Obsessed With You by Jennifer Ransom Read Free Book Online Page B

soul, except for Neil, of course. I tell him
everything.”
    Cathy decided she did want to
talk about it. She told Lindy everything—about the woman who called
her, about the photo, and about how Aaron had gone to play golf on a
crucial day in their relationship. She even told her about the
birthmarks.
    “ How did she get your cell
phone number?” Lindy asked.
    “ I don’t know,” Cathy said.
“I’ve never been able to figure that out. Unless she got it while
Aaron was asleep or in the bathroom or something.”
    “ Assuming that he was really
with her,” Lindy said.
    “ Right, assuming that.”
    “ Do you think he did cheat on
you or was somebody out to get him?”
    She was about to answer when Neil
came in with a tray of fish fillets. She and Lindy busied themselves
with dropping the spoonfuls of batter into the pot of grease and
flouring the fish. Neil got a beer and went into the living room.
They heard him turn a football game on.
    Cathy whipped up some fresh
tartar sauce and everything was ready. As they sat around the kitchen
table eating, Cathy said, “We’ve talked about everyone but
Zachery. What’s he up to?”
    “ You dated him, didn’t you?”
Lindy said.
    “ All through senior year,”
Cathy said. “Of course we weren’t as cute as you and Neil were.”
    Lindy giggled. “We were cute,”
she said.
    “ And you still are,” Cathy
said.
    “ Zachery has a trucking
company,” Neil said. “He’s made a lot of money from what I
hear. We see him sometimes out at the bars.”
    “ You should come to the bars
with us sometime,” Lindy said. “Sometimes they even have bands.”
    Cathy was exhausted by the time
Neil and Lindy left close to eleven. It had been a full day, and she
had managed to stop thinking about Aaron through most of it. She
slept soundly for the first time since she’d been back home.

    *************************

    On Sunday Cathy followed the
sandy path to her grandfather’s house. It had been several days
since she’d seen him and she missed him. Eileen was at the stove
when she walked through the kitchen door.
    “ Hey, sweetie. I hope you’re
here for lunch. I’m making beef stew.”
    “ I’m definitely here for
lunch,” Cathy said. “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been
meaning to call you about your job offer, but I’ve been so busy
painting the house.”
    “ That offer’s good anytime,”
Eileen said. “I can always use you and since it’s part time,
you’ll still have plenty of time to do other things. But whatever
you want to do is fine by me.”
    “ That’s very generous of you,
Eileen. I’ll just play it by ear for now, then.”
    “ Lunch ready yet?” Grandpa
said from the hallway before he was even in the kitchen. “Oh, hey,
honey. I didn’t realize you were here.”
    “ I’m staying for lunch,”
Cathy said.
    A couple of hours later, Cathy
walked back home with a full stomach. She had eaten well in the last
twenty-four hours. She thought she might skip supper or just have a
bowl of soup. It was her choice because she didn’t have to ask
anyone else what they wanted to do. Her choice. That was the plus
side to being single. She decided to concentrate on the plus sides of
it, since that’s what she was living anyway.
    On Monday morning, Cathy jumped
out of bed with purpose. She put on some old jeans and a raggedy
T-shirt and started painting her bedroom in a dusky green color
called Sea Glass. Thankfully, the bedrooms and bathroom had been
covered in sheetrock decades before so she didn’t have to deal with
the damned slats. Standing on the tall vintage stool from the
kitchen, and was able to reach the high places. The cutting in went
fairly smoothly with only a few errant strokes on the ceiling. She
painted for two hours and when she was done, her room sang songs from
the sea. She shoved the bed back into place and lay down on top of
the white chenille spread, exhausted.
    Neil came by later that afternoon
to inspect her work.
    “ Don’t