Past Due Read Online Free PDF

passed. “Maybe I’ll see you later?” Jenna nodded, still too dumbstruck to speak.
    “Why, of course you will,” Esther announced. “She’ll be taking the pictures.”
    “You ready, Jenna?” Russ asked.
    “Can I catch up in a second? I need to get my…” Jenna’s mind searched for a reason to stall so she could get her bearings, “…my gear ready. Then I’ll be right out.”
    “All right then. Ten minutes enough?”
    “Plenty,” Jenna lied. Eons wouldn’t be enough time. She took a deep breath and watched Tres leave the room as if she was transported to another planet. Chip or Chaz. It was Charles. Charles Winston Coulter the third, Tres for short. She should have known the name Lois couldn’t think of was Charles. He gave her a lazy smile and followed Russ down the creaking oiled stairs. Her eyes were fixed on his retreating form until his shoulders disappeared below the banister.
    “So, how do you two know each other?” Esther inquired, offering Jenna a cup of coffee. Jenna accepted it with a nod, her voice still frozen in her throat.
    “Was he a friend of Jake’s?”
    Jenna shook her head. Slowly, she recognized the look of concern, confusion and interest on the woman’s face, so she answered quickly, “He’s just a friend from a long time ago.” Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment as she thought of how composed he was compared to her own anxious response. Clearing her throat, she explained, “I was just surprised to walk in and find him, of all people, here. Tres Coulter doesn’t run in our circles.”
    “Trace? I thought his name was Charlie?”
    “Charlie?” Jenna laughed; she couldn’t imagine him being a Charlie, or a Chip, Chuck or Chaz. He was Tres. “Tres is a nickname.”
    “You’re awfully pale, Jenna. Are you sure you’re all right?” She then added in a hushed tone, not waiting for an answer: “Was he...special?”
    “Oh, no.” Jenna nearly jumped out of her skin. She modulated her tone to keep it light. In this town gossip spread like unchecked mildew, and she didn’t need her name linked at all with Tres Coulter’s. “Just a friend. We lost touch the summer I graduated from high school. My family problems probably scared him off. And life’s been so busy, I forgot all about him. I guess that’s why I was so shocked to see him today.”
    “Well, I suppose it’d be easy to lose touch during the fiasco with your dad and your poor sister, God rest her soul. Maybe you’ll have time to catch up on a friendship while he’s here?”
    “Absolutely not,” Jenna blurted, and then said with a sigh and a smile, “I barely knew him for more than a few summers.”
    “Oh, a summer romance.”
    “You islanders,” Jenna teased. “You sound like Lois. I’m just not the romantic type.”
    “Saints alive, child. How can you live and breathe this island air and not believe in romance?” Esther’s sharp eyes were on Jenna probably evaluating every gesture and expression so she could make a proper report to the grapevine. Jenna grinned, sipped her coffee, and said, “I guess I’m just too practical to fall for happily ever after. Fairy tales are only real until the last page is read. Close the book and it’s over.”
    Esther clucked her tongue, “You’re too young to be so jaded, but I suppose that’s for another time. Right now, you better get on out there and get those pictures.”
    “I agree. Time to get to work.” She grabbed her equipment and headed down the steps, not slowing until she reached the exit door. Then, the thought hit her.
    Tres was on the other side of the door. Flesh and blood, beating black heart and all. Just open the door and get it over with, she chastised herself. But still she couldn’t propel her hand to touch the door knob. She couldn’t face him, not yet. Sliding to a window in a vacant room, she watched him move about the grounds while she remained safely shielded by a pane of glass. His face was more defined and his eyes larger,