Never Look Back (Phantom Hollow Series, Band 2) - Softcover

Buch 1 von 3: Phantom Hollow Series

Herman, Kathy

 
9781590529225: Never Look Back (Phantom Hollow Series, Band 2)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1590529227 ISBN 13: 9781590529225
Verlag: Multnomah, 2007

Inhaltsangabe

Forgiveness is one thing, but who really forgets?

Ivy Griffith has been released from jail after serving time for covering up the strangulation death of a high school classmate ten years earlier. She’s paid her debt to society. Kicked her drug habit. She’s making a fresh start.

Problem is, everyone in her hometown of Jacob’s Ear, Colorado, knows what she did. And her seven-year-old son, Montana, won’t stop probing about the father he has never met–the man Ivy was too stoned to even remember.

Plagued by her own shame and her little boy’s cries for male affirmation, Ivy is thrilled when Rue Kessler takes an interest in Montana and her. Maybe, just maybe, he’s the answer to prayer she’s been waiting for.

But Rue has a shadow hanging over his past and is suspected in a rash of bizarre, brutal beatings. He denies any involvement, and Ivy believes him–until she discovers he and Montana have kept a secret from her.

At a loss for what to believe or where to turn, Ivy’s on the verge of despair and wonders if even God has given up on her. Or is something bigger at play here–something being orchestrated outside of her control that’s about to bring down the curtain on everything including her past?

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Kathy Herman is the bestselling author of twelve novels, including The Baxter series, Poor Mrs. Rigsby, and the Seaport Suspense novels. Her thought-provoking stories are ordinary enough to be believable, and extraordinary enough to stick with the reader long after the cover is closed. Kathy and her husband, Paul, live in Texas and have three grown children and five grandchildren. They enjoy world travel, deep sea fishing, and bird watching–sometimes incorporating all three into one big adventure!

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Ivy Griffith approached the last gray security door and pressed the release button, her heart galloping and her legs as wobbly as a foal’s. She glanced up at the camera as she had been instructed to do, waited until she heard the lock disengage and the alarm sound, then pulled the door open and entered the public sector of the Tanner County Jail–a free woman!

She was surprised to see so many people scurrying about. Feeling a little lightheaded and suddenly wishing she had eaten breakfast, she made her way over to the far wall and leaned against it. She blew the bangs off her forehead and forced a smile for two female deputies eying her.

Lord, please don’t let me pass out and make a scene. I just want to go home!

“Ivy! Over here!”

She turned toward the unmistakable voice and spotted her father in the congested corridor, his hand waving in the air. She hurried toward him, zigzagging around several people before she finally caught up to him and lost herself in his embrace.

“Let’s go home, honey,” Elam Griffith finally said. “It’s over.”

Over. How the thought excited her! She had paid her debt to society and wanted nothing more than to move on with her life. Ivy walked arm-in-arm with her father to the exit door and stepped outside into the bright November sunshine. She inhaled deeply, drawing in the fresh mountain air, and whispered a prayer of thanks. She wondered how long it would be before any of this seemed real.

“Well, I’ll tell you one thing,” Elam said. “Montana was too wired to sleep last night. That boy can hardly wait to see you.”

“You explained why I didn’t want him to come down here, didn’t you?”

“Sure, but I really don’t think it would’ve bothered him. All he’s talked about for weeks is your coming home.”

“I just didn’t think it was necessary to saddle a seven-year-old with the memory of his mother being released from jail. I want him to remember this day as my coming home, not my getting out.”

Elam smiled. “Well, however he looks at it, I expect that little scamp has his nose pressed against the living-room window. Let’s not keep him waiting. Come on, the Suburban’s parked across the street.”

“He seems to be thriving,” Ivy said. “Every time we’ve talked, he’s gone on and on about all the things he’s involved in. You and Mom have done a great job with him. I can never thank you enough.”

“No need to thank us, honey. We love Montana and have gotten really close to him. But he needs his mother.”

Ivy got in the Suburban and looked out at the towering San Juan Mountains that encircled the town of Jacob’s Ear with postcard beauty.

“After six months in that place, you can’t imagine how wonderful it is not to be looking through iron bars.”

“I suppose I can’t,” Elam said. “But it’s sure great seeing you dressed in your own clothes instead of that orange jumpsuit.”

“I promise you I’m going to give away everything in my closet that has even a speck of orange in it.”

“Good, because your mother can hardly wait to take you shopping. She’s already mapping out some elaborate strategy for hitting all the after- Thanksgiving sales.”

“Is she planning a big Thanksgiving dinner?”

Elam chortled. “Are you kidding? We’ll need to take both cars into town when she does her grocery shopping. Rusty and his family are driving in from Albuquerque. Our Thanksgiving table will be full for the first time in ages.”

Ivy wished she shared her father’s enthusiasm but wondered if she would even know her brother after all this time. And how he would react to all the trouble she had caused?

Elam started the car and pulled onto Main Street. “By the way, I ran into Mr. and Mrs. Hadley at the post office the other day. They were polite but never mentioned your getting out.”

“Do you think they’ve forgiven me?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

Ivy sighed. “It had to be devastating when they found out I covered up their son’s murder. Ten years is a long time to live with the false hope that he’d be found alive. And I let them believe it.”

“I’m sure it was, honey. But you can’t undo what was done. You served your time.”

Ivy looked over at Jewel’s Café as they passed by and noticed the green and white gingham curtains still framing the windows. “How’s Jewel?”

“Same old spitfire. She’d like you to come back to work for her.”

“Really? That’s surprising.”

“Oh, you know Jewel. She looks at the heart. It’s irrelevant whether you were away on vacation or did time in jail. She was happy with your work and has a job for you anytime you want it.”

“What a sweetheart. I enjoyed working at the café, but I can’t make a living waiting tables. I’ve got to figure out something else.”

“Funny, but your mother and I have been discussing this very thing.” Elam stroked his mustache. “We wondered if you’d consider being in charge of registration at the conference center. It pays three dollars more an hour than you were making at Jewel’s, and we’d let you and Montana live in one of the chalet cabins as a perk. Interested?”

“Are you serious?”

“Absolutely. And full-time staff get medical insurance. It’s up to you, but we think it’s a good option.”

Ivy sat stunned, gratitude knotting in her throat. “I…I never dreamed you’d let me work at the camp.”

“Why not?”

“I have a criminal record now. You’ve got nice Christian people coming in and out of there. Just doesn’t seem appropriate.”

“Baloney. It’s appropriate if I say it’s appropriate. For crying out loud, Ivy, you recommitted your life to Christ. Besides, your mom and I own the place, remember?” He turned to her and winked, the corners of his mouth twitching. “You’d be good at it. Give it some thought.”

As they drove out of the city limits and onto Three Peaks Road, her father waved at someone in a red pickup, then put his cell phone to his ear. “Carolyn, it’s me… Yeah, it went fine. Only took us a minute to hook up… She looks great… I know he’s champing at the bit. Tell him we’re about fifteen minutes from home…”

Home. Ivy nestled in the heated leather seat, her heart racing with hope. She looked out across Phantom Hollow at the jagged, snowcapped peaks that still took her breath away, confident that Montana would grow up loving and respecting this unspoiled beauty the way she had–and that her parents would be the stabilizing force in his life.

She closed her eyes, the sun warming her face, and let herself dream about what the future might hold. The idea of living with her son in their own home and finally being able to support him was very exciting, even if it was possible only because of her parents’ generosity. She wasn’t about to pass up her dad’s job offer, but she wondered if the Three Peaks staff would resent his hiring a family member–worse yet, one who’d been in jail–with no job experience beyond waiting tables.

“Dad, how do Jake and Brandon feel about me coming to work at the...

„Über diesen Titel“ kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Verlag
Multnomah
Erscheinungsdatum
2007
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
1590529227
ISBN 13 
9781590529225
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
336
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Nicht verfügbar

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