Redemption Read Free Page B

“He needs to know that you’re aware of what he’s done.”
    “Oh, I doubt there’s any question he hasn’t already heard every blessed word you’ve spoken, ma’am,”Jake said harshly. Then he raised his voice a bit. “Jason, come on out here.”
    The door opened after a few seconds and the boy sidled into the hallway. His face was pale now, and Jake felt a moment’s pain at the look of confusion his son wore.
    “You’ll go with Miss Merriweather and clean up the mess you made, Jason. You’ll help her board up the windows, and then you’ll do extra chores to earn money for the new glass it will take to repair the damage.”
    Jason’s eyes widened. “I have to pay for new windows, Pa?”
    “You broke the old ones, didn’t you?”
    For a moment a look of despair came over the small freckled face, and Jake felt a pang of guilt. When had the boy gotten so far from his reach? Then Jason’s head lifted and a look of defiant pride touched his features.
    “Yeah, I broke them.”
    “‘Yeah’ is not an appropriate word to use, Jason,” Alicia said quietly. “You may change your statement, please.”
    He shot her a resentful look, then turned as if to seek out Jake’s opinion in the matter. When nothing was forthcoming from his father, the boy nodded.
    “Yes, ma’am, I broke them,” he said, and for a quickmoment Jake thought he saw a bit of himself in the boy. Given to impetuous behavior, frustrated by authority and determined to flaunt his shortcomings in the face of others, he was indeed a problem.
    But one, it seemed, Alicia Merriweather could handle.

CHAPTER TWO
    J ASON M C P HERSON WAS A capable child, Alicia admitted silently. Obviously aware of the purpose of a broom and dustpan, he swept up the broken glass without a murmur, then dumped the shards into her wastebasket. If he still wore the chip on his shoulder, at least it didn’t appear to be quite so large a chunk of wood, she thought.
    “I’m finished, ma’am,” he told her as he returned the tools to the cloakroom.
    “No, Jason, you’re not,” she said, contradicting his statement. From the quick look he shot in her direction, he’d expected the reprimand, and she noted the taut line of his jaw.
    His sigh was exaggerated. “Now what do I hafta do?”
    “You know very well what comes next, young man. You had your ear plastered against that kitchen door when I told your father what I expected of you.”
    He shifted uncomfortably, standing first on one leg, then the other, as if he readied himself for flight. “I supposeyou think I’m gonna carry in all that wood you got layin’ out in the yard.”
    “No,” she said, disputing his idea. “You’re going to go out there with me and hand me one board at a time while I nail them in place. If it rains tonight, I don’t want the schoolhouse open to the elements.”
    “Elements?” he asked, his look skeptical. “You mean the weather?”
    “You know what I mean,” she told him. “You can’t play dumb with me, Jason. I know exactly how intelligent you are.”
    His shoulders slumped and she decided it was a ploy, a means to get her sympathy. It would never work. He was slick, but she was ahead of the game.
    “Come along,” she said, walking briskly toward the door, hammer in hand, a small brown bag of nails in her pocket. Outdoors, the sun was hanging low in the sky, and she looked upward, thankful that the clouds were not heavy as yet. The idea of working in a downpour didn’t appeal to her, and sending Jason home all wet and soggy might only irritate his father more.
    Although that seemed to be an unlikely thought. The man could not be more irritable if he truly put forth an effort.
    Jake McPherson had a reputation around town. A widower for well over two years, he had become a recluse, mourning his wife, folks said. And well hemight, Alicia thought. The woman had no doubt been a saint to put up with him. A more miserable man would be hard to find.
    Yet there had been