Read Online The Long Journey to Jake Palmer by James L. Rubart - Free Book Online

family room and Susie followed. He stared at the sun doing a tango with the surface of the water and sighed. “She’s dating someone. It’s serious. I’m guessing she’ll have a ring by the time I set up my Christmas tree. There might already be one on her finger.”
    “Oh, Jake. I’m sorry. How long have they been dating?”
    “Six months, but it’s good.”
    “How is that good?”
    “I’ve finally given up my fantasy that’d she’d have a heart transplant and become the woman I thought I was married to for seven years.” He turned and glanced into Susie’s sympathetic eyes. “I’m over it.”
    “Does that mean you’re ready to date again?”
    “Not funny, sis. You know that’s never going to happen. Not with the way I am.”
    “The right woman won’t care.” She took both his arms and squeezed.
    “I had the right woman and she did care. You should’ve seen the way she looked at me—pity and disgust. Mostly disgust. Maybe all disgust.”
    “She couldn’t see what was right in front of her,” Susie growled.
    “That’s the problem. She did see it. All the time. She couldn’t even touch me.”
    “Come here.” Susie grabbed his arm and pulled him across the living room and out onto the deck. “Wow, nice view.”
    Jake grinned. “Yeah, I think we might survive here for the next ten days.”
    Five sprinkler heads along the back of the lawn popped up and sent their fine spray out over the dark grass.
    When they reached the railing, Susie peered at him. “What are you staring at?”
    “After all this time, I still can’t stand the sight of them.”
    Susie glanced out over the lawn in the direction Jake was looking. “Can’t stand what?”
    “Sprinklers.” Jake shrugged. “I know, I’m nuts for letting it bug me.”
    “Sprinklers? What are you talking about?”
    Jake tried to laugh.
    “You want to tell me?”
    “Nah.” Jake waved her off. “Not a big deal.”
    “Let me rephrase that.” Susie jammed her hands into her hips and put on a mock fierce face. “You’re going to tell me.”
    “All right.” This time, he did laugh. “But the short version only. It’s stupid to even think about it, but the summer I turned thirteen my dad had me put a sprinkler system into our lawn. Part of my Be-a-Palmer-Man education.” Jake clacked his teeth together. “I got an F.”
    “What happened?”
    “I can’t believe I never told you about this. I put the whole thing in, but my lines weren’t straight on six of the sprinklers.” Jake lowered his voice and imitated his dad. “ ‘Jaker, that’s not quite going to make it, is it? No sir, nohow. That isn’t the way a Palmer puts in a sprinkler system.’ I told him it was close enough. Not the best choice of words, as you can imagine. You knew my dad.”
    Susie’s face went stark. “Yeah.”
    “So I told him I’d dig up that section and do it again. But he decided that wasn’t good enough. He thought it would be a good lesson for me to dig up the whole thing, even the parts that were done right, and redo the entire system. The whole thing.”
    “You’re kidding.”
    “Got a C-plus the second time around.”
    “No.”
    “Oh yeah, but on my fourth try I got a B-plus and my dad only redid a quarter of it the next weekend.” Jake slumped forward, his elbows on the deck railing. “So when I see sprinklers, it doesn’t give me the warmest of fuzzies.”
    “Wow.”
    He cocked his head. “What was it you wanted to say to me?”
    “It can wait.”
    “No, tell me.” Jake straightened up. “Seriously, I’m fine. Just a little trip down the part of memory lane that has a few potholes in it. I’m good.”
    Susie sighed, rested her hip against the railing, and stared intently into his eyes. “Do you remember what happened when my family moved into the house next door to yours the summer after third grade?”
    “We became best friends.”
    “And what happened after we decided we would be friends forever? Do you remember where