Read Online Family Skeletons by Bobbie O'Keefe - Free Book Online Page A

in bed, you wouldn’t
need a TV .
    “We don’t have cable,” she reminded him.
    “An antenna is still on the roof, and the wire’s
over there in the corner.” He nodded his head toward it. “So a television was
in here at one time. I also bought a digital converter box. I should be able to
work it out.”
    “Yeah, there was a TV in here.” With the help of a
dolly she’d gotten it outside to the dumpster, but she hadn’t been able to
heave it up and get it inside. The driver of the truck that picked up the
dumpster was nice enough to take it anyway. “It was the first thing I tossed.
Completely dead.”
    But she hadn’t been careful disconnecting it, she
remembered, and she hoped now that she hadn’t killed the antenna wire. She
decided not to mention that possibility.
    He glanced at her. “How long before dinner?”
    “How long do you want?”
    “Couple of hours?”
    “Okay. Need any help?”
    “No, thanks.” His eyes were studying the wall behind
the set, the floor between it and the corner, then he frowned up at the
ceiling.
    Cars, football, and TV hookups. Doesn’t
take too much to keep a man happy.
    Jonathan was good at estimating the time it would
take to complete a task; evidently he’d had some practice at this kind of
thing. He had five minutes left when he called her, and familiar music sounded
at the same moment she heard her name. Evidently Sunny hadn’t killed the
antenna wire. She found him in the middle of the room, gaze on the set and
remote in his hand. She went to stand next to him.
    Yep, he’d caught an I Love Lucy episode.
Together they watched Lucy as she sampled an energizing vegetable brew that
carried an alcoholic content. From the look of him, Jonathan was also enjoying
Lucy’s wide-open eyes, slurred speech and limp elbow on the counter as the brew
took over. This segment was filmed before either of them had been born, yet it
was more entertaining than much of the new fare presented each fall. The
episode was interrupted for a run of commercials.
    “Your time’s up,” Sunny told him. “If you don’t want
dried meat and overdone veggies, we need to eat now.”
    With the remote he switched the power off. “When you
use this, make sure you return it to the top of the set so we can always find
it.”
    She nodded dutifully. “Yes, Jonathan.”
    “And you can no longer operate the lamp with the
wall switch. You’ll have to turn it on manually.”
    “Okay.” She didn’t ask why. Ryan loved long,
technical explanations that drove her to distraction. All she needed to know
was how to turn something on and off, and the remote was right there on top of
the TV.
    “And—”
    “Jonathan, there’s nothing worse than well done
London broil. Get a move on.”
    Carrots and scalloped potatoes accompanied the slab
of meat. She usually added thinly sliced onion to the potatoes, but tonight
they were plain. She’d added nothing to anything and was determined to eat everything
exactly the way it was.
    He cut a bite of meat and looked thoughtful as he
chewed. He speared a few carrot slices and sampled them. He ate a forkful of
potato, then put his fork down and stared at her. She ate quietly, aware of his
gaze but not looking up.
    “Have you made your point, Sunny? Are you going to
be back to normal by tomorrow?”
    She tried to put innocence in the look she gave him.
“What’s normal?”
    After a long stare that she refused to return, he
got up to get salt and pepper then liberally sprinkled each over the food on
his plate. “I wish to hell I knew,” he said under his breath.
    You’re a bad influence on him, Sunny.
You’ve taught him how to swear.
    After dinner he again gave her a wide berth, though
he only went upstairs this time, not all the way to Castleton. She was rinsing
the broiler pan when he turned the bathtub faucet on. Not getting even half
enough water to rinse the sudsy pan, she made a face and turned the spigot off.
He couldn’t have waited another thirty