After Ever Read Online Free PDF Page A

first time in a long time I just let him do it.
     
    My dad and Girlfriend #3 are already sitting in the dining room by the time we get downstairs. They have plates of food in front of them but the only thing my dad has touched is his coffee. Interesting.
    “Good morning!” I call out brightly. My dad’s head lifts automatically at the sound of my voice and not for the first time I am struck by how much he has aged in the past year. His skin is pale and wrinkled. Shadows linger under his eyes. He has lost weight, so much so that his green sweater and khakis hang off of him. He is a shell of his former self, both inside and out. And everyone says I’m the one who has changed.
    Girlfriend #3, on the other hand, fairly sparkles with good health. The brightness of her neon pink ski suit is almost blinding and I have to avert my eyes when I take the seat next to hers. Brian squirms in beside my dad and earns a light noogie for his efforts.
    “How did you sleep?” my dad asks. The question is directed solely at Brian. He still can’t look me in the eye without trying really, really hard. You would think with my dyed hair and black makeup and piercings I wouldn’t remind him of Mom, but somehow I still do. It’s so unfair they need to invent a new word for unfair.
    “Really good,” says Brian. He drinks in our dad’s attention like a dehydrated man would water. It’s sad to see, so I focus on Girlfriend #3 instead.
    “Not hungry?” I ask, glancing at her untouched plate.
    “No,” she says shortly. Her brown eyes – she must not have gotten around to putting in her contacts yet – flick left and right. In a near whisper she says, “Tom just told me the eggs aren’t organic. Can you believe it?”
    My eyebrows lift. “Wow. That’s crazy.”
    “I know, right?” Her shoulders tremble in what I assume is supposed to be a delicate shudder. “They say the milk is all natural, like I would trust them now. Tom is going grocery shopping for me after he finishes his breakfast.”
    So that explains why my dad has yet to touch a single thing on his plate. I pile my own high with scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Brian chatters on between mouthfuls of cereal while my dad does his best to look interested and Girlfriend #3 flips through a fashion magazine she brought down from the room.
    “I’ll go grocery shopping,” I say suddenly, taking everyone by surprise – including myself.
    “You will?” My dad sounds shocked.
    “I wanna go,” says Brian.
    “Make sure everything is organic. You have to check all the labels. Don’t go by what is printed on the shelf,” Girlfriend #3 instructs me.
    “Okay.” I nudge my half eaten plate aside and rest my elbows on the table.
    Get those elbows off the table young lady!
    I’m all done eating Mom.
    Good manners are good manners.
    Too bad you’re dead.
    My dad frowns. “How are you going to get there? You don’t have a driver’s license.”
    “Oh, let her go Tom,” Girlfriend #3 says dismissively. “She has her permit. We’re in the middle of no where for Christ sakes. There aren’t going to be any cars on the road.”
    Disappointment cramps my stomach when I see the pensive expression on my dad’s face and realize he is actually considering it. A year ago he would have laughed at the notion of sending his daughter down the side of a mountain without her license, and now he rubs his chin and scratches his ear as if it might be an okay thing to do.
    “I can take Brian with me,” I suggest, just to see what he will say.
    “Brian?” His hand falls away from his chin and lands flat on the table. “No, that’s not a good idea. I will ask the front desk if someone can drive you.”
    “Don’t bother. I’ll do it.” I push back from the table so hard my chair flips over, but I don’t bother picking it up before I stalk out of the dining room.
    Winnifred Amelia Coleman! You get back here this minute and pick this chair up! Then you can go apologize to the