Read Online Angel of Redemption by J. A. Little - Free Book Online Page B

school? ” I ask after awhile.
    “ Same old, same old. ”
    “ Oh, please, little miss straight A s. ”
    Claire
frowns at me and pulls her legs up to her chest. “ I ’ m just bored, Kayla. My life is so
monotonous. I wake up, go to school, and hang out at the same places doing the
same things. Mom and Dad are so freaked out I ’ m going to do something wrong, they
don ’ t
let me do anything at all. ”
    “ Sorry, honey. They wouldn ’ t be like that if it weren ’ t for me. ”
    “ Yes, they would, ” she grumbles. “ Dad ’ s got a stick permanently wedged up
his ass. He won ’ t
even let me date. The cutest boy in school asked me to go to a movie — a movie , Kayla. Not a party, not a danc e— a movie. Dad said no way. ”
    “ What did Mom say? ”
    “ She said, and I quote, ‘ I can ’ t
go against your father . ’” Claire sits up straight when she says
this and her voice gets all hoity-toity. I grin at her. She sounds just like
our mother. “ It ’ s bullshit. ”
    “ Oh. My. God! ” I gasp. “ Did Claire Graeme just swear? ”
    “ Shut up. ” She giggles, sticking her foot out to kick me.
    “ Well, you ’ ve got two whole weeks in the lap of
luxury right here, so live it up. But no booze, no boys, and no sex. ”
    “ Well, what the heck is left? ” she squeals. I snort and then realize what she ’ s just said.
    “ Wait … please
tell me you ’ re
not doing those things already. ” I know I ’ m
being a hypocrite, but I don ’ t want my sister taking the same path
I did.
    “ No. ” Claire frowns. “ I ’ ve only ever had wine and I ’ m not even allowed out with a boy, so sex is pretty much
off the table. ”
    “ Oh, good, ” I sigh, relieved.
    “ Topic change. How ’ s work? ”
    “ Same old, same old, ” I mock. The front door opens and Andy wanders in, holding
two bags of takeout. Claire and I descend on him like vultures.
    “ Holy shit! ” he yells. “ What is this, feeding time at the zoo?
What is wrong with you women? ”
    Claire
opens one of the Styrofoam containers and pops a piece of sesame chicken into
her mouth.
    “ We ’ re hungry. You took too long. ”
    Andy
narrows his eyes at my little sister, but he can ’ t hold it. He smiles.
    “ Hey, Claire-bear. How you been? ”
    “ Thank you, thank you, thank you for
talking to Daddy, ” Claire says, wrapping her arms around
Andy and hugging tightly.
    “ Yeah, yeah, ” he feigns nonchalance. It was Andy who finally convinced my
stepfather that Claire would be okay staying with us. It doesn ’ t matter that I ’ m a completely different person than I
used to be. It doesn ’ t matter that I’m an adult with a respectable job that
requires a background check and random drug tests. I will always be the
troublemaker; the stepdaughter he never wanted.
    After
dinner, I pull out my laptop to work on my court report while Andy and Claire
watch TV. After a couple hours, I ’ m done. The words on the page are blurring together, and I
accidentally typed the same sentence three times.
    “ I gotta go to bed, guys, ” I groan, standing up and stretching my arms over my head.
    “ Good night, ” Claire yawns.
    “ You ’ ve got school tomorrow. Try not to
stay up too late, please. ”
    “ I won ’ t, ” she assures.
    “ Night, buttercup, ” Andy mumbles.
    As
wiped out as I am, I don ’ t sleep well. Every time I close my eyes, I see green ones
staring back at me. By the time I wake up in the morning, I think I ’ m even more tired than I was before I
went to bed. Luckily, Friday is an easy day. I ’ m on call, so I sit in the office all
day long catching up on paperwork and phone calls.
    I ’ m very tempted to Google Dean Wyatt,
but I ’ m
afraid of what I ’ ll
find. It couldn ’ t
be that bad, or they ’ d never let him work with kids, but, at the same time I ’ m pretty sure those are prison tats he
has on his knuckles. I wonder where else he ’ s inked? No, I don’t—or
at least I