Chemistry Lessons Read Online Free PDF

up?”
    “I didn’t qualify for the loan.”
    “Oh.” He sounded calm, almost like he’d expected this to happen. “I’m
sorry, sweetie.”
    “It’s because I cosigned on my mom’s mortgage a few years ago. Now all
I can get is an auto loan.”
    “You’re not thinking of getting a new car are you?” he asked.
    “I thought I’d feel like getting a new car by now. I mean, it’s been a
year since the accident.”
    “Your grandpa doesn’t seem to mind you driving the old hatchback.”
    “I think he likes that I drive grandma’s car. It helps us remember her.
And it’s a little bigger than my old car. It’ll keep me safer if I ever get in
another accident . . . Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if I’d been
driving Grandpa’s truck instead of my little car that night. Maybe Grandma
would’ve survived.” She could hear Tanner running water in the background while
she spoke. Was he washing dishes while she poured out her heart to him? Did he
have the phone on speaker?
    “When Janessa hit you, her truck was going fifty miles per hour. I don’t
think your grandma would’ve survived even if you were driving a truck.”
    “I guess there’s no use second-guessing myself.” She closed her bedroom
door, not that Grandpa would hear anything. “Besides, that’s not why I called.
If I can’t get a loan to buy the ranch, what else can I do? Grandpa’s serious
about selling. He’s started telling the neighbors.”
    “Why don’t you let me take you out to dinner? We can talk it over then,”
he said. “It’s been too long since you took a break. I’ll get my dad to come
milk your cows for you so we can go someplace nice.”
    Someplace nice—that sounded like she’d need to dress up. She had a long
list of chores to do, but he was right. She needed a break. “Alright.” If she
hurried, she could get all her chores done before their date.
    “I’ll pick you up at three. It’s a long drive to where I want to take
you.”
    No sooner had she hung up than Grandpa pushed his walker into the
hallway. He pulled a rubber chicken from his breast pocket. “A young man
dropped this by.”
    She took it from him. The label said it was a dog toy, obviously a gift
for Wile E. “Was this from Destry?”
    Grandpa pulled an envelope from his other pocket. “He left this too.”
    As soon as she felt the envelope, she knew there was a stack of bills
inside. “When?”
    “Just now.”
    She ran through the front room and out onto the porch only to see the
dust trail of Destry’s BMW a half-mile down the lane. She opened the envelope
and pulled out the stack of twenties wrapped in a sheet of printer paper.
Destry had scrawled a note on the paper.
     
    Dear Rosie,
    Please accept this money as my apology
for the suffering I’ve caused you and your family (Wile E included.) I’m
betting you’ll try to return it to me. Please don’t.
    Your friend,
    Destry
     
    She picked a peach from a tree at the side of the house and ate it
while she considered what to do. She couldn’t keep the money. Sure, the
operation had cost her at least that much, but Destry had probably spent an
equal amount rebuilding his chicken coop. Not to mention that he’d lost several
chickens.
    She hopped into Grandma’s hatchback and drove down the lane. She found
Destry standing next to his fence, saddling his new horse. As she approached,
the horse turned its head, acting as if it might bite him.
    Destry stepped back. “Whoa, there boy,” he said in a calm voice. True to
form, he wore board shorts and flip-flops, but she couldn’t help noticing his
muscular arms, holding onto the reins.
    She approached the scene slowly, talking to the horse. “I won’t hurt
you.” She ran her hand along the horse’s side. Destry had cinched the saddle
too tight. She loosened the strap, and the horse calmed.
    “What did you just do?” Destry asked.
    “I loosened the cinch.” She took the reins, so Destry could see for
himself.
    “So I had