"Mickey Zucker Reichert - Shadow Storm" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reichert Mickey Zucker)

Stacy clutched at herself, wishing she could bundle her body so small it
disappeared. She could hear her mother's lighter footfalls on the landing,
birdlike in their grace.

Mary Draybin stood in the doorway for several seconds before speaking.
"Oh, Stacy. I'm sorry." She crossed the room, and Stacy heard the creak of
her box spring as her mother took a seat on the bed. "Come here, darling."

Obediently, Stacy unfolded, rubbed at her eyes with small fists, and
walked to her mother. The woman hefted the girl into her lap, cradling
and cooing as if to an infant. "You have to understand, darling. Matthew
is your father now. Sean is justтАж wellтАж a man the law makes you visit
until you're old enough to tell them no."

The closeness, the gentle touch of her mother made Stacy eager to
share. "But I want to see him. I love him. He's my daddy."

Mary Draybin's grip tightened, and her features flushed. Her wide-eyed
stare and stiff smile did not match her tone or coloring. "Not anymore.
Matthew is your daddy now."

It was a lie, and Stacy knew it. She had heard her mother and father
arguing in the courthouse parking lot where they made visitation
exchanges. She had sat quietly in the passenger seat of her mother's
Subaru, the window left open a crack; and Mary Draybin's shouts had
come clearly to her though she made no attempt to listen. "You'll sign
those papers. That girl needs a family, and Matthew and I are that family.
If you loved her at all, you'd let Matthew adopt her."

Sean Sterner's reply had sounded comparatively soft and controlled. "I
will not give up my legal rights to my daughter."

Mary Draybin's voice became a shrill whine. "About her birthday
visitationтАФforget it! And you'll never get another Father's Day. Never."

Stacy scarcely heard Sterner's response. "You can't do that."

"I can, and I will. Sue me. I'll turn around and sue you for more
support. You won't be able to afford a house to take her to, and you'll
never see her again."

"I won't give up my legal rights to my daughter. Do what you feel you
must." Sterner had turned and walked to his battered Horizon. He spun
around once to give Stacy a cheerful, parting wave. Then the motor
started, and the red Horizon roared off into the darkness.

That night, and every one since, Stacy's mother had become a stranger.
She ranted to Matthew Draybin, detailing horrible stories about her life
with Sean Sterner that kept sleep at bay and inspired night terrors,