Seed Read Free Page B

herself and the guilt was creeping in. “We were planning on a new car and we’re going to get a new car. There’s no reason for us to change our plans.”
    “Suit yourself,” Pat said with a shrug, as though Aimee’s choices had absolutely no bearing on her own situation. “But you’ll be wishing you listened to me,” she warned. “I’d have expected that by your age you’d have learned that your mother is always right.”
    Aimee bit her tongue as she chopped a stalk of celery.
    “Either way, I’ll check with Daddy to see if he’ll let you borrow the Oldsmobile for a few days. That is, if it’s okay with Jack.”
    That sarcasm bore beneath Aimee’s skin, but she couldn’t say a damn thing about it. They’d need a car. Borrowing her father’s Oldsmobile was the prefect solution, at least for a while.
    “If it’s okay with Daddy,” Aimee said. “We’d appreciate it.”
    “I hope so,” Pat said. “Because you know how much your father loves that car.”
    Aimee nodded.
    “Thanks, Momma,” she said. “And thanks again for taking Charlie today.”
    Pat forced a curt smile and pivoted on the balls of her feet, moving toward the front door.
    “Don’t forget the Tylenol,” she warned. “If you don’t remedy the problem now, you’ll be sorry later.”
    As soon as Pat stepped out of the house, Aimee rolled her eyes with a snort.

    Jack’s job was far from ideal. He spent his days patching up flat-bottomed swamp boats and resoldering metal joints to keep his customers afloat. These customers, who came to the shop because they got hammered with the shop owner every other night, ranged from crawfish fishermen to bonafide ‘gator hunters. Jack spent half his day listening to stories about the Big One that got away, about the monster that nearly chomped a finger or two. By the time he came home, the familiar itch of a headache was tickling his brain, and the tension that had settled over the house didn’t do much in the way of letting him unwind.
    Abby sat on the couch, watching television while doing her homework—something she hardly ever got away with. When Jack peeked his head into the girls’ room he found Aimee perched at the foot of Charlie’s bed, looking pensive.
    “One-oh-three,” she said as soon as she saw him in the doorway. “She came home with a fever and she’s up to one hundred and three. I think we need to go to the hospital.”
    “Did you give her a bath?” Jack asked, approaching his shivering daughter. Charlie was bundled beneath a pile of blankets, her teeth chattering in her sleep.
    “Every time I try to move her she starts to cry. If I even touch her she freaks out.”
    Jack took a seat next to Charlie, pressing his palm to her forehead. Aimee was right; if they couldn’t get her fever down they’d have to go to the ER—something they sure as hell couldn’t afford.
    Peeling the blankets away from her coiled-up body, Jack stuck an arm under the girl and hefted her up into his arms. Charlie whined, squirmed, tried to get away, but Jack didn’t give in. He held her tight and walked to the bathroom, Aimee at his heels. Taking a seat on the toilet lid, he ran the bath while Aimee stripped off Charlie’s sweat-soaked clothes.
    A worried Abigail appeared in the doorway with Nubs at her heels.
    “Is she gonna be okay?” she asked.
    When Aimee failed to answer, Jack looked at his eldest and offered her a reassuring smile.
    “Everything’s going to be fine, sweetheart. Charlie just needs to cool down.”
    As if on cue, Jack lowered Charlie into the tub. As soon as the cold water bit her skin, the shock of cold made her buck and thrash. She exhaled a high-pitched scream, clawing at the sides of the tub, desperately trying to escape. Abby slapped her hands over her ears. Nubs let out a frightened yelp and cowered in the hall. Jack held Charlie down while Aimee clasped her hands over her mouth. She looked away, unable to watch her baby thrash and writhe like a frightened