Bright Eyes Read Online Free PDF

Chad explained. “Before their boobs start to sag and their butts get big. She’s got cellulite dimples on her thighs.”
    That was more than Zeke wanted or needed to know. He pushed up from the table, gathered the dishes, and went to put them in the sink. As he scrubbed smears of egg yolk from the plates and utensils, visions of Natalie Patterson’s thighs flashed through his mind. Definitely not fat, and if they were dimpled, he hadn’t noticed.
    “You ready to hit it?” he asked after loading the dishwasher.
    “Do I, like, have a choice?”
    “No.”
    Five minutes later, Zeke had Chad lined out for the morning, washing tomato pulp off the siding. The boy worked at tortoise speed, spending more time wiping the sweat from his brow than he did scrubbing.
    “Kick it in the butt,” Zeke called as he wielded the rake, gathering destroyed garden plants into piles. “You owe me a hundred and forty hours of hard work. If you slough off, I won’t give you credit for the time.”
    Chad sent him a smoldering look. “I’m working.”
    “You’re piddling.” Zeke tossed a pile of rubbish into the wheelbarrow. “If you haven’t paid off the debt by the time school starts, I’ll work you weekends and evenings after school. No sports, no girls, no fun. Choose your poison.”
    Chad began scrubbing with more enthusiasm. When they’d worked for two hours, Zeke called for a break. They sat in the shade of an oak tree at the edge of the yard and drank nearly a half gallon of ice tea.
    “So, seriously, why don’t you have a wife?” Chad asked.
    “Don’t want one.”
    “Why not?”
    Zeke considered the question for a moment. The answer was that he liked being single, but he settled for saying, “Because.”
    “Like that’s an answer?” Chad gestured with his glass. “Why have a garden with no one but you to eat the stuff?”
    “I like being the only one to eat the stuff.” Zeke pushed to his feet. “The game of twenty questions is over. Back to work.”
    Chad resumed the task of washing the house while Zeke piled debris into the wheelbarrow and made countless trips to the compost heap. When he’d almost cleared away the mess, Chad tossed the scrub brush into the bucket and turned with a mutinous expression on his face.
    “How come I have to work a hundred and forty hours? Once the work’s all done, seems to me my debt should be paid.”
    Zeke forked up some wilted tomato plants and broken cornstalks. “You’re forgetting the cost of the damages. New windows, exterior paint, and wood don’t come cheap, son.”
    “I’m not your son.”
    Zeke straightened and flexed a kink from his shoulder. “True. If you were, you’d have some manners and a better work ethic.” He inclined his head at the stained siding. “You’d also have some respect for other people’s property. I figured your hours at minimum wage, which is more than you’re probably worth, and I shaved off some time, to boot. It’s going to cost me a thousand dollars or more to put things right. If you think I’m being unfair, figure it out for yourself, but do it on your own time.”
    Zeke no sooner finished speaking than he glimpsed a flash of blue at the corner of the cream-colored shop, a cavernous metal building that did triple duty as a garage, work area, and storage room. He turned to see Natalie Patterson stepping into the backyard. Today she looked completely different, more the cute and adorable girl next door than a sexy vamp, her dark hair caught in a clasp at the back of her head, her oval face devoid of makeup. She wore faded jeans and a man’s white shirt, the sleeves rolled back to her elbows. The stiletto heels of yesterday had been replaced with smudged sneakers.
    “Hi,” she said.
    Zeke wanted to whistle and say, “Wow.” Instead, he laced his voice with studied indifference and said, “Hello.”
    She glanced around, taking in the mess. “I, um, thought I’d come over and help.” Her smile was stiff. “Two for the