Sand Castles Read Online Free PDF Page A

wasted."
    "What kind of stuff?"
    "Oh ... bullshit stuff. Like Phil's getting a divorce from Cindy."
    "You're kidding!"
    "But not because of the money. Eh, well ... maybe because of the money. Before the lottery—I have to say—the two of 'em seemed shaky. But not that shaky."
    He sighed, then frowned. "What was I saying?"
    "Phil. Cindy."
    "Right. Now, all of a sudden, there's another woman in the picture. Where she came from, I don't know," he said, rolling his head back and forth at the ceiling. "Phil never said squat about her before. I think Phil, being Phil, would've said."
    "It's because of the money, you can bet on it," Wendy said in grim agreement. She got up to bring her husband a cup of black coffee because she didn't want him falling asleep in his chair, the usual aftermath of a boys' night out. "Phil's always been a jerk," she said from the kitchen, dismissing him.
    "On the bright side, Todd finally got engaged."
    "Because of the money, by any chance?" Wendy asked dryly as she set the mug down.
    "Damn right because of the money. You know how Todd is. Zero confidence."
    "His winnings should be able to buy him a good supply of that."
    "You would think. But—I dunno, it's weird, but—no one seems to be handling the money that well. Except me. I'm doin' all right with it. As you know. And Ed. But some of the other guys, their heads are pretty messed up over this. They're having real problems."
    Ignoring the mug on the coaster, Jim yawned sleepily and closed his eyes. He was one step away from kicking his recliner all the way back.
    "Don't you dare," Wendy warned her husband, but it was too late; he threw the lever before she could stop him.
    She was surprised at how unwilling she was to let him do his post-boys thing. "Stay up, Jim. I want to know who's having problems with the winnings. What kind of problems? Stay up," she said, pushing on his ankles to get him sitting straight again.
    "Cut it out, Wen," he groused. But she persisted, and he levered himself back into an upright position. "What do you want from me? You want me to tell you that we all decided to give our winnings back? That's not gonna happen. No one's interested in giving back a dime, sorry to disappoint you."
    "I didn't expect that. I want to know what 'messed up over this' means."
    Jim rolled his eyes and said, "Why did I open my mouth? This isn't something ... I don't know ... it's ... some of the guys are ... restless ... antsy ... I don't know."
    "You mean, about keeping their jobs?"
    His response to that was a snort. "Forget keeping their jobs; they'll all be out of there by the end of the month. And that includes me, by the way. I can do better than pushing paper around a desk all day." He added dryly, "Don't worry, though; we should be able to scrape by while I have a look around."
    "We've already talked about that," she said, surprised at his tone. "You know that I agree with you. You know that I think you should be happy in what you're doing."
    "Well ... just so you know I'm not going to stay there forever."
    Something in his voice, something in his green eyes, made him sound a little lost. Even him. Instantly sympathetic, Wendy came over and curled on his lap. S he laid her head on the back of the recliner alongside his and said softly, "This is such a huge change in our lives. In all of our lives."
    "You've got that right," he said, idly stroking her hair. He sounded a million miles away.
    "The one who's handling it best of us is Tyler , I think. As long as he's got what he wants in video games, he's happy. He's clueless about all the possibilities."
    "Oh yeah? He clued in on a new boat fast enough."
    "Well, okay, a boat," she said, smiling at the thought of the two of them poring over brochures days earlier. "That goes without saying. Still, I can see why the guys at the office are restless. They've just been handed what amounts to a second chance at life. How many people get that?"
    Jim angled his head to get a better look at her.