Small-Town Family by Margaret Watson

Author:Margaret Watson [Watson, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragonfly Press
Published: 2019-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Steve was perched on the side of her boat, tossing pebbles into the water. “Hey, Steve,” she said as she stepped on board.

He turned around. “Sorry, Charlotte. I know you were with Mr. Smith.” He threw another pebble into the water, harder. “Why didn’t you tell me to get lost?”

Her face was slightly tender, and she suspected that it was red from whisker burn. Pressing her cool hands against her cheeks, she thought of the smile on Dylan’s face when he’d left her. “It’s okay, Steve. I told you to call anytime.” Unlocking the cabin, she went in and sat on the couch. “What’s up?”

He followed her in and flopped down beside her. Out of the sun, she could see that his eyes were red. “My father threw me out of the house.” His hand shook as he pushed his hair out of his face. “He told me not to come back.”

“Oh, Steve, I’m sorry.” She reached over and grasped his hand. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Steve’s gaze hardened. “No. There’s nothing you can do. Stay away from him, Charlotte. Don’t even think about trying to talk to him. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“He wouldn’t hurt me.” Steve’s father was too much of a coward to go after anyone who would fight back. “But what about you? Do you have a place to stay?”

He shrugged. “I can stay with one of my buddies.” He looked away, but not before she’d seen his uncertainty.

“You can stay here, if you’d like,” she told him. “Until you get things straightened out.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course.” She couldn’t bear to think of Steve wandering from one friend’s house to another, feeling more lost and alone every day. “I’m sure it won’t be long.”

“He’s not going to let me back in the house,” Steve said bitterly.

Charlotte curled her legs beneath her and watched Steve. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

Steve jumped to his feet and prowled the small space. “The sheriff called,” he finally said. “My mother answered the phone. He wanted to make sure everything was okay -- that I was okay.” Steve shoved at a plastic chair across from the couch and it tumbled over. “He told her he wouldn’t have arrested me if he’d been on duty. He would have brought me home, instead. God forbid the public works commissioner should be embarrassed by something his son did.”

“Sheriff Godfrey was just following up, making sure you were all right,” Charlotte said. “That’s all.”

“Come on, Charlotte.” Steve turned to stare at her, and he looked far older than twenty-two. “You know the sheriff looks the other way when my father’s involved. He’s powerful around here. He controls a lot of jobs. Godfrey wanted to make sure Dad wasn’t angry.”

Charlotte wished Steve was wrong, but she knew he was right. The sheriff had been making excuses for Lyle Jacobs for years. “What happened after the sheriff called?”

“My father heard the end of the conversation. My mother wouldn’t tell him who it was, said it was just a phone solicitor.

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