Dead Silence by Brenda Novak Read Free Book Online Page B

him with so much longing in her eyes made him uncomfortable. He hadn’t been mature enough to realize that he had a responsibility to help her. Or maybe he simply hadn’t cared enough to bother. No one had cared. Except her family. When Molly reached high school and walked into the girls’ bathroom one day to find her sister with Tim, she went home and told their older brother. Clay came to school the next day and broke Tim’s nose.
    Clay’s involvement finally scared off the guys who were using Grace sexually. But the damage had already been done. The name-calling and other cruelty continued.
    His cell phone rang. Kennedy glanced down at it, surprised to see his mother’s home number listed on his caller ID. Camille was supposed to be at the community pool with the boys. What were they doing home already?
    He punched the Talk button. “Hello?”
    â€œHave you heard?” she asked.
    â€œHeard what?”
    â€œGrace Montgomery’s back in town.”
    No kidding. He pictured the woman who’d just accused him of having a shriveled heart and a phony smile. She’d been attractive in high school. It wasn’t her looks that had marked her as an outcast, only her neediness. But now she was even prettier. Eyebrows that had been too thick were now slender and arched; teeth that had been slightly crooked were perfectly straight. She still had the same olive-colored skin, ice-blue eyes and dark, thick hair. The contrast was striking, but it was her high cheekbones and stubborn chin—both of which had been too severe for a young girl—that really set her apart. Beyond her stunning figure, of course. She’d developed before all the othergirls, which certainly hadn’t helped her situation growing up.
    â€œKennedy?” his mother prompted when he didn’t answer right away.
    â€œI know she’s back,” he said.
    â€œWho told you?”
    â€œI just ran into her at the pizza parlor.”
    â€œSomeone said she’s driving a BMW. Is that true?”
    He knew his mother would feel better if he told her Grace’s car was one of the smaller, less expensive models, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it—for that reason. “It’s true.”
    â€œHow do you think she got it?”
    Did it matter? Why shouldn’t Grace have something nice? “I have no idea,” he said.
    â€œI can’t imagine. District attorneys don’t make that much. Especially assistant district attorneys. Maybe she married for money, like her mother, and now she’s back because her husband’s already gone missing.”
    â€œYou’re being ridiculous, Mom,” Kennedy said with a heavy dose of annoyance. “The reverend wasn’t exactly a millionaire. If Irene Montgomery married him for money, she sure didn’t get a lot.”
    â€œShe got the farm, didn’t she? Clay still lives there.”
    Kennedy could see they were heading for an argument and changed the subject. “Why aren’t you at the pool?”
    â€œThey closed at five for cleaning.”
    â€œSo the boys got to swim for only an hour?”
    â€œThat’s long enough, isn’t it?”
    He could imagine Teddy’s disappointment after having waited all day. “I’m on my way. I’ll see you in a minute.”
    â€œWill you be staying for supper?”
    â€œNo, I want to get home.” He’d been doing well lately, adjusting to the loss of Raelynn. He’d been thinking about other things, worried about his father and swept up in the campaign. But tonight he felt his wife’s absence like a gaping hole in his chest.
    â€œI’ve got steaks and barbecue beans and corn,” his mother said. He knew she enjoyed taking care of him, enjoyed feeling needed and important. And he appreciated everything she did. For an only child, that kind of intense focus often came with the territory. Sometimes it was too much. But