River's Escape (River's End Series, #2) Read Free

Hanging. She was what? Totally shocked and freaked out. She must have misheard him. Or misunderstood him. She, well, she didn’t even really follow their conversation. His apathetic conversational skills didn’t leave much too clear. He could not have meant he liked her. So what then?
    She shook her head, literally trying to shake off his intense, strange, but almost flattering concern for her. It was concern, wasn’t it? What he’d been trying completely, albeit inadequately, to convey. She stepped into the front room. The light, aluminum door opened into the worn vinyl of three-foot entryway, which led into the box-like kitchen, or the small living room. She started to enter and immediately drew up to her full height. Shane was there. Ian had come with Shane. A sigh escaped her lips.
    Shane had his arm loosely draped over Lauren Townsend. She lived up the valley about twenty miles. She was older than Kailynn, and nice enough, but Kailynn had to grit her teeth to keep from frowning in agony. Why did Shane always have a girl?
    “Hey, Melon head, lucky date?” her brother, Caleb, asked, his speech slurred. He lay across the couch, with a hand over his forehead. Jordan sat on the floor, playing a video game. He didn’t look up or bother to notice her. Another girl, whom she didn’t know, sat rubbing Caleb’s leg, way too close to his crotch. Gross. As if she needed a visual demonstration of her brother’s sex life. She spun into the kitchen to grab a diet pop. “It was fine.”
    Shane raised a hand up. “Beer me, Lynnie.”
    Heat filled her cheeks. He didn’t raise his head to look her way, but just asked her. She quickly grabbed a can out of the new twelve-pack. No doubt, Shane brought it there. He often supplied it for her brothers. They couldn’t afford it most of the time, and Shane could. She walked over to him, trying to strut, while concentrating on not falling. Shane didn’t look up, and was actively watching Jordan’s video game as he hooted and groaned over its progress. He didn’t even pause when she handed him the can, but cracked it open and started chugging. He strained his neck, making his message clear: she was standing in his way.
    She stepped back and turned around before retreating to her room. She didn’t want to watch Shane with Lauren. Her dad’s door was shut, as always. He was usually asleep at seven, and never worried about her. There was no curfew, and never had been. There was no one who noticed when or if she even came home.
    Except Ian. He most definitely noticed. She threw her sweatshirt on the bed and kicked her shoes off. What was that about? Her own brothers even assumed she was off getting laid. Had Ian noticed the headlights coming into the driveway? Was it an accident or was he deliberately out on the porch?
    She shook her head. It was just too weird to contemplate. Ian would not purposely check on her. There would be no reason to. She never expressed any concerns over Drew or any other man she dated, for that matter. She always had dates. They weren’t new or exciting or interesting. Why would Ian have noticed this one?
    She stared at her small room and her twin bed that took up most of the floor space. A nightstand held a tall stack of books and her small closet could barely shut with all her clothes and goods. She was too old to still live at home. Yet neither she nor her brothers had any plans to move out. She doubted if her brothers ever would. Rats showed more ambition than her brothers. They sometimes worked temporarily for ranchers or orchard owners in the surrounding areas. Sometimes, they worked for Shane. And sometimes, they just didn’t work.
    She slipped into her bed and a heavy sigh escaped her. It wasn’t like her life was bad. It just wasn’t… good. There wasn’t much to look forward to, or anything she loved. There was working at the café, and at the Rydells, and her free time, which she spent with other loser men like Drew Nichols. Ian was probably