A Family Kind of Gal Read Online Free PDF Page B

time. He rubbed one elbow with the fingers of the opposite hand, a nervous trait he’d developed from the time he was four years old.
    â€œShe just wanted to talk to me.”
    The cat cried at the back door.
    â€œCome on in, you,” Tiffany said with a smile, then noticed as she held open the screen door that the small tear in the mesh was getting larger. Sooner or later it would have to be fixed. Charcoal streaked inside.
    â€œI know she wanted to talk to you. But why?” Deftly plucking a bunch of grapes from a bowl on the table, Stephen leaned insolently against the door frame and began plopping the juicy bits of fruit into his mouth.
    This was the opportunity she’d been waiting for, because deep down, though she would never admit it, she was scared. Scared to death.
    â€œWell, she started out by asking about you—you know, just checking on how things were going.”
    â€œShe just saw me the other day.”
    â€œI know, but she had a few more questions. She’s worried about you, Stephen, and frankly, so am I.”
    â€œI’m fine, Mom.”
    If only she could believe it. Oh, Lord, how she wanted to trust her boy. “She had a few questions about your relationship with Mr. Wells.”
    He froze for a second, then spat the seed from his grape into the sink. “I worked for him. Big deal.”
    â€œWhat do you know about him? They think you know something about why he disappeared,” she said, finally admitting what the juvenile officer had implied. It was ridiculous, of course. It had to be. Isaac Wells had disappeared over a month ago, vanished without a trace. Whether it was foul play or by his own intention, no one knew what had happened to the elderly man. It was the biggest mystery Bittersweet had seen in years. Though Tiffany believed without a doubt that her son was innocent of any wrongdoing, she wanted to hear it from Stephen himself.
    â€œI don’t know nothin’.”
    â€œThat’s what I said, but now someone, and I don’t know who, has come forward and said that he…well, or she, for that matter, saw you out at the Wells place on the day that Isaac disappeared.”
    Stephen blanched, and Tiffany’s heart seemed to fall through the floor. “Someone saw me?”
    â€œThat’s what she said.”
    â€œThen they’re lyin’. I wasn’t near the place.”
    â€œYou’re sure?”
    â€œDon’t you believe me?” he cried, licking his lips nervously, his eyes round with an unnamed fear.
    She ached to trust him. “Of course I do, but—”
    â€œBut what?” Stephen interrupted.
    â€œBut it’s your word against this other person’s.”
    â€œWhose?”
    She turned her palms to the ceiling and wished her love was as blind as it had been a few seconds before. “I don’t know, really,” she said. “But you’ve had a fascination with that ranch for a long time.”
    â€œYeah. I liked old Isaac’s cars. That’s all. Come on, Mom, you don’t really think I had something to do with him up and leaving—or maybe even being killed?” Stephen asked, clearly astounded by her apparent lack of trust.
    â€œOf course not. But I know you were there before.”
    â€œFor cryin’ out loud, Mom, I drove his old Chevy once. Yeah, I admit it, I did. But that’s all. It wasn’t like I was going to steal it or anything. I would never do anything like that .” His face was as pale as death. He swallowed so hard, his Adam’s apple bobbed. “I…mean, I didn’t—Oh, gosh, what’re you saying?”
    â€œI know you didn’t hurt Mr. Wells, Stephen,” she said, instantly filled with remorse. “Oh, honey, I know you didn’t have anything to do with him disappearing, believe me.” She took hold of his arm, only to have it ripped from her overly protective fingers. “But...” He was