Out of Range: A Novel Read Online Free PDF

baseball.
    Ollie’s eyes widened. He had started playing t-ball the year before and now considered himself the world’s biggest baseball fan. “Wow!” He grabbed the ball and studied the signature. “That’s really Derek Jeter’s autograph?”
    Julie laughed. “It’s really Derek Jeter’s autograph.”
    “Does this count as a birthday present?”
    “I don’t know,” Julie teased. “What do you think?”
    “No!”
    “What about me?” Meagan demanded, tugging at her mother’s sweatshirt. “Did you get something for me?”
    Julie bent down and put her arm around her daughter. “For you, I got a promise. Anything you want from the Disneyland store.”
    “I want Donald Duck!” Meagan’s favorite cartoon character.
    “A stuffed animal or an action figure?”
    “Both!” she shouted.
    “We’ll see. Maybe we’ll even let Ollie pick out something.”
    “If he’s nice,” Meagan added with the utmost seriousness.
    Watching his wife with their children, Charlie felt a burst of happiness and relief. She was home. The planets were realigned. All was right again.
    “Okay, who’s hungry?” Charlie called cheerfully.
    “Me! Me!” The kids waved their hands, beaming at him.
    “And here we go,” Charlie said, setting down the plates, “one French toast slightly-burnt-so-you-don’t-see-the-egg for Prince Ollie; one blueberry pancake, maple syrup, light on the butter for Princess Meagan; and one English porridge, warm skim milk, for my queen.”
    “You’re too kind, my liege,” Julie quipped as the kids dug in noisily.
    “You should’ve woke me last night,” he whispered, kissing her on the lips.
    Charlie felt her body stiffen, her tone become defensive: “The flight was delayed, then there was a foul-up with my car service. I didn’t even get home until three.”
    He regarded her for a moment as if he barely knew her. What was meant to be a sweet gesture of longing had been received as an accusation. This was unlike Julie, but Charlie wasn’t about to deal with it in front of the children. And maybe she was just tired after the long flight.
    “Well, I’m glad you’re home,” he said. “Now sit and eat your breakfast.”
    A fter cleaning up the kitchen, Charlie helped Julie bundle the kids into the back of her Prius, warning them as always about the perils of public adventure.
    “All right, guys, now remember, there’s lots of people there and it’s easy to get lost. You remember the buddy system, right?”
    Ollie wasn’t paying any attention, but Meagan, ever eager for favor, raised her hand and cried, “Always keep Ollie in sight.”
    “That’s my girl!” Charlie kissed her, buckled her into her car seat, and gently closed the door. He leaned into Julie’s window to find her texting feverishly on her BlackBerry.
    “My sister,” she explained.
    “Do me a favor?” he heard himself say.
    “No calls from the car . . . ?”
    He ignored what he could have sworn was a slight roll of her eyes and pressed on. “I checked Sigalert. The 5’s going to be a mess. Drive carefully.” And then to take the edge off his command, he managed to add, “Please.”
    He smiled self-consciously, a Cheshire grin which seemed to disarm her for an instant, and he leaned into the car for a kiss.
    “Love you,” he said as half apology.
    “Love you, too,” she rejoined in a more perfunctory spirit than he would have liked.
    She made an ostentatious show of putting away her BlackBerry, flipped him a wave, and backed rapidly into the street.
    As they disappeared around the corner, Charlie felt a thin reed of anxiety rising slowly up his chest. Unconsciously, he touched the scar on his back where he’d been shot. Every year around the anniversary of Andijan he’d get twinges of pain there, twinges accompanied by a feeling of just how fragile the life he and Julie had built together was.
    He rolled his eyes, irritated at himself, trying to shake off his fears. Everything was fine. They were just