Family Lies

Will they find me here? The odds were not in Rylee Shepherd’s favor. Moving halfway across the Pacific Ocean was the bravest decision she had ever made but maybe not the smartest. Rylee tugged the crumpled, washed-out piece of paper out of the pocket of her shorts, which she’d accidentally laundered along with her clothes a couple days ago. She’d kept the ad for this nanny position handy in case she had trouble finding her new boss after landing in Hawaii. The ad described the Kauai residence as a beach house, and at first read, she had pictured a peaceful, modest bungalow.

Standing alone in the spacious, airy great room, she turned in a slow circle. She determined to beat the human record for adjusting to a new home. Only a hint of the initial tension still lingered in her stomach, unlike the first day she entered this museum-like palace. Recalling that day in vivid color, she thanked God her chest hadn’t caved in and the ocean of heaviness hadn’t buckled her knees.

Me fainting would not have impressed Mrs. Logun.

A flicker of blue on the white tile floor caught her eye. Rylee picked up one of the boys’ Lego men that had escaped the playroom and rolled the tiny figure between her thumb and forefinger. The little guy was lucky she spotted him. This dwelling with its colossal dimensions and asymmetrical décor swallowed him the way outer space would swallow a bubble.

“Small and exposed. I know exactly how you feel.” Rylee stuffed the lonely toy man into her shorts pocket next to the other play piece she’d found on the head of one of the statues in the marble entry. She would return both men to the third-story world where they belonged.

If only I could fit in as painlessly as Lego pieces fit together. A speck of her heart ached for the cozy sense of belonging she’d left behind on the mainland. …

♥ ♥ ♥

Check out J.A.’s Kauai pics on her Pinterest page for “Family Lies, Deadly Ties”