(1993) One Summer by Karen Robards

Author:Karen Robards [Robards, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Suspense, Romance
ISBN: 9780307801371
Publisher: Dell
Published: 1993-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

27

“You got any more beer?” Johnny, sprawled out on the dilapidated couch in the living room of Glenda’s trailer, felt restless. The TV was on, blaringly loud as it broadcast a Wild Kingdom special on poisonous butterflies of the Amazon or some such thing. Stretched out on the floor, his head propped on his hands, Jeremy watched, transfixed. Jake, four, sat contentedly in Johnny’s lap and stared at the TV, though Johnny was pretty sure the kid had about as much idea of what was happening on the screen as he did.

“In the fridge.” Glenda was in the bathroom giving her two girls a bath. Their every splash and giggle could be heard in the living room—the trailer was that small. It boggled Johnny’s mind how Glenda could live in a space consisting of two tiny bedrooms, a living room barely big enough for a couch, an easy chair, and a TV, a minuscule kitchen, and an equally minuscule bathroom, with four kids and not go insane.

“Jeremy, would you do me a favor and get me a beer?”

Silence greeted this request. Jeremy was too caught up in his program to hear. Johnny thought about trying again, at a greatly increased volume, but then decided against it. Let the kid watch TV in peace.

“Come on, pardner, got to scoot,” he said to Jake, who obligingly permitted himself to be set down on the couch. Johnny got up, stretched, and walked into the kitchen in his socks to get himself a beer. His sneakers had been lost somewhere beneath the couch, removed earlier by Jake, who was developing a fascination with shoe strings.

Opening the refrigerator door, Johnny saw one intact six-pack with some surprise. He could have sworn there had been two. How many beers had he drunk?

Did it matter anyway? Johnny mused as he pulled one free of the rings and popped the top.

“Hey, Johnny, throw me a Coke!” Jeremy called over his shoulder.

“No Coke!” Glenda shouted from the bathroom.

Jeremy shrugged. Johnny poured the kid a glass of milk and took it over to him. It was really touching how Glenda tried so hard to be a good mother to her kids. Making them drink milk instead of pop, for instance. Giving every one of them a bath every night. Reading books to the younger ones, though Glenda had never read anything more complicated than a cookbook herself, to Johnny’s knowledge. Making sure that Jeremy and Ashley, at six the older girl, did their homework on school nights. Glenda hadn’t been raised with such care. Johnny knew that her childhood had been almost as rough as his own, and he thought a lot of her for trying to give her kids better.

At least, since they’d started going out, he’d made sure there was always food in the refrigerator. He’d gone hungry himself enough times to be unable to stand the idea of kids not having enough to eat.

“Ugh,” Jeremy said without looking up as Johnny set the glass on the floor beside him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.