York. Isn’t that wonderful? Missy got the position at Deven Glen. She’s so excited, and Travis couldn’t be prouder. Your dad is already planning a fishing trip up to the lake for all of the kids.”
Wow. Five sentences and so much information. Her brother and his wife and family were moving home? Missy must have hit the jackpot for them to leave sunny Florida. And the kids? Her two nephews, Joey and Dave. No wonder her dad was in planning mode. He adored his two grandsons and since they’d be the only grandkids he’d ever have …
Furiously squashing the thought, she muttered some empty, well-practiced phrases into the phone and made an effort to share in her mother’s happiness.
“We’ll miss you on Christmas,” her mom was saying. “Are you sure you can’t get away? You know Daddy doesn’t like that you’ll be all alone during the holidays. I mean-” She paused. “Heather, honey, you will be alone, right?”
Of course, she’d be alone. Being alone was what she did best. Hell. If being alone were a sport, she’d be a freakin’ superstar.
“Mom, jeez. You always say that like you imagine I’m hiding something from you guys. Yes. I’ll be by myself. Well, not entirely. George is here. And after all this time maybe you’ll stop wasting energy on something you know damn well is never going to happen.”
Did that sound harsh? She didn’t want to be a bitch to her mom but honestly. Enough.
She heard the sigh and knew what caused it but didn’t give in to the pull. She was a licensed therapist, for heaven’s sake, and she would never say this professionally, but some things are best kept locked away. Not everything needs to be endlessly picked apart and analyzed. Sometimes, things just … are. And with that gloomy thought, she’d come to the end of her willingness to engage with her mother on the phone.
“Mom, I think George needs to go out, so I’m gonna run. I’ll text Travis. Big hugs for Dad, okay?”
“Love you, honey.”
“Love you too, Mom. Bye.”
Feeling like shit, she flopped on her side and shoved a sofa pillow beneath her head. George immediately climbed into the space behind her legs and curled up. It was comforting to feel the warmth of his soft fur nestled against her. The dog. Man’s best friend. She got it.