Welcome To Hickville High (Hickville High Series Book 1) Read Free

all, Maggie. It’s your house now.”
    Mom led the way through the front door and into a rectangular den with a fireplace on the far end of the room. The tan shag carpet looked as worn as the exterior. Mackenzie said what they were all thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me. Coffee pot wallpaper?”
    “We can change that.” Mom spoke nonchalantly, but the white-knuckled grip on her purse said otherwise.
    The stairs were to the left of the door but the girls followed their mom through the den to the back of the house. They pushed through swinging doors to a large kitchen. Make that a large kitchen area because while it was probably the same size as the den, cabinets were lacking. Beige counters beneath painted tan cabinets were crammed in the corner of the room between an avocado green stove and refrigerator. How far they’d fallen from the subzero fridge and professional grade gas stove they’d left behind. Kelsey turned to her mom. “Are you sure about all of this?”
    Mom straightened her back and set her chin. “It just needs a little fixing up—come on, let’s check out what’s waiting for us upstairs.”
    They wandered back through the living room to the stairs. Upstairs was as boring as the rest of the house. Four bedrooms and one bathroom. The slightly larger bedroom was the master.
    Kelsey looked in the rooms next to the master. The first two were unimpressive. Square. Closet on one side, two windows facing the back of the house. The best room was the one at the end of the hall with two windows facing the back yard and two windows facing the side. Kelsey turned to her mom. “Can I have this room?”
    Mom nodded. “You’re the oldest, you should get first pick.”
    Ryan chimed in, “Well, the other rooms are exactly the same so I don’t care which one is mine.”
    Mackenzie echoed, “Me either.”
    Mom said, “Settled. We’ll put your bags in your rooms later.” With that, she jogged downstairs and out the front door.
    Kelsey looked at her sisters. “I’ve seen enough of this dump. I’m getting out of here.” She pulled her phone from her back pocket and ran downstairs to the front porch. She tapped the Facebook icon on her phone and looked for a place to sit.
    Her parents were settled in the glider and Uncle Jack and Aunt Susan sat in rockers across from them. Austin leaned against the porch rail studying his phone. He looked up and his deep blue gaze held her for a couple of seconds before he returned to whatever he was reading. Was he checking her out? It wasn’t like he looked her up and down. She didn’t miss the mischievous glint in his eyes. Was he making fun of her?
    She plastered an I’m bored look on her face and sat on the top step. A ceiling fan whirled overhead and a breeze wafted across the porch, but it did nothing to cool things down. The screen door screeched open as Ryan and Mackenzie stepped onto the porch. Mackenzie retreated to the corner near her parents. Ryan stood next to Austin. Typical. Mackenzie was the shadow, always fading into the background. Of course Ryan would stand next to Austin. If there was testosterone around, she was sure to follow.
    Uncle Jack tipped his beer toward Austin. “Son, why don’t you show the girls around the farm?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Kelsey couldn’t figure what needed to be shown. From what she saw it was pretty simple. Farmhouse in need of repair, a barn that she supposed held some animal things, and lots and lots of nothingness.
    Ryan looked up at Austin and flashed him a smile.
    “Hey.” Austin gave a quick nod. “Come on, I’ll show you the barn.”
    They stepped off the porch and into the heat. The ground seemed to pulse as the sun’s rays beat down on them. Kelsey wiped sweat from her forehead as she watched Ryan chat up Austin. Of course Ryan would flirt with the new guy, he was a future notch on her guys-I’ve-slept-with belt.
    Austin led them across the yard to the barn. “There’s twenty acres behind the barn and a