Pawns by Willo Davis Roberts

Author:Willo Davis Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Chapter 9

When Jason had not arrived by a little after ten the next morning, Teddi decided to save a few minutes by walking over to meet him. Heidi and Annie were sitting on the front steps, reading.

Annie looked up reluctantly. “Jason’s in the garage, fixing a tire on my bike,” she announced. “Just go find him, why don’t you.”

For a moment Teddi hesitated. Her mouth had suddenly gone dry. Slowly, her knuckles turning white on the handle of the racket Jason had lent her for the duration of the tennis lessons, she forced herself to move.

She got as far as the open garage door and felt totally unable to proceed any further. She stood there, staring into the dim interior, heart hammering.

Jason was kneeling, doing something with a tire on the floor. When her shadow fell across him, he looked up.

“Hi. I’ll only be another minute or two. Come on in.”

Teddi scarcely recognized her own voice. “I . . . I can’t.”

“Can’t?” Jason’s hands went still. “What do you mean, you can’t?”

Feeling suffocated, Teddi stepped backward. “I’m sorry. I . . . can’t go in there.”

For a matter of seconds, Jason registered only confusion. And then his eyes narrowed. “Is this where it happened? Where your dad committed suicide? Here in the garage?”

Teddi gulped audibly, beyond speaking.

Jason came swiftly to his feet, abandoning the bike. He emerged into the sunshine, one hand with a firm grip on her arm, propelling her away from the house. Behind him, the opening to the garage was a yawning black hole.

He swore softly, inoffensively. “Breathe deep. Sit down on the bench for a minute.”

Knees close to buckling, Teddi obeyed. Jason sank onto the seat, too, keeping his hand on her arm. “Did you find him?”

Teddi nodded, closing her eyes against the sight of the open garage, yet continuing to see it behind her closed lids. She heard her own voice, as if coming from a long way off. “Sorry. This was the first time . . . since they took him away.”

“I should have asked you before, but I thought Charlie was just shooting off his mouth when he told me he was surprised we bought the house after your dad died here. He’s kind of an irritating slob. I think he likes to say things that upset people. You feeling better now?”

Teddi opened her eyes. “Yes. Except for Mamie and Callie, I . . . I haven’t talked to anybody about it. He . . . closed up the garage and piped the exhaust fumes into the car. . . .

Jason’s hands gripped her upper arms as he swore again. “And he left it to you to find him and deal with the mess. Look, Teddi, we don’t have to have a tennis lesson this morning. You want to skip it for today?”

Teddi made an effort to pull herself together. “No. No, I feel like I need to move, to do something physical.”

Jason’s hand slid down one arm and clasped her hand, drawing her up with him.

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