The Secrets of Rosa Lee by Thomas Jodi

Author:Thomas, Jodi [Thomas, Jodi]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781459291584
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2015-12-14T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Sloan slammed Sidney’s door and ran through the rain to the other side of his truck. He flipped the driver’s seat down and reached in the back for a flask. Without bothering to ask, he mixed the whiskey with what was left of her Coke and handed it to her. He had no idea if the whiskey would help, but it couldn’t hurt. The professor looked as if she’d seen a ghost.

As she drank, he watched a little of the color return to her face. The rain pounded hard, closing out all the world but the pickup’s cab. He started the engine wishing he understood what had upset her, surprising himself by how much he cared. “Do I need to drive to the hospital?” Maybe she was having one of those spells she’d had on Monday when the drill bit flew through the window at the Altman place. He was no doctor. He had no idea what would help.

“No. It’s not another panic attack or whatever the doctors called it on Monday,” she answered his unasked question and took a long drink. “I’ll be all right in a minute.”

“What did you have to eat today?” His mom’s answer to everything from a cold to cancer was food. They had picked up Cokes on their way out of Clifton Creek but he hadn’t thought to ask if she’d wanted anything else.

“I skipped breakfast.”

“I was afraid of that. It’s after one. How about we eat lunch and you tell me what shook you up back there?”

Sidney nodded. “Your bedside manner could use a little work, but thanks for getting me out of that place. If I’d had to breathe that air much longer I might truly have passed out.”

He watched her closely, unsure she wasn’t putting on an act of being brave. She looked healthy, but she might be one of those fragile women for all he knew. His mother had spent her entire marriage convincing Sloan’s dad how fragile she was. She’d stayed in bed most of her three pregnancies and continued nap time long after her children had given it up because she had to rest. Strange thing was, she outlived Sloan’s dad by almost twenty years.

Sidney broke into his thoughts. “I’m fine. Really.”

He leaned across and tilted her face up with his hand. “You still look pale.” His thumb brushed across her cheek as he studied her. Her skin was soft, warm and free of makeup. Most women her age wore so much they needed a separate piece of luggage just to carry it all.

“I promise, I’m all right,” she insisted, reading his mind again. “But, you’re right. I’m starving.”

He relaxed and straightened back to his side of the seat. “I know just the place. Best chicken-fry in the state.”

Fifteen minutes later they were shown to a booth in a crowded restaurant known as the Pioneer. He shook his head when the waitress tried to hand him a menu and ordered two chicken-fried steak specials.

“Specials?” Sidney asked when they were alone once more.

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