Read Online Indelible by Karin Slaughter - Free Book Online Page B

class. I’m tired of being too tall for the cute boys. I’m tired of dating men who are worried about my feelings and wanna take it slow and be gentle and process what we’re doing and plan our future together and treat me like I’m some delicate flower and—”
    â€œMason James is a very sweet boy.”
    â€œThat’s the point, Mama. He’s a boy. I’m sick ofboys. I’m sick of people walking on eggshells around me, trying to protect my feelings. I want somebody to shake things up. I want to have fun.” Without thinking, she said, “I want to fuck around.”
    Cathy gasped—not because she had never heard the word before, but because she had never heard it from Sara. Sara could think of only a few occasions when she had used the expletive, but never in front of her mother.
    All Cathy said was, “Language, please.”
    â€œYou don’t mind when Tessa says it.”
    Cathy wrinkled her nose at the logic. “Tessa says it like she means it, not like she’s trying to shock her mother.”
    â€œI say it all the time,” Sara lied.
    â€œDo your cheeks always get that red when you do?”
    Sara felt her cheeks go redder.
    â€œFrom here,” Cathy coached, pressing her hand below her diaphragm. She gestured broadly with her other hand, singing an operatic “Fuck.”
    â€œMother!”
    â€œIf you’re going to say it, say it with gusto.”
    â€œI don’t need you to tell me how to say it,” Sara snapped, and when Cathy laughed in her face, she added a mumbled “Or how to do it.”
    Cathy laughed harder. “I suppose you know all about it now?”
    Sara jerked the suitcase off her bed. “Let’s just say some of that expertise rubbed off.”
    â€œOh-ho-ho,” Cathy chuckled appreciatively.
    Sara tucked her hands into her hips. “We do it all the time.”
    â€œIs that a fact?”
    â€œNight and day.”
    â€œAnd day?” Cathy laughed again, sitting back on the bed. “Scandalous!”
    â€œIt’s not like I’m seeing him for the scintillating conversation,” Sara bragged. “I don’t even know if he went to college.”
    From the doorway, Tessa said, “Sara?”
    â€œAs a matter of fact,” Sara continued, wanting more than anything to take the smug look off her mother’s face, “I’m fairly certain he’s not even that smart.”
    Cathy smiled like she knew better. “That so?”
    Tessa tried again. “Sara?”
    â€œYes, that’s so, and you know what? I don’t even care. He’s probably stupid as a box of hair and I don’t give a rat’s ass. It’s not like I’m dating him for his mind.”
    Tessa said, “For chrissake, Sara. Just shut up and turn around.”
    She did as she was told, regret taking hold like a fever.
    Jeffrey was leaning against the door, his arms crossed over his chest. There was a half-smile on his lips that did not quite reach his eyes as he nodded toward her suitcase. “Ready to go?”
    A gentle mist of rain met them as they drove out of Grant County, and Sara watched the wipers sluice water off the windshield at steady intervals, trying to think of something to say. With each pass, she told herself she was going to break the silence, but the next thing she knew, the wipers were swipingacross the glass again and nothing had been said. She stared out the side window, counting cows, then goats, then billboards. The closer they got to Macon, the higher the number got, so that by the time they took the bypass, Sara had reached triple digits.
    Jeffrey shifted gears, passing an eighteen-wheeler. He had not spoken since they left Grant, and he chose to break the ice with “Car handles well.”
    â€œYes,” Sara agreed, so glad he was talking to her that she could have cried. Thank God they had taken her car instead of his truck or there was no