[Finding Emma 01.5] Dear Jack Read online

  He pushed away the dirty dishes left in the sink to make room for the kettle and filled it with water. If Dottie were here, she would have smacked his hand for leaving dirty dishes lying around. But then, if Dottie were here, there would be no dirty dishes.

  As he waited for the kettle to boil, Jack began the slow process of tackling the dishes. He made sure to wring the cloth dry, a lesson Dottie had taught him after finding too many smelly dish cloths lying in her sink. He cut a slice of store-bought apple pie, topping it with a piece of cheese and knew, even before he took a bite, that it wouldn't taste anything close to what Dottie used to make.

  He missed her more than he thought possible. This house was never meant to be so empty, so void of laughter, of childish giggles, or even of companionable silence. He often thought that he would die with Dottie, together in their bed, when they were both older and more tired. But not yet. Not now. He had never envisioned what life would be like alone.

  God sure had a way of playing jokes on him. He'd promised Dottie the day he returned from the war that he'd never leave her alone again. Guess this meant he had kept his promise.

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  "FINDING EMMA may be the most heart-wrenching and heart-warming book I have ever read...Tense, emotional and realistic it will ring your emotions dry."

  “It captivated me from the beginning and kept me interested right up until the very end.”

  ~~~

  An Excerpt from Finding Emma:

  A child’s scream shattered the peaceful silence of the Sunday afternoon.

  Megan shot up from the blanket, her heart hammering as she scanned the street in front of her. She groaned as two of her daughters squirted each other in a water gun fight as they came up the walkway. She’d dozed off. Again. The late nights working on Peter’s books had to stop. Yesterday she’d woken up to find Emma across the street at the neighbors’, half crawled into their dog house.

  She glanced down at her youngest child who played with a dandelion on the blanket. Thank God, she was still there. Her three-year-old gazed in rapture at the sky.

  “Red balloon, Momma?”

  Megan twirled her fingers in Emma’s tight curls. “Later, honey.”

  “Red, Momma. Red balloons,” Emma gestured towards the sky with her pudgy fingers. Megan turned her head and noticed the explosion of color that filled the air. Red, yellow and blue balloons danced with the breeze as they swept across the sky.

  The annual carnival was here, just in time for the end of school celebration their small town always held. It was also Emma’s birthday. Megan wished for time to stand still. Her baby was growing too fast.

  “Mom, can we have a popsicle?” Hannah shook droplets of water over Megan’s bare legs. She gasped at the coldness. Laughing, Megan jumped up and backed away from her soaked daughter only to find a giggling Emma clutched around her leg.

  “Don’t you come any closer.” Megan had a hard time keeping the smile off her face before a sparkle of mischief lit up Hannah’s blue eyes as she lunged across the blanket. Laughing, Megan scooped up Emma, ran towards the front door and closed the screen in Hannah’s face. Alexis crossed the driveway, stepping over Megan’s gladiola and aimed the almost empty water gun at her older sister.

  “Alexis Marie Taylor, if you douse your sister in more water, she’ll get your half of the popsicle,” Megan warned. Alexis’ eyes widened as she dropped the water gun on the grass and bounded across to the porch before placing her arms around Hannah’s shoulders.

  “Would I do that?” Alexis tilted her head and beamed the most innocent smile Megan had ever seen.

  Megan snorted. “No monkey business you two or Emma and I will eat your popsicles. Got it?” Megan narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. Who knew, maybe the serious look would do the trick?

  “Come on in and get dried off. Your dad should be home soon.” She opened the screen door for the girls to come in and then locked it. The past couple of days Emma had snuck outside behind Megan’s back to catch some butterflies. Or try to at least.

  For dinner, they were going downtown to watch the parade and eat corn dogs, candied apples and cotton candy at the carnival. The girls were so excited. Peter had even promised the girls he’d win them each a stuffed teddy bear and Megan couldn’t wait to show Emma the clowns.

  “Why don’t we play a game of hopscotch while we wait for your dad?” Megan called after the girls as they ran up the stairs to change. She loved being a mother, even though having three girls so close in age exhausted her. Being a mom fulfilled her in more ways than she thought possible.

  “Hey, Em? How about we make some more lemonade? This time we’ll add less sugar.” She’d let the girls make it just after lunch and Alexis had almost dumped the whole container of sugar in the bowl.

  The phone rang just as footsteps pounded down the stairs.

  “Just going out to grab my hair band,” Hannah yelled.

  “Lock the door when you come back in,” Megan called out just as the screen door slammed.

  With the phone balanced between her shoulder and ear, Megan opened the fridge and rooted inside for the filtered water jug. She groaned when she realized it was empty. She’d forgotten to fill it after pouring a glass earlier. The automated message informed her that the Sears catalogue order was in. She frowned. She hadn’t ordered anything. When the automated voice repeated its message, Megan grabbed her daily calendar and flipped through the last few weeks to see if she’d written down anything. Weird. There was nothing in her notes.

  A quick glance at the clock after hanging up the phone confirmed Peter should be home any minute.

  “All right, pumpkin, let’s go change your pull-up and get ready to watch the parade. Just wait till you see the clowns—” Megan turned towards Emma only to find herself talking to an empty room.

  “Emma?” Megan walked into the living room fully expecting to find Emma in there, playing with her new ponies Peter had given her before he left for work.

  The room was empty.

  She retraced her steps and headed out to the hallway.

  “Emma, are you upstairs? Girls, is your sister with you?” Megan took a step, gripped the railing and waited to hear Emma’s running footsteps. She didn’t remember hearing the slam of the screen door when Hannah came back in.

  “Not here,” Hannah called out.

  Startled, Megan took her foot off the step, glanced around and looked at the screen door. “Hannah, did you lock the door like I told you to?” She fought to keep the panic out of her voice as she ran across the hallway to the open door.

  Megan couldn’t breathe.

  Unlocked.

  “Emma!” Megan ran outside calling her baby’s name. She stopped in the middle of the driveway and scanned the area. Nothing. She wasn’t chasing butterflies, pulling flowers out of the garden or playing with dandelions. She wasn’t anywhere.

  Megan screamed as loud as she could as tears streamed down her face.

  Emma was gone.

  ~~~

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  Author Note:

  I want to personally thank all my readers who fell in love with my Finding Emma series. Your emails have meant the world to me in more ways than you can imagine. Thank you for sharing your stories with me on loved ones you have lost, I am honored and blessed with your trust.

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  To find out more about my books, available titles, new releases and upcoming stories, visit my website - www.steenaholmes.com.

  I look forward to getting to know you!

  Steena Holmes

  Other books by Steena Holmes on Amazon

  ~

  The Memory Chil
d

  The Memory Journal

  Stillwater Bay Series:

  Before the Storm (novella)

  Stillwater Rising (1st novel)

  Dreams of Stillwater (novella) – Coming Soon

  Stillwater Deep (2nd novel) – Coming Soon

  Hope of Stillwater (novella) – Coming Soon

  Stillwater Restored (3rd novel) – Coming Soon

  Finding Emma Series:

  Finding Emma

  Finding Emma (German)

  Dear Jack – a Finding Emma novella

  Emma’s Secret

  Dottie’s Memories – a Finding Emma novella

  Megan’s Hope

  Sweet Collection Series:

  Sweet Memories

  Sweet Dreams

  Sweet Return

  Sweet Retreat

  The Sweet Collection Boxed Set

  Single Romance Titles:

  Chocolate Reality

  In Love With a Cowboy

  The Wedding Dare

  The Word Game

  Halfway Series:

  Halfway to Nowhere

  Halfway In Between

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