Hungry Independents (Book 2) Read Free

slumber. Moonlight reflected in the potholes
     that had yet to be repaired. A rainstorm had passed through,
     filling them up like little ponds.
    Curfew began at eight unless something
     special at Brittany’s kept kids out later. As one of the older kids
     and a member of the town council, Molly didn’t worry about getting
     busted. Especially since her brother Mark was the sheriff and
     enforcer of the curfew. Plus, she knew Mark’s new job wiped him
     out—watching his son all day while his wife, Vanessa, taught the
     young ones at school. Still, Molly decided to go the opposite way
     of their house, just in case.
    The scent of wet grass brought a refreshing
     bounce to her steps. She found herself following old paths that led
     her to the rubble of a house where she used to live. She had
     created the rubble in a blaze of rage, longing and sorrow. Hunter’s
     old house was a reminder of all the terrible things Molly had been
     responsible for ten months ago and the strides she’d made since
     Catherine had healed her troubled mind.
    She left one house for another. This house
     had different memories. It stood on the edge of town overlooking
     the fields where all the vegetable and fruit crops grew for the
     kids of Independents. Molly used to come to this house a lot too,
     but she’d never gone inside. This had been Jimmy’s house, Hunter’s
     older brother. Jimmy died so Hunter could live. Hunter carried the
     weight of that event on troubled shoulders, refusing to share the
     load with anyone, not even Molly. Someday she would break through
     and convince her boyfriend that what happened wasn’t his fault, but
     until then she’d keep researching ways to help until something
     clicked.
    The front door opened and she considered
     running like a child caught doing something naughty. Samuel was
     just as startled.
    “Holy crap!” Samuel jumped when the screen
     door slammed behind him. “Why are you creeping around out here? You
     scared the hell out of me.”
    Molly laughed at the older boy in the tie-dye
     shirt. “I’m sorry, Sammy. I couldn’t sleep.”
    Samuel stooped over and collected his work
     boots by the door. Molly noticed the other pair left behind. Samuel
     sat on the porch steps, slipped his feet inside the boots, and
     laced up. He stomped on a grasshopper and kicked it off his
     concrete step.
    “You couldn’t sleep, so you came out here to
     visit old Sammy.” His mouth stretched into a giant smile, and Molly
     could almost read his mind. “Hunter isn’t back yet, is he?”
    “No, he’s supposed to get back tomorrow.”
    “Uh huh, good luck with that. Jimmy never
     learned either.”
    “Never learned what?”
    Samuel leaned back like he was hoarding all
     the good information. He sucked on a tooth; a real unattractive
     habit. “So, I get it now. Hunter’s gone and you’re feeling lonely,
     but before you get all hot and bothered, I must warn you that
     Hunter is one of my best friends and I will not allow you to cheat
     on him with me more than once… maybe twice. After that you’ll just
     have to tell him that it’s over and that you’ve found a real
     man.”
    Molly smiled. “Do you realize how dumb you
     are?”
    Samuel stuck out his bottom lip and looked on
     with droopy eyes. “No. But I hear about it all the time. One day
     I’ll find someone who takes me seriously.”
    Molly sat next to him on the steps. “What are
     you doing up this early?”
    “I’m going to kill some grasshoppers if I can
     find the right pesticide. Those bugs keep destroying our crops
     faster than the Brittanys are able to can them. Besides, I’m up
     this time every morning. A lot of us hard working types are early
     risers. John and Alex are collecting eggs and slopping hogs by now,
     Frank, Sarah and Jessie are tending to the goats, sheep and cattle,
     and Dylan is probably out setting trotlines. I bet the Britts are
     already in the kitchen cooking breakfast.”
    “Why not wait