Read Online Close to Home by Liz Lee - Free Book Online Page A

destroyed that.  
    He started to hammer again, missed and hit his thumb.
    Biting back curses, he closed his eyes and wished the kids would go away instead of laughing at him.
    “You should’ve played soccer with us,” Isabel said. “You have bad luck now.”
    “Isabel, come here.” Maria’s stacattoed order sounded across the yard and the little girl sighed.
    “I’m in trouble again.”
    With that she ran away and Donovan was left to blessed peace and the heartache of memories.

    The next day Donovan stopped at a shop José told him would have a soccer ball, pump and patch kit. He dropped the bag of supplies by the back door and got started on the fence. Thankfully, the children left him alone. He’d taken Carlita up on the challenge. He’d worked all day and then used tequila to chase his demons away at night. It worked better than the cheap beer he kept in his room. Besides, he didn’t want to drink alone.  
    “Your thumbnail’s going to fall off, probably.”
    Isabel.
    “Won’t be the first time,” he said before thinking. Great. He’d engaged her. Now she’d never go away.
    “You’re famous. Tia Carlita said you’re on TV.”
    “Not any more,” Donovan said and swore he wouldn’t say another word as he started work.
    “That’s good. You’d look silly on TV now. Your shirt has purple on it. And you smell bad. I’m gonna be on TV one day.”
    Donovan hammered. Isabel talked.
    “Or maybe I’ll stay here and help Maria. My Momma died when the baby got stoled. I don’t got no dad.”
    Do not engage.  
    “You left the bag by the front door. Maria told me to say thank you and then go back in the house.”
    Good.
    “You wanna play Barbies?”
    Dear God.  
    He finally gave the little girl his attention and noticed her frown and the dark circles under her eyes. “Where are your buddies?” he asked.
    “They’re all sick today. They got a bug. It’s gross.”
    Donovan swallowed not wanting to think about sickness.
    He dropped the can of nails and hammer and stood. He’d passed a pharmacy on the way over.  
    “I’ll be back,” he said then turned away.
    A few minutes later he had children’s Pepto, lemon and lime Jarritos and crackers. He didn’t know whether it would make a difference, but at least he’d tried.
    He knocked on Maria’s door and handed the bag to her then turned to get back to work on the fence.
    After an hour he heard Isabel talking to herself as she kicked the new soccer ball around the front yard. At first he thought she was playing make believe like most kids, but then he heard her words and his heart hurt.
    “I don’t want to go. Please. I don’t want to.”

    When the fence was done Maria gave him new work. A chicken coop to build. Cabinets to fix. A garden to hoe. A roof to plank. A well to dig.
    Donovan embraced the work. Used it as an anchor. As long as his muscles hurt, he could stay sane. Until one day Isabel met him at the gate with news.
    “Your friend’s inside. Maria told him he can’t write about us or we could all die. That’s the way it works here.”
    Holy crap. Something slipped inside him. Donovan could feel the anchor giving way as he ran toward Maria’s door. His heart raced, his stomach lurched.
    Sure enough his old boss sat at the kitchen table talking as if he couldn’t imagine another place on earth he’d rather be. Like a vulture circling the next big ratings hit. He had to get the man out of here. Had to make him leave now.  
    “Sam, my man.” Donovan hoped he sounded calm.
    “Nelson, you look like...”
    Donovan knew what he looked like, and he knew Sam’s mouth. He nodded toward Isabel and Sam’s voice trailed off.
    With more urgency than he’d shown in a month, Donovan thanked Maria for everything, tossed his hat on the table and ushered Sam out of the woman’s house and down the alleys, past the stores where he’d picked up the ball and medicine, back to the bar where José and Carlita would be working. Anything to