Shattered by Kate Kelly

Author:Kate Kelly [Kelly, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Suspense
Publisher: Kate Kelly
Published: 2011-09-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Jay ran lightly down the stairs, ignoring the questions Tess hurled at his back. For the first time in what felt like forever, a laugh started low in his belly and worked its way up to his throat. How could he have forgotten how good it felt to tease her?

He continued on straight to his father’s room. There were still a lot of unsettling things to deal with, but right now, he wanted to hold onto the spark of optimism inside him.

Tess’s call on Lisa’s stubbornness had struck a note with him. He had only to look at himself and his father to confirm that obstinacy ran in the family. Over the last three years, Tom had as doggedly refused to give up on him, as Jay had clung to his guilt.

He stood by the open door and watched his father reading in bed. He didn’t feel completely absolved from his burden of guilt, but it had eased. There was a lightness inside him he hadn’t felt for years.

“How are you feeling, Dad?” He entered the room, pulled a chair over to the bed and straddled it backwards.

Tom put his book down. “Not so bad. Got a headache, though. Good thing Doc Brady didn’t think I needed to come in.”

“I still think you should pay him a visit. He told me what to watch for in case of concussion, but I’ll feel better once he’s checked you out.”

“You’ve got enough to worry about without adding me to your list. I can still take care of myself, you know.” He reached under his pillow and pulled out his revolver. “Just in case.” He slipped it back under the pillow. “I don’t feel much like going anywhere right now, anyway. Where’s Tess?”

“She’s upstairs getting dressed.” Jay hesitated, wondering how his father would feel about his opening Lisa’s room.

“She needed some clothes, so we went into Lisa’s room and found some. I thought….” His throat felt rusty, and he had to squeeze his words out. “I thought maybe we should clean that room out. It’s kind of dusty in there.”

Tom stared down at his book. He flipped it open, shut, open, shut. His mouth contorted into several different shapes, as if he were chewing the idea over. When he looked up, Jay’s stomach sank as he saw a tear caught at the edge of his father’s right eye. Aw hell, his father wasn’t ready for this.

Tom looked down at the book again and smoothed his hand over its cover. He nodded. “Good.”

Jay shot to his feet, turned his back to the bed and studied the books lining the opposite wall. He knew that tear was as much for him as for Lisa. He blinked a couple of times to clear his own eyes. Twice in one day. If someone had asked him last week if that could happen to him, he’d have laughed himself silly. Things were changing too fast.

He turned back to face his father. “Riley’s set it up so Tess and I can get out of here for a few hours.

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.