What She Left Behind Read Online Free PDF Page A

duffel bag, which should be here soon. Has to be here soon. I want to lay my head down because it’s spinning, but I can’t because I might miss seeing my mom’s car.
    Why isn’t she here yet? Panic bumps around inside me, like I’ve swallowed a jack-in-the-box and can’t get the lid closed again.
    Mom, where are you?

CHAPTER 3
     
Tuesday
     
    P retty soon I’m the only one left at the Dairy Dream. All the high school students have gone back to class and the few adults who stopped by have returned to work. I can feel Mrs. Hamilton’s eyes on my back. If I don’t leave, I’m sure she’ll call Altman. That’s our superstrict assistant principal. She probably has him on speed dial; she’s the type. I stand up and head in the direction of school, scanning for Mom’s car.
    The problem with a town the size of Scottsfield is that there are no crowds to get lost in and no shops to even browse. Unless you count the Feed-and-Seed, which is where I stop. They have a display in front of the store. I pause to look at the salt licks. Sometimes we buy them for the deer that hang out in our field.
    “Sara?”
    I turn around. It’s Jack Reynolds. He stands so close I can smellhis sewer breath. Jack and my dad both graduated from Scottsfield High the same year. They were best buddies. Still are. Jack is a cop, like my dad used to be when we lived in Philadelphia.
    “Hi.” I try to sound nonchalant, but I can hear the quiver in my voice. I clear my throat. “How are you?”
    “Fine, just fine. How are you all holding up? It’s been four months now since—”
    Tact has always eluded Jack. “Yeah, about that,” I say. “We’re fine. Just fine.” If he believes that, he’s a moron.
    “Shouldn’t you be in school now?”
    I examine my watch—a scratched-up old Timex with a sun and moon that rotates as time passes. No need to read the time; I already have that memorized from when I checked a minute ago. “You’re right. I was at the Dairy Dream for lunch and I must’ve lost track of time. I better get back.”
    “Guess you better. Be seeing you, then.” Jack runs his fingers through his greasy hair.
    Neither of us moves. I pretend to check out the price of the salt licks.
    “You shouldn’t put those out for deer, you know,” he says. “Some folks will hunt them that way. Takes all the sport out of it, in my opinion.”
    What an idiot. As if we even keep guns in the house anymore.
    Ignoring him, I walk away.
    “Sara?”
    I turn around and sweep my eyes across the Dairy Dream parking lot as I wait for him to speak.
    “Say hi to your dad for me.”
    I freeze. Jack is grinning like a wolf.
    The day after my dad smashed the Statue of Liberty, my mom and I went to the Scottsfield police station to file a report. Jack took my mom’s statement, only he didn’t write anything down. He said, “I’ve known Ray a long time. He’s a good man. It takes a lot out of a man to see his son go that way. Give him some space. A little understanding. I’m sure things will work themselves out.” Then he gave Mom a pat on the shoulder and sent us home.
    When Dad came home that night, we knew that Jack had called him. Dad stomped in, slamming the door. Mom’s hand jerked away from the wooden spoon she was using to stir the ground beef. I stopped drying the glass in my hands and clutched it to me like a baby.
    “What lies have you been telling Jack about me, Michelle?”
    “I just … I thought …”
    Dad’s face was red, his eyes narrow. “You thought what? That you wanted me in jail? Is that what you thought? Do you know what they do to cops in jail?” Dad skipped over the fact that he’s no longer a cop.
    “No, I … Of course I …” She stepped away from the stove to get further away from my dad. Big mistake.
    My dad whipped the towel off the counter and pulled the cast-iron pan from the front burner. Then he flung it at my mom. Ground beef flew in all directions as the heavy pan hit her foot with a thunk . She