Family Interrupted Read Online Free PDF Page A

except Kayla was gone. Gone forever.
    So why had I expected to see her charge into the house, full of chatter about her friends and school, chatter about her
very important life
. I would never forgive myself for lingering with the professor. I wondered how my heart still beat.
    I glared at Ian’s doorknob, knowing I could jimmy the lock with a tiny tool used for fixing eyeglasses. Jack would know where it was, and thankfully, he’d be home soon.
    Making my way to the family room, I sat on the couch to wait. Funny how drained I was for someone who hadn’t put in a hard day at work or school.
    #
    Jack’s voice woke me up. “Something’s burning in the oven, and where’s that god-awful music coming from?”
    I jumped from the sofa, caught my balance, and ran to the kitchen, Jack at my heels.
    “Oh, everything’s a mess, including this lasagna!” I pulled the casserole out of the oven, relieved to find it still edible. “Ian’s in his room, not talking to me. And Maddy’s writing letters to Kayla, so I have to call Anne. And then, in the studio today, I felt Kayla everywhere, like she was wrapped around me, and I was wrapped around her.
    “More importantly, I want to know how the cops could call our daughter’s death an accident. Dropping a bag of groceries is an accident. Tripping on a garden hose is an accident. But killing someone...? How do you compare them? That woman—Sarah something—should be arrested. And then I almost burned supper.”
    He held me tight and rocked me like I was a baby, my face hidden in his chest. I felt him shudder a couple of times. “Are you all right?” I asked. “Or have I scared you too?”
    “Holding you is right. But everything else?” He shook his head. “I’m not sure what to think. If Maddy’s letters help her cope, then it’s good. Just like I keep busy at work.” A smile flickered. “Juggling projects distracts me. Lots of planning and details to oversee. And,” he sighed, “one more day passes. I think we need to keep busy.”
    At that moment, I could have told him about my sculpting today, about the hours I spent creating the clay statue of Kayla. Instead, I held back. Perhaps I wanted the close mother-daughter relationship to remain private, just between Kayla and me. Or maybe I didn’t want Jack to think I was obsessed with her. Not that he wasn’t! Or maybe my artistic self wanted its usual privacy until the project was complete. Whatever the reason, I kept silent while Jack trotted down the hall to Ian’s room.

Chapter 3
     
     
    IAN BARNES
     
    I heard Dad calling my name. Then came the pounding on the door. The good cop was cleaning up after the bad cop. That was the way they’d been working lately.
    Mom blamed me for the accident. No matter how she tried to hide her feelings or apologize, I could tell she blamed me because she never looked me in the eye. Everyone knows that looking someone in the eye meant they were telling the truth—unless the person was a sociopath. So Mom was lying.
    I opened the door and let my dad in. He scanned the room and turned to me. “Geezus, Ian. Your mother’s not wrong about this. It’s a mess.”
    “So what? It’s my mess. I know where everything is. She doesn’t have to come in here.”
    “Nice attitude. You’re acting more like seven, not seventeen and off to college next year.”
    I’d been wrong. They were now bad cop on bad cop, both ganging up on me. Just as I was about to shoot my mouth off, Dad did his dad thing as only he could.
    “Come here.” He grabbed me and hugged me like he’d never let go. “I love you, son. No matter what. And your mother does too.”
    I had to think about that for a minute. These kinds of discussions made my brain hurt. Math, science, grammar...they were so much easier to understand. Master the basics and run with them. Everything made sense. But psychology had no rules. Behavior had no rules, only emotions. People just did whatever they felt like doing.
    “Mom