The Truth About Riley by Clarke Henrietta

Author:Clarke, Henrietta [Clarke, Henrietta]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Bottom Drawer Publications
Published: 2013-07-08T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

________________

WHEN THE PHONE rang early Sunday evening, for the first time ever Riley was glad that Cameron could not see him—not because of his scars, though obviously that relief lingered—but because he had cobwebs in his hair and a streak of dust across his nose. Possibly there was one across his cheek as well, but that was what he got for getting home from family time and spontaneously deciding to spring clean a cupboard that had not been opened since he’d hidden all his extraneous mirrors there nearly three years ago.

“Hey you,” he greeted, slightly breathless after managing to haul himself free from the mess he was sitting in. It was Cameron, and it was after six, so the phone call would definitely take a while, and consequently Riley headed to the bathroom to clean up a little before he settled down to talk.

“Dancing again? Or is it your niece and nephew wearing you down?” Cam asked, and though his tone was light, it also seemed kind of forced, which Riley wondered at. Come to think of it, the last time he’d answered the phone slightly out of breath, Cam had been weird for two days.

“No, they were angels today, and anyway I’m home now. Not dancing, either. Cleaning,” Riley amended, wetting a washcloth and scrubbing the dust off his face before attacking the cobwebs. A tiny spider fled from his attack by running down his arm, and he laughed at the ticklish sensation.

“Sounds like you enjoy it,” Cam said dryly.

Riley chuckled again. “Oh, that was just a spider tap-dancing down my wrist to get away from my self-cleaning operation before I collapse in comfort to chat. That cupboard is dusty! You’re right in a way though; it is kind of fun. I’m finding things in there that I’d almost forgotten I have. Like Monopoly! It’s been forever since I played Monopoly.”

“Yeah, me too, come to think of it. Not that I spend a lot of time thinking about Monopoly, but yeah . . . a couple years, maybe?”

“We should play it now,” Riley suggested impulsively, eyeing the box as he stepped out of the bathroom. “You have a set, right?”

“I think so; somewhere. Give me ten minutes to find it?”

“Sure. You want me to call back or entertain you while you search?”

“Oh, entertain me, definitely.”

“Sure, how would you like to be entertained? Song? Dance? Amusing anecdotes?”

Cameron snorted in response, muted thuds from his end of the line indicating that he was already searching for Monopoly.

“Yeah, I don’t think dancing is going to work when we’re communicating over the phone . . .”

“Oh, I don’t know about that—I do a pretty mean tap dance.” Riley glanced down at his bare feet and snickered. “You’ll have to wait till I find my clogs though.”

“You tap dance in clogs? Now there’s something I’d like to see. See, that is, not hear. So for the moment, singing will do.”

“Okay, singing I can do.” That was an understatement if ever he’d made one—Riley loved to sing.

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.