Family Tree Read Online Free PDF Page A

she bit out. “No. It’s exactly what it seems.” She backed away, her heart pounding, eager to get as far from him as possible.
    â€œAnnie, wait. Babe, let’s talk about this.”
    She turned into a ghost right then and there. She could feel it. Every drop of color drained away until she was transparent.
    Could he see that? Could he see through her, straight into her heart? Maybe she had been a ghost for a long time but hadn’t realized it until this moment.
    The feeling of betrayal swept through her. She was bombarded by everything. Disbelief. Disappointment. Horror. Revulsion. It was like having an out-of-body experience. Her skin tingled. Literally, tingled with some kind of electrical static.
    â€œI’m leaving,” she said. She needed to go throw up somewhere.
    â€œCan we please just talk about this?” Martin persisted.
    â€œDo you actually think there’s something to talk about?”
    She stared at the two of them a moment longer, perversely needing to imprint the scene on her brain. That was when the moment shifted.
    This is how it ends, she thought.
    Because it was one of those moments. A key moment. One that spins you around and points you in a new direction.
    This is how it ends.
    Martin and Melissa both began speaking at once. To Annie’s ears, it sounded like inarticulate babble. A strange blur pulsated at the edges of her vision. The blur was reddish in tone. The color of rage.
    She backed away, needing to escape. Plunged her hand into her bag and grabbed her keys. They were on a Sugar Rush key chain in the shape of a maple leaf.
    Then she made a one-eighty turn toward the door and walked out into the alley. Her stride was purposeful. Gaze straight ahead. Chin held high.
    That was probably the reason she tripped over the cable. The fall brought her to her knees, keys hitting the pavement with a jingle. And the humiliation just kept coming. She picked up the keys and whipped a glance around, praying no one had seen.
    Three people hurried over— Are you all right? Did you hurt yourself?
    â€œI’m fine,” she said, dusting off the palms of her hands and her scraped knees. “Really, don’t worry.”
    The phone in her shoulder bag went off like a buzz saw, even though it was set on silent mode. She marched past the construction area. Workers were still struggling with the lift, trying to open the hydraulic valve. She shouldn’t have let Martin talk her into the cheaper model.
    â€œYou have to turn it the other way,” she called out to the workers.
    â€œMa’am, this is a hard-hat area,” a guy said, waving her off.
    â€œLeaving,” she said. “I’m just saying, you’re trying to crank the release valve the wrong way.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œThe valve. You’re turning it the wrong way.” What a strange conversation. When you discover your husband banging some other woman, weren’t you supposed to call your mom, sobbing? Or your best friend?
    â€œYou know,” she said to the guy. “Lefty loosey, righty tighty.”
    â€œMa’am?”
    â€œCounterclockwise,” she said, tracing her key chain in the air to show him the direction.
    â€œAnnie.” Martin burst out of his trailer and sprinted toward her. Boxer shorts, bare chest, cowboy boots. “Come back.”
    Her hand tightened around the key chain, the edges of the maple leaf biting into her flesh.
    The Segway tour group trolled past the end of the alley.
    â€œIt’s Martin Harlow,” someone called.
    â€œWe love your show, Martin,” called another girl in the Segway group. “We love you!”
    â€œMa’am, you mean like this?” The workman gave the valve a hard turn.
    A metallic groan sounded from somewhere on high. And the entire structure came crashing down.

2
    S o, Dad,” said Teddy, swiveling around on the kitchen barstool, “if the water buffalo weighs two