Read Online Coal River by Ellen Marie Wiseman - Free Book Online Page A

Percy said. “Every payday they come in here and cause trouble.”
    “Well, why do you let them get away with it?” Aunt Ida said. “You’re in charge, remember?”
    “I try not to, Ma,” Percy said. “But I don’t have eyes in the back of my head. That’s the other reason I need help. I can’t watch everybody!”
    “When Emma is done learning what I need her to do at the house,” Aunt Ida said, “I’ll send her over to help you out.”
    “The sooner the better,” Percy said. He stomped around the counter, stopped at the register, and noticed the bread and milk were gone. “Shit!”
    Aunt Ida’s eyes went wide. “What now?” she said.
    Percy shook his head, the veins in his forehead bulging. “Nothing,” he said. “I just remembered something I forgot to do. Do you need anything special today?”
    “I was hoping you could show Emma where everything is so she can find things on her own next time,” Aunt Ida said.
    “Not today,” Percy said. “I’ve got work to do.”
    “Now you listen here, Percy Francis Shawcross,” Aunt Ida said. “One minute you’re cussing for no good reason, the next you’re saying no to your mother. What would your father think? One hand wipes the other, remember? You want me to make sure Emma can help you out, then you best help me out when I ask.”
    “Yes, Ma,” Percy said. He made his way back around the counter, his face long.
    Aunt Ida handed Emma the list. “I’ll be outside, finishing my visit with Sally Gable,” she said. She headed toward the door. “Seems her son married a nice girl over in Wilkes-Barre, and they’re already expecting.” Before disappearing into the thinning light outside, she called over her shoulder, “Nothing makes a mother prouder than seeing her son marry a nice girl!”
    Percy watched her leave, his hands on his hips. “Son of a bitch,” he said under his breath.
    “What is it?” Emma said, pretending she didn’t know why he was upset.
    “That damn woman stole the bread and milk she was trying to buy,” he said.
    “No, she didn’t,” Emma said. “I figured I might as well start making myself useful, so I put the bread back on the shelf and the milk back in the icebox.”
    Percy sighed heavily, relieved. Then, as if coming to his senses, he squared his shoulders. “Listen,” he said. “Don’t touch anything else around here unless I tell you to.”
    “I thought you wanted my help.”
    He snatched the list from her hand and headed toward the rear of the store. “I do. But you don’t work here yet, do you?”
    “No,” she said, staying put. “I don’t. And I’m fairly certain I can figure out a way to make sure I never do.”
    He stopped and turned to face her, throwing his hands in the air. “Jesus,” he said. “I’m sorry. It’s just . . . this job isn’t as easy as my father thinks. And now, seeing you after all these years . . .”
    “Do you think any of this is easy for me?” she said.
    “No,” he said. “I can’t imagine it is. I didn’t mean to—”
    “Listen,” she said. “We’re going to have to figure out a way to get along. At least until I can figure out how to get out of here. So, please, don’t do it again.”
    He moved forward and put a hand on her shoulder. “I want you to know how sorry I am about what happened with your brother last time you were here. I should have apologized back then, but I didn’t know what to say.”
    She brushed his hand away and made her way down the aisle. “There’s no point in talking about that now,” she said. “All the apologies in the world won’t change what happened.”
    “I know,” Percy said. “I just want you to—”
    She turned to face him. “Can we please talk about something else?”
    He shrugged and went to the end of the aisle to start gathering the items on his mother’s list. “Like what?”
    She followed him. “What did that woman mean when she said I should shop somewhere else if my husband doesn’t work for the