Read Online Privacy Code (Shatterproof) by Jordan Burke - Free Book Online
Authors: Jordan Burke
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it still smelled like lamb and cabbage.
T he anchor narrated: “Authorities are investigating what started out as a house fire just after seven tonight, but is now believed to be the scene of a triple homicide, in Laurel, Maryland, halfway between Baltimore and D.C. Our crime reporter Kelly Sutton is live on the scene in the neighborhood where residents are expressing shock over the incident that occurred on their normally quiet street. Kelly?”
I pointed the remote at the television, turned it off, and went to sleep.
Chapter Eleven – Catherine
Sunday was a blur, both figuratively and literally. I can barely remember what I did all day, aside from a few minor bouts of crying, which I was able to minimize quickly. About all I remember is the dozens of times I checked my email, hoping to receive a message from Watts.
But nothing came.
I started several drafts of emails to him, but ended up deleting them all. I couldn’t stand the thought of him not responding. Having him walk out was enough; I didn’t need to be ignored on top of that.
After taking a shower and trying to get myself together, I had planned on going to the shelter to see Winnie. She would have lifted my spirits. I could have taken her for a walk, checked to make sure she’d had her bath that week, and spent some time thinking about something other than myself.
But it began to rain just as I was considering going to see her. She would have expected a walk, and we’re not allowed to take them out in the rain. So I spent my Sunday alone.
. . . . .
Monday morning. The start of a new work week. The perfect time to start anew, as I’d done so many times before. I would have thought it would have been easier by now, but this time it was different because Watts had become an important part of my life.
With still no email from him, it was beginning to become very clear that he was going to live up to his promise of never seeing me a second time, or even talking to me again.
I decided it was the price I was going to pay for wanting him to open up a little more to me. I wondered what price, if any, he was paying for walking away.
I put on my grown-up girl face and the attitude that goes with it, and went to work. If he didn’t want to be part of my life, then there was no way I was going to let him rule it from a distance.
Tara was getting out of her car just as I was pulling into the spot next to her.
“How was your weekend?” she asked, her usual bright, energetic smile in full effect. God, how I needed that kind of friendly greeting this morning.
I closed my car door and locked it, shrugging. “Just okay. Yours?”
“Best weekend ever.” She looked serious.
“Good, then you had enough fun for the two of us.”
Her bright smile turned to a frown. “What’s wrong?”
This is where I should have shrugged it off, as I always did, and let it be. For as long as I’d known her, I had avoided telling her anything about my past, or even my current life.
I didn’t want her asking too many questions, didn’t want her trying to peel back the layers of my existence. It was more than not wanting that to happen. It was actually that I couldn’t handle it emotionally. Tara was pretty sharp, and on many occasions she had regaled me with stories from her own love life. Maybe she’d see something I couldn’t.
Selfish as it may seem, maybe I had something to gain by telling her. Maybe she was exactly the right person to talk to about Watts. At least on a superficial level. I wasn’t going to talk to a shrink about him. I had no one to call, no one to email about him.
So much for moving on and not letting Watts dictate my thoughts. It wasn’t going to be easy ridding myself of him.
Before I could talk myself out of telling her, I blurted out: “There’s this guy…”
I stopped because her eyebrows shot up her forehead and her mouth dropped wide open. She flung herself at me and wrapped her arms around my waist.
T he anchor narrated: “Authorities are investigating what started out as a house fire just after seven tonight, but is now believed to be the scene of a triple homicide, in Laurel, Maryland, halfway between Baltimore and D.C. Our crime reporter Kelly Sutton is live on the scene in the neighborhood where residents are expressing shock over the incident that occurred on their normally quiet street. Kelly?”
I pointed the remote at the television, turned it off, and went to sleep.
Chapter Eleven – Catherine
Sunday was a blur, both figuratively and literally. I can barely remember what I did all day, aside from a few minor bouts of crying, which I was able to minimize quickly. About all I remember is the dozens of times I checked my email, hoping to receive a message from Watts.
But nothing came.
I started several drafts of emails to him, but ended up deleting them all. I couldn’t stand the thought of him not responding. Having him walk out was enough; I didn’t need to be ignored on top of that.
After taking a shower and trying to get myself together, I had planned on going to the shelter to see Winnie. She would have lifted my spirits. I could have taken her for a walk, checked to make sure she’d had her bath that week, and spent some time thinking about something other than myself.
But it began to rain just as I was considering going to see her. She would have expected a walk, and we’re not allowed to take them out in the rain. So I spent my Sunday alone.
. . . . .
Monday morning. The start of a new work week. The perfect time to start anew, as I’d done so many times before. I would have thought it would have been easier by now, but this time it was different because Watts had become an important part of my life.
With still no email from him, it was beginning to become very clear that he was going to live up to his promise of never seeing me a second time, or even talking to me again.
I decided it was the price I was going to pay for wanting him to open up a little more to me. I wondered what price, if any, he was paying for walking away.
I put on my grown-up girl face and the attitude that goes with it, and went to work. If he didn’t want to be part of my life, then there was no way I was going to let him rule it from a distance.
Tara was getting out of her car just as I was pulling into the spot next to her.
“How was your weekend?” she asked, her usual bright, energetic smile in full effect. God, how I needed that kind of friendly greeting this morning.
I closed my car door and locked it, shrugging. “Just okay. Yours?”
“Best weekend ever.” She looked serious.
“Good, then you had enough fun for the two of us.”
Her bright smile turned to a frown. “What’s wrong?”
This is where I should have shrugged it off, as I always did, and let it be. For as long as I’d known her, I had avoided telling her anything about my past, or even my current life.
I didn’t want her asking too many questions, didn’t want her trying to peel back the layers of my existence. It was more than not wanting that to happen. It was actually that I couldn’t handle it emotionally. Tara was pretty sharp, and on many occasions she had regaled me with stories from her own love life. Maybe she’d see something I couldn’t.
Selfish as it may seem, maybe I had something to gain by telling her. Maybe she was exactly the right person to talk to about Watts. At least on a superficial level. I wasn’t going to talk to a shrink about him. I had no one to call, no one to email about him.
So much for moving on and not letting Watts dictate my thoughts. It wasn’t going to be easy ridding myself of him.
Before I could talk myself out of telling her, I blurted out: “There’s this guy…”
I stopped because her eyebrows shot up her forehead and her mouth dropped wide open. She flung herself at me and wrapped her arms around my waist.
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