The Man She Once Knew Read Online Free PDF

and a shapeless, too-big T-shirt. The clothing gave Callie no clues as to gender, nor did the mop of dark brown hair that might have been bowl cut, but the delicate features seemed to belong to a girl.
    “Heard Miss Margaret had someone staying here. Didn’t want the plants to die even if she—” The girl’s eyes cut away, but not before Callie saw grief in them. “She wouldn’t like that. Anyway, food shouldn’t be wasted.”
    “Who are you?” Callie asked.
    “Jessie Lee. Chambers,” the girl added. “Granny and me live on the Ridge in one of Miss Margaret’s rent houses. Who are you? What are you doing here?” she challenged.
    The Ridge. Where David’s house was—but she wouldn’t think about that now. “My name is Callie Hunter. Miss Margaret was my great-aunt.”
    “You taking over?” The girl’s gaze darted to her. “’Cause Granny is putting together the rent money as fast as she can, and I can do some more work for you to make up the difference, just like I did for Miss Margaret.”
    Oh, man. Callie did not want the people in those properties to become real. “What kind of work?”
    “Anything she needed. I’m strong. I can cut the grass, help can the vegetables from the garden, wash the windows. I painted the toolshed, and I was supposed to help paint the inside, but she—” Jessie Lee shrugged and didn’t finish.
    “How old are you?”
    “Thirteen.” But her gaze cut away, and Callie was fairly certain she was lying, that she was, in fact, younger.
    So much came back to Callie then, how the children in these pockets of poverty had to grow up and assume responsibility at much younger ages than their suburban counterparts. Inner-city kids grew up fast, as well, but far too often learned a much different set of survival skills centered around violence, not gardening or household chores.
    The fear she saw in this girl’s eyes softened Callie’s resentment that she was being forced to get involved. “How often did Miss Margaret employ you?”
    “Depends on how Granny’s money was holding out.” Jessie Lee shrugged, but her expression was wary. “You gonna change everything?”
    “I—” How did she answer? She settled for the truth. “I have no idea. I—I wasn’t prepared for this.”
    “Anything you need to know, you just ask me. I can help you.” The girl’s words were rushed. “I know I don’t look it, but I’m strong, I swear. I can manage whatever I need to.”
    The plea was difficult to resist. “Is your pay current?”
    “Miss Margaret didn’t give me money. She just kept my hours and worked it out with my granny.”
    Callie frowned. “Do you know where she kept the records?”
    Jessie Lee tapped her temple. “In her head, best I could tell.”
    Oh, Miss Margaret …But the girl’s worry got to Callie. She’d run away at fifteen, and she could remember the anxiety of having no security and no control only too well. She’d have to consult with Albert, as well as Jessie Lee’s grandmother. In the meantime, though, she could put a little power back into the girl’s hands. “How about this? You make me a list of what you’ve done for the last month, best you can recall, while I’m sorting things out.”
    “I could do that,” the girl replied eagerly.
    “I’m not ready to think about painting inside the house, but perhaps you could continue to care for the garden until I get things figured out.”
    “Yes, ma’am. Grass needs cutting, too.”
    Callie had her doubts about the child’s ability to handle a mower, but she was all too aware of how desperation could lend strength. “Then let’s go look at the mower.”
    “Yes, ma’am!” Jessie Lee’s worry lines disappeared, and for the moment at least, Callie had a small sense of making progress.
    Plus a welcome distraction from the afternoon’s tour.
    Which would include the house where David was living.
     
    I T WAS TOO BLASTED HOT to be running, but David had learned in prison that wearing