Torn Apart Read Online Free PDF

ever.
    They paused at the intersection as a late-model blue truck drove past, then they crossed together onto the church grounds.
    “Here we are,” she said brightly, as they started up the walk. “Remember. We’re staying for dinner after the services.”
    “I know,” Bobby said. “That means I get to play on the slide after dinner.”
    “You sure do,” she said, and then smiled at the elderly man who greeted them as they entered the church.
    “Mornin’, Miz Earle…Bobby…. Ya’ll come on in outta that heat.”
    Katie smiled. “Good morning, Mr. Franklin. How have you been?”
    “Can’t complain,” he said, then pointed to the cake carrier. “That wouldn’t happen to be coconut cake, now, would it?”
    She grinned. It was her specialty. “You know it is,” she said.
    “Mmm-hmm…I’ll be havin’ me a piece of that for dessert,” he said. “See you later.”
    She nodded, then walked Bobby down the hall to his classroom before dropping the cake off in the kitchen.
    A short while later she slipped into a seat beside a friend and picked up a songbook. Opal Passmore, the church organist, played the first stanza of the song—a signal that the services were about to begin. People began ending their conversations and hurrying to their seats while the thick walls of the old church masked the sound of the rising wind.

    As he drove past the intersection by the Methodist Church, Newt Collins could not have stopped his treacherous thoughts any more than he could have stopped breathing.
    Oh, Lordy…would you looky here! There’s pretty little Bobby Earle standing on the street corner with his mama, and doesn’t he look cute? Blue jeans, and a red-and-blue-striped shirt, with his hair all combed and parted on the side. Pretty as a picture.
    Newt was so excited he circled the block one more time in hopes of a second glimpse. But by the time he drove around again, they’d gone inside.
    It hadn’t taken long for news to get around Bordelaise that the Earles were separated. But for Newt, the downside of that had been that the kid was no longer in town on the weekends. Newt didn’t know what had changed that had put him here today and didn’t care. So instead of going straight home as he’d planned, he drove past Pinky’s Get and Go, grabbed a cold Pepsi and a Snickers bar, and headed back toward the church.
    The kids sometimes played out on the church playground after services. Might as well find a shade tree to park under to enjoy his snack. And if he happened to be parked near that playground when the kids came out, well, it was a free country. A man should be able to enjoy a snack wherever and whenever he so chose. Even when the wind began to pick up a bit, it didn’t concern him. The day was hot as hell. A good breeze was a welcome relief.

    J.R. was at the helipad, waiting for the second helicopter to arrive. The hurricane had not shifted course, which meant the rig had to be evacuated. One chopper had already come and gone, taking the crew from day shift and their chief, Charlie Watts. J.R. had stayed behind with the men from the night shift.
    The wind was rising hourly, and he was starting to worry. If the chopper didn’t come soon, they would be stranded, and he was sick and tired of playing nursemaid to Stanton Blalock and doing his work while the other man lay in his bunk or hung out in the mess room, eating and playing cards.
    Blalock felt no shame for what he’d done and blamed the accident that had sent the welder to the hospital on faulty equipment. Even worse, a few of his buddies had chosen to back up the lies, which was causing a division in the ranks. There were the “feel sorry for Blalock” crowd, and the “feed Blalock to the fishes” crowd. A time or two, it had taken all of J.R.’s people skills to keep the two factions from an all-out brawl. All he wanted was to get the sorry bastard to dry land, and then get in his truck and go home.
    The wind was stronger than ever now,