Read Online After Obsession by Carrie Jones, Steven E. Wedel - Free Book Online

give her a hard and tight hug before I open the door and slide into the cab. Finally, I am mobile again. Independent. Sweet!
    “I’m going to take it for a spin,” I announce, my hands gently stroking the big old steering wheel, then the gear shift, down to the ignition.
    “I don’t know, Alan,” Mom says. “You don’t have insurance on it. You don’t even have a Maine driver’s license.”
    “Oh, Holly, leave him alone,” Aunt Lisa argues. “Alan, stay in the city limits. If Nathan Wainscott pulls you over, you just tell him who you are and that you bought this truck from John Farley tonight.”
    “Nathan Wainscott?” I ask.
    “He’s the night cop,” Aunt Lisa says. “Don’t do anything wrong and he won’t bother you.”
    “I won’t,” I promise. I turn the key and the engine roars to life, then idles as smooth as silk. I know I’m grinning like an idiot.
    I close the door and drop the gearshift into reverse. The truck rolls out of the driveway. The brakes feel firm. I put it in drive and tap the accelerator. The old Ford eases forward, and we’re off. There are no misses, no knocks, no odd sounds at all, and no lights on that shouldn’t be. The heater blows hot. The radio works. The wipers work. No air-conditioning, but maybe they don’t need that in Maine.
    I soon realize just how small Goffstown is. This town would be jealous of a speck on the map. I drive through neighborhoods, past a grocery store, around the high school, along a bumpy back road, and finally end up back at Aunt Lisa’s house. I park behind her SUV and kill the engine.
    No more school bus!
    I pocket the keys and go into the house. Everybody’s huddled around the table.
    “Alan!” Aunt Lisa motions for me to sit down.
    “I’ll eat in my room.” Courtney glares at me before grabbing her plate and heading up the stairs. I watch her go as I make my way toward the table.
    “Alan, did you go in her room without knocking?” Mom asks. Both her and Aunt Lisa are looking at me, waiting for an answer.
    I nod, guilty. “Yeah.”
    “Why?” Mom asks.
    “I …” I thought I saw the boogeyman in her window. Can’t say that. “I went for a walk after school. When I was coming back I thought I saw something in the window. I was worried about her.”
    My mom repeats what I said like she’s trying to convince herself to believe me. “You were worried about her.”
    “Aimee called while you were gone,” Aunt Lisa says, changing the topic. “She wants you to call her back, Alan.” She pauses and her eyebrows kind of come together and a deep line forms over her nose. She’s trying to think of something to say.
    Aimee called and wanted to talk to me. Why?
    Mom drops her gaze to the table and I do, too. There are hamburger fixings laid out on plates. I reach for a bun.
    “Wash up, Alan, and sit down to eat,” Mom says. “I want you to be extra nice to Courtney, okay?”
    I wash my hands and sit back down to eat my second hamburger of the day. I let a few minutes go by before I ask, “Did you say Aimee called for me?”
    “She’s been dating Blake Stanley for a long time,” Aunt Lisa says. “Personally, I think all his brains are in his muscles.”
    I think of how I beat him in the seven-mile today and how, if his brains are in his muscles, he still isn’t very well off. I force myself not to gobble down the burger in two bites. I can feel the two women watching me and I know they know I’m much more excited than I’m letting on. They pretend to talk about things at the mill, but their eyes keep sliding back to me and tiny smiles play around their mouths. I can’t take it anymore. I cram the last quarter of the burger into my mouth and wash it down with a swig of Coke.
    “I guess I’ll call her back,” I say, getting up from the table.
    “Gonna talk about her boyfriend?” Mom teases.
    Aunt Lisa points me toward the wireless phone and recites a number for me. The phone starts buzzing in my ear.
    “That’s her