Tomorrow's Sun Read Online Free PDF Page B

landing on her chin, another on the picnic table. He handed her a napkin.
     
    “Mine’s better. Taste?” Eyes gleaming, she proffered a heap of neon blue with colored bits.
     
    “Not a chance. You gotta wonder how this came about. Some dude coughs a wad of gum into the custard mix and says, ‘Hey, let’s call it Batman Bubblegum!’”
     
    “A stroke of genius.”
     
    Jake shook his head. “There are names for people like you. Weird, for one.” He handed her a second napkin for the blue moustache sprouting on her upper lip. “You look like your mom when you smile like that.”
     
    “Like this?” She punctuated a warped grin with a blue tongue.
     
    The sassy face, meant to make him smile, felt like a curled fist pressed to his sternum. She’d inherited Abby’s comedic timing. “Yeah. Just like that.”
     
    Lexi handed her cone to him. “Okay, be serious for a sec.” She pulled the band out of her ponytail and fluffed her hair over her shoulders. “Do I look more like Mom with my hair long or short?”
     
    Jake shook his head. “Unfair question. You know I only like long hair. All men prefer long hair.”
     
    “I didn’t ask if I should get it cut. I asked which way I look more like Mom.”
     
    Grasshopper custard dripped across his knuckles. “Long.”
     
    “Good.” She pointed to the puddle collecting under his hand. “I think it really bugs Ben that I look like her.”
     
    In the time it took him to lick the back of his hand, Jake experienced an emotion bordering on empathy. Thankfully, it didn’t linger. “So how are things at home this week?” He watched Lexi’s force field slide into place. “Be honest. I promise I won’t worry.”
Not
. He would worry, and he would write it all down.
     
    Lexi shrugged. “He took Adam’s phone away, and I only get mine until the end of the week when the contract is up. Oh yeah, he has a girlfriend.”
     
    The cake cone crackled under Jake’s fingers.
     
    “Adam heard noises downstairs last night.”
     
    Acid rose in Jake’s throat. He didn’t want to ask, but he had to—for the record. “What did he hear?”
     
    “A woman’s voice. They were laughing. What kind of person would laugh at Ben’s stupid jokes? Anyway, that’s the real reason Adam got up to feed Pansy—so he could check it out. They were in Ben’s room.”
     
    Jake turned away and slammed the rest of his ice cream at the trash can.
     
    “Ben came out and went nuts on Adam.” Lexi wiped her mouth. “Don’t say anything, okay?” Her tone pleaded.
     
    “I won’t.
” Not yet
. He’d reported Ben to Human Services before. The guy slid through cracks like sewer water. He had to bide his time, bite his tongue, and trust his lawyer to work it out. In the meantime, he’d keep taking notes. And keep stashing away as much money as he could. Taking these kids out of Ben Madsen’s grasp could take everything he had.
     
    “Promise?”
     
    Jake tapped his knuckles on the table, trying to remember what he was supposed to promise. “That I won’t tell? I’ll promise for now, if you make one to me.”
     
    Lexi tipped her head to one side.
Déjà vu
. Jake could have been eight years old, tagging along with his big sister, eating frozen custard at this very table. Lexi scrunched her nose, wrinkling pink-tinged freckled skin. “What?”
     
    “Promise me that if Ben ever hits you or Adam or touches—”
     
    His phone, sitting on the table between them, rang. He glanced down, expecting the electrician or someone from his drywall crew. He was
not
expecting the name on the screen.
     
    Emily Foster.
     
    What part of “not interested” didn’t she understand? True, he hadn’t said it quite that clearly, but she should have gotten the gist. Did the woman think he was just playing the business version of hard-to-get? As he shut off the sound, something in Lexi’s eyes grabbed him. A shuttered look, the force field sliding back into place. “Lex, has Ben ever