Read Online Sliding On The Edge by C. Lee McKenzie - Free Book Online

She
was adding the figures a second time when Shawna shuffled down the
hall past the office. “Goodnight,” Kay called.
    “ Right.” Shawna didn’t stop
on the way to her room.
    Kay waited for the slam of the
door.
    Bam!
    She stood partway up; then shook her
head. No. She wouldn’t rise to the bait. What could she do anyway,
spank the girl? For a moment she closed her eyes, before returning
to the numbers that wouldn’t add up.
    She finally pushed her chair away from
her desk and, rubbing her eyes, laid her glasses on the pile of
invoices. She’d finish them tomorrow, after she dropped Shawna at
school.
    Why was she nervous about Shawna’s
first day at Sweet River High? Shawna certainly didn’t seem to be.
Kay stretched her back. Maybe that’s what worried her. The girl
didn’t care about anything. Would Shawna continue her shrugging
indifference at school? What would the school do in
return?
    I can’t worry about what
might happen , she thought. And I can’t change what’s already come around the
corner of the barn . She turned off the
lights and walked into the hall.
    She made her way to Shawna’s door.
She’d just check to see if she was feeling better. Maybe she should
tell her to go back to town and get the Diesels. Those
tight-fitting jeans seemed to be the crux of Shawna’s pout for the
last two weeks. No. Her granddaughter would not look like a hooker.
Kay raised her hand to knock, but stopped when she heard Shawna’s
voice.
    “ See? It’s right
here.”
    Kay waited, her ear turned to the
door. Who could she be talking to? She didn’t have a cell phone.
There was no phone in her bedroom. She listened again, but Shawna
didn’t say anything else. Kay knocked. “You awake?”
    Small sounds like whispers came from
inside, but Shawna didn’t answer her.
    “ Shawna. Are you all
right?”
    “ Yeah.” Shawna
said.
    A drawer slid open or closed, and the
bed shifted, like Shawna was climbing in or out. But no footsteps
came toward the door.
    “ May I come in?” Kay
asked.
    “ It’s your
house.”
    Kay saw the shrug even from behind the
door. With a sigh, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. “I
just wondered how you were feeling.” She glanced around the room.
The window stood open, the fan was still. Shawna lay under the
sheet and a small dark stain, still wet, spread across the white
cotton. “Did you scratch yourself?” Kay asked.
    “ Oh, yeah.” Shawna tucked
her leg under the blanket. “Mosquito bite, but I’m okay. It’s
stopped bleeding.”
    “ I thought I heard you say
something.”
    “ Thinking out loud, I
guess.” Shawna sat up. “Is there a rule against that?”
    “ No.” Kay turned to leave.
“Do you want one?”
    Shawna laughed. “Not!”
    Kay pulled the door shut behind her
and leaned against it. She smiled. Had they just joked with each
other?
     

Chapter 15
    Kay
     
    The next day Kay drove Shawna to
school, and they made their way to the office. The principal’s door
stood open, so Kay knocked on the doorjamb to get his attention.
“Robby?”
    Shawna glanced at Kay, looking
puzzled.
    “ Kay.” A pudgy man in a
brown tweed jacket stood to greet them. “Good to meet you, Shawna.”
He nodded. “Please have a seat.”
    He shuffled through a stack of folders
with his stubby fingers and pulled one out. “These scores are very
interesting,” he said without looking at either of them sitting on
the other side of the desk. “Very interesting.”
    Shawna’s eyes were focused on her
feet, but at the mention of test scores, she looked first at the
principal and then at Kay, then drew herself up tight as a feral
cat cornered in the barn.
    “ Shawna’s education has been
irregular.” Kay said. She shifted in her chair. She never explained
anything when she was dealing with her own business, so she felt
uncomfortable hearing her voice spill out excuses, especially in
front of Robby Green, who already knew more about her than she
wanted. Still, she