Dear Emily by Julie Ann Levin Read Free Book Online Page A

Amy was surprised
to see Professor Abbot take a drink.
Sarah looked at him in mock astonishment.
    “Alright,” continued Chris.
“Now it's the birthday boy's turn.
Let's hear it, Jack.”
    “I don't want to play, Chris. Someone
else can have a turn. I'll just drink,
alright?”
    Chris wouldn't stop. “Don't be sore,
Jack! It's your turn. Now, go ahead.”
    “Alright, Chris. I
think that's enough,” Tom finally said, sensing
Jack's discomfort.
    “No, I think he should have a
good time instead of sitting there like his
dog just got run over by a car.”
    Amy winced.
    Jack's head tilted to one side before
he reached out and took a shot of whiskey from the center of the
table. He tossed it back and set the glass back down. He
pinched the edge of the glass between his finger and thumb as he
spoke.
    His eyes remained fixed on the glass.
“Four years ago today,” Jack began.
    “Jack,” whispered Amy.
    His head inclined again, tipping
forward for a moment before he continued. “I was back
home for my birthday and I heard that my
girlfriend was throwing me a surprise party. I didn't
want to be early to her house because I didn't want to spoil the
surprise. You see?” he said with a crooked smile.
    “So I took a long way around. This
road ran parallel to a popular trail. You know, bikers,
runners, and birdwatchers, that sort of thing.
    “Anyway, I was driving,” he
paused to sigh. “And I didn't see...” he hesitated, “I
didn't have time to swerve out of the way. She came out
of nowhere. And I hit her with my car. I didn't hit
another car. I hit a person with my car.”
    He looked up then and
his eyes searched the table. Amy kept her eyes fixed on
the bottle of whiskey. Jack pushed back in his seat and stood. He
took one more shot of whiskey and walked out of the
house.
    Silence.
    “Four years ago today,” Amy
said, instantly wishing she'd stay quiet
instead, but knowing she should just tell them. “My
sister died. She veered from a walking trail and a car hit her.
Jack's car.”
    Amy paused, swallowing the lump in her
throat. “You didn't know. That wasn't fair of
him to tell you
like that. It's nice that you put this
birthday dinner together for him.
I know he'll feel terrible tomorrow. I think
I'm going to drive him home, though.”
    “Amy,” said Tom, reaching out to touch
her forearm.
    “We're fine. It's just still a rotten
day, you know?”
    Tom nodded. But she
didn't know if Jack was okay or not. “Thank you for
dinner,” she said to Terri before leaving the house.
    She surveyed the area outside the
door to the house, wondering how far
Jack had walked. He could have left to
walk the perimeter of the farm to get his head straight
for all she knew, but she found him in the truck.
    She climbed up into the cab and the
heavy, metal door closed behind her with a clank. “Well, I for
one had a good time. It was much better
than moping around the house all night.”
    Jack's head was resting back
against the bench seat. He laughed, a pitiful sound
and slowly turned his head to the left until
he was staring straight at her. They stayed
like that for what seemed like a long time.
    “I should apologize,” Jack
said.
    Amy shrugged “Maybe a small
apology.”
    “I should do that now,” he
said.
    Amy nodded.
“Then again, it would probably be fine if
you call them tomorrow.”
    “No, I should go talk to them now while
they're all together.”
    “I told them about Emily.”
    He nodded once and opened his door.
Each of his movements took longer than usual. Pause. Open the door.
Pause again. Step out of the truck with half of his body. Step out
of the truck with the other half of the body.
This was going to take forever.
    “I'm going to wait for you outside
if that's okay?”
    He nodded again and, with some effort,
closed the door behind him. He had a certain slow
gait that she'd never