She watched John and Nikki on the playground, and her heart swelled with love. How beautiful spring could be, she thought again, after such a cold bleak winter.
JOHN GAZED DOWN at Nikki. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”
“Come on, Johnny,” she said. “Don’t be such an ol’ fraidy cat.”
The kid had definitely been around Fiona too much. John sighed. “Okay. So what’s the plan? You first or me?”
Nikki shook her head adamantly. She had come through the tragedy surprisingly well, but she still continued her sessions with Dr. Nevin, and she would for a very long time to come. John had never put much stock in shrinks, but he couldn’t deny Nikki’s progress.
She squinted up at him. “You stand here,” she instructed, taking his hand and placing him at the bottom of the slide. “And don’t move.”
“You couldn’t pry me loose with a crowbar,” he said. He watched her climb the steps, his heart in his throat, until she stood at the very top. After climbing three stories to the roof, in freezing wind and snow, this should be a piece of cake, he thought, but he wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Nikki or himself.
She settled herself at the top of the slide, her little legs stretched out before her. “Ready, Johnny?”
“Whenever you are. Let ’er rip.”
She sailed toward him, her dark curls flying over her shoulders, her laughter like the peal of a thousand tiny bells. Crossing the bump, she squealed, then glided smoothly toward him, her arms lifted skyward.
He caught her up and swirled her around.
“I did it, Johnny! I did it!”
“That you did. I saw it with my own eyes,” he confirmed. Thea came to join them, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “How about that? Did you see what your daughter just did?”
“You’re very brave, sweetheart,” she said in a husky voice.
Nikki smiled brilliantly and touched her fingertip to John’s lips. “Now it’s your turn, Johnny.”
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5009-6
THE LITTLEST WITNESS
Copyright © 2000 by Marilyn Medlock Amann
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*The Kingsley Baby
**Gallagher Justice
The Littlest Witness Page 21
