Sacred Hart Read Online Free Page B

was too hard to work with him. He ignored me, made me feel ashamed of what we’d done like I was a burden. I never thought I’d come back to Oakville because when I’d left to go to nursing school, I’d hoped to make a go of it down south. After Adam, my first mark of shame, I had decided to move back home. I’d packed my bags and, ever since, I’d tried not to look back. On occasion, when I looked at Beth, I would see his beauty, and I began to want things that would never exist, at least not for me.
    I waved one last time at Cornelia as I sat in the driver seat. “You buckled in?”
    “Yes. Are we going to have lunch? How come you got me early? Can we get ice cream?” She fired each question with an excited burst.
    “Beth, it’s freezing. How can you even think of ice cream?” I pretended to shiver and made a burr noise with my lips.
    She giggled. “It was half-day today.”
    “I know.” I smiled at her in the rearview mirror.
    “I’m starving,” she whined, and I laughed. She could go from happy, to sad, to indignant in zero-point-five seconds.
    “Me, too. Do you want homemade mac and cheese?”
    “Mom, it’s not homemade if it comes from that blue box.” She gave me a disgusted look.
    “Hey now, I put the butter and milk in it.” I giggled as she shook her head, and brought my eyes back to the road. “How are you almost seven?” Time, it moved too fast.
    “Because, it’s almost my birthday.”
    “It is?” I asked with heavy sarcasm. She inherited my hair and my wit; I was proud.
    “Let’s eat there.” She pointed. “We never have, Mom.”
    My eyes landed on Red’s and my stomach turned. I hadn’t realized we were this close to the scene of the accident. On my way to get her, I’d taken the backroads in an attempt to avoid it, but Beth was so good at distraction, I hadn’t gone the way I wanted.
    “Please, Mom. I bet they have hot cocoa,” she bargained. I looked back at her in my rearview again, and she even had her bottom lip jutted out. I rolled my eyes.
    I slowed the car and made sure no one was headed in either direction before I did a U-turn. I kind of wanted to thank that paramedic. Well, the “ used to be” paramedic. Even though he was kind of a jerk, he was just trying to help, and things can get heated during a crisis. The gravel was wet, and my car skidded a bit as I pulled in. The place appeared busy, and I noticed a couple police cars as well.
    “Come on, Honey Bee. Let’s get burgers and fries to go?” I didn’t want to stay. I didn’t want to eat while staring at the place my friend died this morning.
    “Awe, Mom, I want hot chocolate.” Her frown was almost comical.
    “Beth, I’m sure they have to-go cups.” I laced my fingers with hers as we headed inside.
    “Good.” She smiled and started to hum the theme to Spider-Man . My little girl was obsessed with superheroes.
    The smell of bacon hit me like a brick wall as the diner door swung open. Voices mumbled and buzzed as we walked in. The place was quaint and dingy, and I instantly loved it. I’d never once been in Red’s, not even as a child that I could remember. It looked like such a sad place, and I’d never really understood the appeal of small towns, greasy spoons, and country music… not until I moved back. The big city ate me up and spat me out, and I needed places like Red’s in my life to remind me what the world offered in its small dark corners.
    The woman behind the counter was shouting orders through a swinging door and an older man, whom I recognized for some weird reason, was chatting with the two police officers that were seated at the breakfast bar. His smile was genuine, with deep wrinkles, and I found myself smiling as I watched him talk with animation. The music on the jukebox played loudly, and I almost reconsidered getting take out for a corner booth instead. The man stopped mid-sentence and smiled at me, then at Beth.
    “Well, if it isn’t little Maggie Wright. I used to