Lone Star by Paullina Simons Read Free Book Online

in the clearing by the time Chloe left Hannah’s and made her way back through the brambles.
    Through the open window she could hear her mother’s soft voice and her father’s booming one. Chloe slowed down. Treading on the pine needles crunching under her feet, she inched up to the screened-in window in the living room .
    â€œIt’s out of the question.”
    â€œThat’s what I said.”
    â€œWhy would she want to go there ?”
    â€œShe says because she hasn’t been.”
    â€œWhat kind of a reason is that?”
    â€œShh. I know.”
    â€œI hope you were forceful, Mother. I hope you said no.”
    â€œI was forceful. I said no.”
    â€œBut what?”
    â€œBut nothing.”
    â€œNo, I can see by your face it’s something. What?”
    â€œShe’s insisting.”
    â€œSo? We’re going to allow the child to make all the decisions now?”
    â€œShe said something about turning eighteen.”
    â€œOh, so she’s going to play that card!”
    â€œThat’s what I said.”
    â€œWhy does she really want to go?”
    â€œI don’t know, Jimmy.”
    â€œWhat’s in Barcelona?”
    â€œNothing. It’s not Fryeburg, not Brownfield, not Maine.”
    â€œSo why doesn’t she go to Canada? We’ll drive her to Montreal. We’ll leave the girls there, then pick them up a few days later.”
    â€œYeah. Well. I haven’t told you the half of it.”
    There was rustling, cooing, small giggles. “You haven’t heard my half of it, sweet potato. It’ll give you and me a chance to stay in a hotel. Like newlyweds.”
    â€œJimmy, don’t be bad.”
    More rustling. Even some grunting.
    â€œJimmy, come on . . .”
    Sweet God. Chloe couldn’t even eavesdrop on her parents’ conversation about her without it becoming a study in her own mortification.
    â€œBut seriously,” her father said. The cooing had stopped, thank God. “We can’t let her go.”
    â€œI agree. How do we stop her?”
    â€œWe’ll just tell her she can’t go.”
    â€œI look forward to our spicy pork chops tonight over which you tell her.”
    â€œI’ve never liked that Hannah. Why couldn’t that no-good father of hers have gotten custody instead?”
    â€œI think the answer is built into your question.”
    â€œThat Terri is a piece of work. Doesn’t she know what’s going on with her own kids? I hear Jason is always in trouble up in Portland. By the way, the raccoons got to her garbage again. Did you talk to her about cleaning it up? Or am I going to have to?”
    â€œShe told me this morning the animals have to eat, too.”
    â€œI’m going to shoot them next time I hear them near her cans.”
    â€œJimmy, carry the potatoes. She better come home soon. Dinner is ready.”
    There was silence. Chloe heard the pot being placed on the table.
    â€œSo what are we going to do?”
    â€œTalk some sense into her. She listens to you . You’re her father.”
    â€œIf she listened to me, she’d never ask for something so stupid.”
    â€œIt’s not stupid, Jimmy, it’s just kids being kids.”
    â€œI never did nothing like that.”
    â€œOkay. We did some stuff, too.”
    â€œNot like that.”
    â€œWorse. We were young, too.”
    â€œHmm.”
    â€œYou remember Pembina? The paleo flood at Red River in seventy-seven? All right, Mr. Comedian. I know you remember. We were so bad. We didn’t need to go to Barcelona.”
    â€œWe never needed to go anywhere, sweet potato.” There were sounds of connubial affection.
    â€œGet the drinks. I’ll go get her.”
    Pembina was where Lang was from. Pembina, North Dakota, less than two miles south of the Canadian border. The Red River is slow and small. It doesn’t have the energy to cut a gorge. It meanders through the silty