Read Online Days Like This by Laurie Breton - Free Book Online Page A

daughter,” Rob said, and squeezed Casey’s
hand.  “She’ll be going home with us.”
    “Good!”  Atkinson turned and they
began walking toward the blue house.  “Paige seems to be a pretty resilient kid. 
She’s been through a tough time, but she appears to be weathering it as well as
any kid could.  This all happened very quickly.  Sandy was only sick for a
couple of months.  In hindsight, that was probably a blessing for both of
them.  It could have been so much worse if she’d lingered for months, but her
illness was mercifully brief.  On the other hand, it happened so quickly I’m
not sure Paige has had time to absorb the significance of it. You may want to
handle her with kid gloves for a while.”  They reached the house, and he turned
to Rob.  “You talked to her last night?”
    “I did.  It was a pretty brief
conversation.  And a little awkward.  I didn’t know what to say, and neither did
she.”
    “Just guessing, I’d say you
should expect that awkwardness to continue, at least for a while.  Yes, you’re
her father, but she doesn’t know you, and you’re taking her away from
everything and everyone she’s ever known.”
    They stood for a moment, staring
up at the faded triple-decker, with its peeling paint and sagging porches.  “Second
floor,” Atkinson said, and they began to climb the worn wooden stairs.
    “Do you have any idea,” Rob said,
“what Sandy told her about me?  How long she’s known I’m her father?”
    “I don’t.  But considering that
she has your last name, I have to assume they addressed the issue at some point. 
I don’t know too many kids who’d reach the age of fifteen without asking why
their last name is different from their mother’s.  Or, for that matter, without
asking who their father is.  But I have no idea how forthcoming Sandy may have
been.” 
    They reached the second-floor
porch and stopped at a battered wooden door.  A half-dozen banana boxes were
stacked next to it, beside two large suitcases.  The boxes were neatly labeled
in thick black marker.  BOOKS/VIDEOS.  STEREO EQUIPMENT.  MISCELLANEOUS. 
PRIVATE!  RECORDS.  LEROY. 
    Leroy?   Casey exchanged
glances with Rob, raised her eyebrows, and he shrugged.  A purple ten-speed
bicycle leaned up against the peeling paint, next to a battered guitar case. 
Atkinson knocked on the door, and a small dog began yapping.
    The door was opened by a fortyish
woman with a tired face and worried eyes.  “Good morning!” the attorney said,
stepping into the entryway.  “Lorraine Harriman, this is Casey and Rob
MacKenzie.”  The woman nodded but didn’t offer her hand. 
    Rob said, “Hey,” and moved past
her into the house.  Casey gave the woman a brief smile and followed him
inside.  The dog, some kind of miniature mixed breed, danced and darted and
sniffed around their feet in an enthusiastic attempt to determine whether they
were friend or foe.
    The entryway opened directly into
the living room.  To her left, through an open doorway, Casey caught a glimpse
of an avocado-green refrigerator.  In the living room, a boy of about eight and
a teenage girl were sitting together on the couch, watching MTV.  The girl
glanced up at them, whispered something to the boy, and stood, unfolding her
body until she reached her full height.  She had to be at least five-six,
because she towered over Casey’s five-foot frame like Gulliver in the land of
the Lilliputians.  Lost in the voluminous folds of a man’s button-down shirt
worn with slender jeans and high-top sneakers with lime green laces, the girl sported
multiple earrings that dangled in a noisy cluster.  She’d gone a little
heavy-handed with the make-up:  bright red lipstick, rosy cheeks, too much eye
liner.
    Casey stared at her, stunned by her
resemblance to Rob.  Paige was built just like her father, tall and lanky, with
long arms and legs and big feet.  Whippet-thin, just like he’d been at twenty. 
She had