The Things That Keep Us Here Read Online Free PDF

One man had recently entered the country from South Korea. Anyone who has visited that country should be watchful for signs of disease. The onset is rapid, beginning with a severe headache or fever. Individuals experiencing these symptoms are advised to consult a physician immediately.”
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FOUR
    I HATE, HATE, HATE TENNIS.” KATE DUMPED HER RACKET into the footwell and reached for her seatbelt. Her hair looped over her shoulder in a shining ponytail, her green eyes carefully outlined in black. Tiny pink earrings twinkled in her earlobes. Ann thought she looked adorable. “I have the absolute worst backhand of everyone. I don’t know why you’re forcing me to play.”
    So it was going to be one of those days. Ann pulled the minivan away from the curb and decided to go for a light approach. “You know, Kate, you never went through the terrible twos. Maybe you were saving it all up for the terrifying thirteens.”
    Maddie giggled from the backseat.
    Kate frowned. “I’m serious. You always make me do things I don’t want to.”
    “Well, I’m not forcing you to play. Your father and I have talked to you about this.” Ann pulled to a stop at the red light and looked over at Kate. “You were the one who signed up for the team. It’s important to keep the commitments you make. We don’t want you to be a quitter.”
    “Oh, you mean like you?”
    Ann winced. This separation was hard on all of them. Kate lifted her chin and glared back at Ann. But beneath that arch defiance, Ann saw her unhappy little girl looking back, longing for reassurance. “Oh, honey.” She put her hand on her daughter’s forearm. “It’s not like that at all.”
    The corners of Kate’s mouth turned down. She looked utterly bereft. Ann tightened her grip on her daughter’s arm. If only she could take this from her child.
    Then Kate’s features smoothed out again. She wrenched her arm away and turned to the window. “Whatever.”
    Maddie piped up from the backseat. “We had a fire at school today.”
    “Yeah, right.” Kate lifted a hip to tug her cell phone from her jeans pocket.
    “No, we really did. Ask Mommy. The firefighters came and everything.”
    Kate glanced at her.
    Ann nodded. “It’s true. We really did have a fire. Fortunately, it was just a small one.”
    Kate looked over the seat at Maddie. “So the entire school building didn’t burn down?”
    Ann glanced in the rearview mirror. Maddie had been bouncing a little in her seat, and now she stopped and looked apprehensive.
    “No.”
    “And you still have to go to school tomorrow?”
    “Well … yeah.”
    “Sucks for you.”
    Maddie crossed both arms over her chest. “You used to like school.”
    It was true, Ann thought sadly. Kate used to bring home perfect report cards. She never talked back to her teachers. Ann never got a phone call from the guidance counselor asking her to come in and discuss why Kate wasn’t handing in assignments. Is there something going on at home that’s upset Kate? the woman had asked.
    “Listen, guys.” Ann braked to allow a couple of teenagers to dart across the street. “I’m thinking of pulling you out of school next Wednesday. I thought maybe we could head to Grandma and Grandpa’s a day early.”
    Maddie squealed and clapped her hands. “Can we?”
    “Don’t you have to work?” Kate said.
    Said with some bite to it. Ann understood. Her going back to work was yet another thing that Kate had had no control over. “I’ve already talked to your homeroom teacher, and you don’t have any tests or projects due that day.” The teens reached the curb and Ann accelerated. “So I think we can do it.”
    There was a sudden jangle of music. Kate flipped open her cell phone and began pressing buttons.
    “Daddy’s not coming with us, is he?” Maddie wanted to know.
    Ann sighed. “No, honey. Daddy isn’t coming.” It had been a year, long enough for any new routines to start feeling like old ones, but Maddie