Stories Beneath Our Skin Read Online Free PDF Page B

much time to think. At college, he'd relished the brief quiet periods when he could really let his mind wander, but since he'd come home, his head had become an unsafe place to linger in. Maybe it was the waiting, patient grief or the biting sharp edges of memory that caught at him while he worked. Maybe it was that for the first time in his life, he wasn't striding toward something. There were no grades to be earned, no projects to finish, no damaged past to outrun. Standing still for the first time in four years, all the things he hadn't wanted to deal with came washing back in.
    He rolled down the windows, letting in the pounding heat that pooled sweat under his arms in a breath. It didn 't quite drown out Brandon's hands hard on his wrists or his mother's acid kiss glancing over his forehead. He cranked the radio and sang along.
    So intent was he on not thinking that he almost didn 't notice Ace and a wafer-thin slip of a woman going at it the parking lot as he pulled in. It was only when he'd gotten out of the car that their fight actually registered, shaking him out of his self-involved funk.
    " You can't just leave him here every time you want to run off to Atlantic City," Ace growled.
    " You always assume the worst of me!" the woman shouted, tears streaming down her face. "It's a job interview! How else am I supposed to find a way to keep us fed without begging stuff from you all the time?"
    " What kind of place is interviewing at seven o'clock on a Friday night?" Ace stepped closer to her, fury radiating off of him. "Why do you even bother lying to me anymore?"
    " I do have an interview! A secretary job. In a dentist's office!"
    Liam was just debating if he should sneak by , when a shift in the shadows caught his eye. Standing right behind Ace was a small boy with dishwater blond hair hanging in his eyes. He was watching Ace and the woman with one finger stuck in his mouth. Knot tightening in his gut, Liam went the long way around the fighting duo to squat down next to the kid.
    " Hi," he said softly. "My name's Liam, what's yours?"
    " Cole." The boy looked wary, shoving his finger further into his mouth.
    " That's a nice name. How old are you?"
    " Four and a half," Cole mumbled.
    " Wow. That's awesome. You know, it's kind of hot out here, huh?" Liam waited for the boy to nod. "You want to come inside and have some water?"
    Cole shrugged, eyes glued to Ace 's back.
    " Go ahead," Ace said gruffly, not turning around. "Go with Liam and get some water."
    " Don't tell him what to do!" the woman shrieked. "Damnit, Ace! I'm his mother!"
    " Hey, I bet Deb has a treat in her desk," Liam cajoled. "You know Deb?"
    " Uh-huh." Cole brightened. "She has lollipops."
    " Awesome, what's your favorite flavor?" Liam stood and started walking, gratified when Cole trailed along beside him.
    " Grape."
    " Yeah? Mine's lime because I like the color."
    " But it's all sour." Cole wrinkled his nose as Liam propped open the door.
    " Hey, it's the Cole-bean!" Deb said merrily when the boy trotted inside. "How's things?"
    " Okay." Cole pointed up. "This is Liam."
    " I know, he started working here last week. Kind of dorky, huh?"
    " He likes lime."
    " Ew." Deb laughed and opened her desk drawer fishing in it. She produced a grape lollipop, apparently already well versed in Cole's preferences. "You want one, Professor? I've got green ones, but I think they're apple."
    " No, thanks." Liam watched Cole unwrap the lollipop. His small sneakers were newer than the rest of his clothes; originally white, someone had drawn Spiderman on one and Superman on the other in bright marker. Not a hard guess on who had done that.
    " Hey, you want to draw with me?" Liam offered as Cole withdrew his finger to put in the lollipop. "We can sit here and talk to Deb while we work."
    Before Cole could make up his mind one way or another, Liam brought out the markers and sketchpad that had become a part of his daily routine. Sometimes he passed the time while Gene napped