Family Skeletons Read Online Free PDF

in the cliff than a
trail. But it was a way to get down. She stopped at the top of it.
    “Here,” she said.
    “Oh.” He came to stand beside her, and he looked
down at the sandy cove with a disappointed expression. “You were kidding. I
thought there really was a way down.”
    “Oh, for Pete’s sake. It is a way down, and it’s not
that bad. Here, I’ll show you.”
    He grabbed her arm. “Sunny, you can’t be serious.
You’ll break your neck.”
    “Okay,” she said, and caught her bottom lip between
her teeth while she surveyed the meager trail with an exacting eye. “I admit
you’ve kind of got to slide down on your rump in a couple places.” She pointed.
“Like right there, and then again there, just before you reach the bottom. And
that last little run there is exactly that. A run. You take a step, and then
another, and then you start running, and when it flattens out at the bottom
you’ll be able to stop.”
    He squinted at her as if she were speaking a foreign
language.
    “Jonathan, it’s not that bad. Last week I went down
with a blanket over my shoulder and a bag lunch.” She paused. “Well, I used one
of those tie things on the bag to keep it closed and threw it down, but I
managed the blanket okay.”
    “And how do you get back up?” He’d lost some color
and his eyes had glazed over.
    “That’s not as hard as it looks. You see that last
slope,” she paused and pointed again. “On your way up you have to grab a little
root that’s there and kind of pull yourself up, finding footholds where you
can. Then the rest of it isn’t too bad.”
    He continued to watch her, saying nothing. Then he
looked away, rolled his eyes and said something under his breath.
    She felt her eyes widen. That had sounded
suspiciously like an oath. Did he know how to swear?
    “No way,” he said flatly. “There is no way I am
going to do that. I am not going down there.”
    “Well, I am. That’s why I walked down here, and then
I’m going to go play tag with the waves. But you can stay up here and just watch
if you want to. Then I’ll climb back up and we can walk back and I’ll make
lunch. Do you like grilled cheese sandwiches?”
    When his level gaze met hers, it told her that this
man made his own decisions and did not accept dares. “I should have brought the
cell phone,” he said. “If you’re serious about going down there, we should
alert the paramedics.”
    As soon as Sunny started her descent, she regretted
it. Knowing Doubting Thomas was up there watching her made her nervous,
throwing her off just enough that she might take a bad fall. Then she got to
the slope, took off running and was home free. She looked up and waved, but
then wished even harder she hadn’t come down. If he followed, he might be the
one to fall.
    Okay, get back up there. You can go play
in the water another time.
    She walked back toward the incline, then stopped.
    “Oh, no,” she said without moving her lips.
    He was on his way down.
    He was slow, cautious, awkward, long and lanky, but
he made it all the way to the final slope without breaking his neck. She took
the first easy breath she’d taken since he’d begun his descent.
    After the second sliding part he remained on his
rump for a short moment before carefully getting to his feet. He took one step
and then another, then his eyes opened wide in disbelief as he careened down
the rest of the way, unable to control his speed.
    As they each tried to avoid the other, naturally
they both guessed wrong and moved directly into the other’s path.
    She heard a loud crack like a gunshot at the same
moment he bowled into her. She felt a burning sensation at her right temple as
they collided and then they both went down.

 
    Chapter Four
    “Are you okay?” Jonathan sounded winded and looked
scared.
    Sunny was sprawled on her back under him, and the
right side of her head felt like a strip of skin had been seared off. “Wha...what
happened?”
    His gaze moved a fraction