Unbreak My Heart

Unbreak My Heart

by

Teresa Hill

USA Today Bestselling Author

Published by ePublishing Works!

www.epublishingworks.com

ISBN: 978-1-61417-205-5

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Copyright 2001, 2011 by Teresa Hill. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

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Thank You.

A Note from Teresa Hill

There is no Dublin, Kentucky, but people who know Central Kentucky will likely see that the town I made up is on the Kentucky River between Lexington, Winchester, and Richmond. They may also recognize the Winchester Public Library, in the old church complete with stained-glass windows, the old Corner Drug Store, and the Dairy Queen. I waited tables at Hall's Restaurant on the river and my husband-to-be had a way of convincing me to skip classes at Eastern to go to the horse races at Keeneland with him. Somehow all of those places made their way into this book.

When my characters Allie and Stephen talk about a bone-deep sense of recognition for a place, they're speaking for me and the way I feel about Kentucky.

Prologue

Nine-year-old Allie Bennett woke to a hand shaking her shoulder, a light shining in her eyes. "Allie?" Her mother's voice was odd and tense. "Come on. We have to get up now."

"Is it morning?" She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in her soft pillow. "Do I have school today?"

"No. No school. It's not morning. But we have to get up. Now."

"Why?" Allie said. Outside, it was dark. Inside, the only light came from the flashlight her mother held.

"You and I are going away. Tonight."

"Away?" she whispered, the first flickering of unease creeping in.

Her sister, Megan, went away. And never came back.

Megan
ran
away six months ago. Allie still missed her desperately. She sneaked into Megan's room sometimes and lay on Megan's bed with her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms clasped around them, and inside she just ached from missing her sister.

"Why are we going away?" Allie whispered, scared now. It seemed she'd been scared the whole time since Megan disappeared.

"We just have to. Be a good girl for me and hurry." Her mother went to Allie's closet and flung open the doors. "Get dressed while I pack your things."

Her mother handed her a pair of jeans and a sweater, socks and her favorite shoes. Still sleepy, she hurried to put them on, watching in growing fear as her mother hastily stuffed things from Allie's closet into two suitcases. Cold, Allie grabbed her favorite doll and sat on her bed wrapped up in her comforter.

Outside, the rain was loud. At times she heard the crackle and boom of thunder, saw a flash of lightning. Her mother, breathing hard and still wiping away tears, took Allie by the hand and led her down the big, curving staircase to the front door. Two more bags sat there, packed and waiting. From out front, Allie heard a car horn.

"There's the cab," her mother said, reaching down for the bags.

There were footsteps behind them. Allie turned and ran to her father. He lifted her into his arms and held her, something he rarely did now that she was so big.

She held on tight. "Daddy? We're going on a trip?"

"Oh, baby. I love you. Will you remember that? Always? I love you."

She nodded gravely. He put her down and went to her mother. There were whispers, strangely intense whispers. Something was terribly wrong. Sick with fear, Allie remembered the morning they woke up and found Megan gone. She wanted to be back upstairs safe in her bed.

Her mother and father began arguing. Her father said, "Don't do this, Janet. Don't take her away from me." Her mother, weeping, said, "I've already lost one daughter. I'm not going to lose another one."

And that was that. Her father turned away.

Allie ran to him and threw herself into his arms once again. "Daddy?" she said urgently. "You're not coming with us?"

"I'm sorry, baby." She saw tears in his eyes, thought his heart must hurt, just like hers did. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" she said. Whatever it was, he'd said he was sorry. When someone said he was sorry, you were supposed to forgive him and be his friend again. Her mother taught her that.

"If I could go back and change things, I would, Allie," he said. "And I'll always love you."

There was a rush of air, and the sound of the rain grew louder. Someone must have opened the front door. She buried her face against her father's neck, the next moments a terrifying blur. She remembered screaming and holding onto her father, her mother pulling her away, her father wearing such an odd expression on his face as he watched them disappear into the night.

Chapter 1