In My Father's Shadow Read Online Free PDF Page A

like
this?”
    “ Don’t tell me how to keep my house!”
    Cole leaned against the wall, ears perked, wishing
they’d stop fighting about the house and get back to the tour. He
wanted to go with his dad so badly but he knew if he kept arguing
with his mom, she’d say no just to be mean.
    “ Listen,” Nate said again, softly. “Let me take
him for awhile. You’ll get a break and you can have some time to
yourself. It’s summer – you can hang out at the beach or go away
with your boyfriend or whatever.”
    “ Are you taking shots at him now?”
    Nate groaned. “No. I just thought you’d like some
time for yourself.”
    “ You really want to take him for three months?”
she asked, incredulous, and Cole thought she might be weakening.
“What about school?”
    “ I’ll have him back in time for school,” Nate
promised. “Unless you let me hire a tutor.”
    “ I can hire a damn tutor if I want one,” Audrey
shouted. “Quit flaunting your money.”
    Nate lowered his voice. “I’m not flaunting anything.
I just want what’s best for my son.”
    “ And taking him on the road is what’s best?
Watching you and your friends get drunk every night?”
    “ We don’t do that kind of thing and even if we
did, do you think we’d do it in front of kids? No, Audrey – we
don’t roll that way.”
    “ Whatever, Nate.” Cole could hear her slamming
stuff in the sink. “You’ll regret taking him, you know. He can get
demanding and whiny. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night
and he’s on the sofa watching television.”
    “ He doesn’t sleep well?” Nate asked.
    “ I don’t know,” she answered absently.
    “ What do you mean you don’t know?” Nate demanded.
“Do you ever ask him what’s wrong? Why can’t he sleep?”
    “ No,” she said petulantly. “I tell him to turn off
the TV and go back to bed. And he does.”
    “ Why don’t you ask him if there’s a problem, huh?
Maybe he has something on his mind or maybe he’s worried about
school.”
    “ And you’re so perfect,” she shot back. “You think
you can just buy him whatever he wants and now he wants to live
with you instead of his own mother!”
    “ I don’t buy him everything, Audrey,” Nate said
and Cole could tell by his father’s voice that his patience was
wearing thin. “He wants to live with me because I enjoy spending
time with him. We do things together. I don’t park him in front of
the TV or the video games and run off to do whatever I
want.”
    “ You think you’re so perfect.”
    “ No, I don’t.” Cole could hear Nate pacing. “Look,
Audrey, I’ll give you more support, hell you can have everything I
own! Just let me have my son.”
    “ Take him,” she screamed. “Just take him! But if
you’re late bringing him back, I’m taking you back to
court!”
    “ Fine,” Nate said firmly. “And maybe this time
I’ll get custody.”
    Cole inched away from the wall and jumped on his bed
when he heard his father’s footsteps in the hall. Nate pushed the
door open and smiled at his son. “Let’s get you packed, buddy.
You’re coming with me.”
    Cole leapt off the bed and into his father’s waiting
arms. He couldn’t believe he was actually going! Three whole months
with his dad!
    “You still with us, Cole?” Ally asked, dragging him
out of his memories.
    “Yeah,” he said, scooting back to light another
cigarette - the ugly, hateful words of his parents still ringing in
his ears. “So, are you calling your dad or what?”
    “My cell’s dead,” she frowned as she stood and turned
to face him, holding out a hand. “Give me yours.”
    He dug his phone out of his pocket and handed it to
her. “His number’s on there somewhere.”
    Nodding, she stepped away from them, punching her
father’s cell number into his phone. She pressed the phone to one
ear and stuck a finger in the other in order to hear her father
better.
    “Is anyone else going?” Ren asked as he watched Ally
gesture and