All Flash No Cash by Randi Alexander Read Free Book Online

pencils
to sketch something. Occasionally, Pete joined in the conversation.
After a few minutes, he flipped the page and started a new
drawing.
    When Harry began nodding off, she stood.
“We’ll get going, Dad.” She kissed his forehead. “You sleep and
I’ll see you in a few days.”
    Her dad reached for her hand. He hadn’t done
that in a while. “Thank you.” His trembling fingers squeezed
hers.
    Tears formed but she blinked them back.
    Pete tore a sheet out of his pad. “Mr.
Overton, this will help you keep CJ close, even when she’s not
here. He set the paper in Harry’s lap. A head and shoulders
drawing, looking so much like her, it could have been a mirror.
He’d written CJ in big letters on the top corner.
    Her dad touched the paper, then looked at
her. “That’s you.”
    CJ had to bite her lip to keep from losing it
completely. “It is, Daddy.” She stroked his arm until his eyes
drifted shut. She gestured for Pete to follow her and they tiptoed
out of the room. She pulled the door nearly closed. “He likes to
sleep more and more now.”
    Pete took her hand. “He’s a nice guy.”
    She had to look away from the sincerity in
his eyes, or she’d break down. “You’re a nice guy, too.” She let go
of his hand and started toward the front door. “Thank you for the
drawing. I never would have thought of that.”
    “You’re welcome.” He followed silently.
    In the truck on the way back to the saloon,
Pete turned on the radio and took the scenic route. “Want to stop
for lunch?” He glanced at her. “I know a good place.”
    She nodded. “That’d be good.” It was rare she
ate anywhere but at the bar or in her apartment. Eating out alone
was no fun.
    He swung into a fast food drive-through.
    “Fancy.” CJ pulled a face.
    Pete chuckled. “It’ll taste better once we
get to our destination.”
    “And that is where?” She checked the menu,
seeing a sub she’d like.
    “Not far. I know you’re busy.” He ordered for
them, and once they had the food, headed out of town. He stopped at
a spot along Whitewood Creek.
    She reached for her door handle.
    “Hang on.” His hand wrapped around her arm.
He took a few seconds, looking at where their skin touched, then
pulled back his hand and shifted into four-wheel.
    “Off-roadin’?”
    “Just a bit.” He drove the truck up a
barely-there road, over a steep hill, and down to where the river
rushed over rocks. “Used to come here when I was a teenager.” He
shut off the truck and looked around. “Quiet here.”
    ****
    Pete glanced at CJ. She sat stiffly. “You
okay?”
    “I think I was here once, too.” She grabbed
the bag of subs and slid out of the truck then wandered toward the
river. “With Dad.”
    He gathered the sodas and the two folding
chairs CJ had hauled into the garage that first night, when she’d
brought him pizza and beer.
    When she stopped at a big rock by the river,
he set everything down and waited for her. She wasn’t one for
stillness, and when she took the time to just stand and stare, he
figured there had to be a lot going on in her head. After a while,
she wandered over and sat in the chair next to him.
    He handed her a sub and set her cup of soda
on the grass and they talked about the places around the region
they’d visited.
    After they finished, Pete went back to the
truck for his sketchpad. He sat on the big rock by the water. “Can
I sketch you?”
    “No.” She slid lower in her chair and closed
her eyes. “I just want to get some sun.”
    She’d been quiet since the visit to her dad.
How could he change her mood?
    A half hour later, he finished his drawing
and jumped off the rock, nearly landing on a snake. He must have
let out a curse because suddenly she was curled up on her
chair.
    “What is it?” She sounded more curious that
afraid.
    “Snake.” He looked closer. It was just a
harmless garter snake. A baby. He picked it up carefully, the way
he’d done a thousand times back on the