Be the Girl a Novel by K. A. Tucker

Author:K. A. Tucker [Tucker, K. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: K.A.Tucker
Published: 2019-01-21T05:00:00+00:00

* * *

“… works with teenagers.” Uncle Merv’s gruff voice carries up the stairwell, along with the delicious waft of something.

“You told Iris!” my mother hisses.

I freeze, my ears perking to listen, knowing instantly that this has to do with me.

“No! Of course not. She was prattling on about her granddaughter and mentioned that she had some emotional issues—”

“Aria worked with a therapist at home. I don’t want to keep pushing her to talk about it when she clearly wants to move on. And now that we’re far away from those people and all the reminders, and I’m here and present in her life, I really believe she’s going to be fine.”

“That wasn’t your fault, Debra. If anything, I blame that lousy father of hers.”

“Oh, come on, Merv. Of course it was my fault.” The kitchen chair legs drag along the linoleum floor. “I’m to blame for at least part of it. Between the divorce and my career, I was never around. I assumed too much; I didn’t know what was really going on with her until it was too late. That wasn’t my Aria. But she’s back, and trust me, she never wants to go through something like that again.”

“All I’m saying is these teenagers get good at hiding things. I know Connie and I didn’t have any of our own, but I’ve seen and heard a lot in my years.”

“I know, believe me. But I’m watching her carefully and we’re talking now and—”

The floorboard creaks under my foot, cutting off whatever my mother was going to say. Not that it’s a mystery to me.

Murphy is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, his tail wagging off-tempo, as if he’s hoping for a walk but isn’t sure he’s going to get one. When I grab the leash off the hook, he heads for the door. I could probably get away with not leashing him, if he’d stop going straight for Merv’s struggling rosebush.

“No, Murphy!” I hiss, steering him toward the line of hedges so he can relieve himself. He has a slight spring in his hobbled step that wasn’t there on Thursday, I note. A more confident tail wag to replace the tentative one, multiple swipes of his wet nose against my hand that feel like signs of affection.

I smile despite my bad mood, knowing I did the right thing for Murphy, even if meant risking the wrath of Uncle Merv.

We’re halfway to the main street when Murphy lifts his nose to sniff the air. He stops to peer over his shoulder and a stripe of hair rises along his back.

“What’s up, buddy?” I follow his line of sight to see the tall form jogging toward us in a long-sleeved shirt and track pants.

My stomach flutters the way it always does in that first moment of spotting Emmett.

I scratch behind Murphy’s ear in a soothing way. “It’s okay, he’s our friend.”

Emmett comes to a stop five feet away. “Hey,” he offers, a touch breathless. His hair is untamed, as if he just rolled out of bed.

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.