Sheep's Clothing by Gary Lewis (free ebook reader for pc txt) 📕

eyes sideways at her. "I don't care." He moved his hand in a flat, vertical motion in front of him before sweeping it aside. "Want nothing to do with her."

Sarah gave a smirk. "Oh. Damaged goods, huh?"

Her smartassery was beginning to get on Vance's last nerve. "Listen," he said. "Not to change the subject or anything, but..." he mockingly challenged her before lightening up to a smile.

Sarah placed her fists on her hips and held her chest out. "What is it now?" she asked in a deep, manly voice.

"Mind if I use your laptop to order a new set of brakes for the truck? The site is stupid on my phone." Vance waited, ready for some wisecrack about how he couldn't afford a computer or internet. But there was none.

"Sure, but don't take too long. I have to check out a dryer for a tenant."

Inside, Vance noticed how cold she kept her house. "Should've brought my jacket," he said, propped back at her dining room table on Sarah’s laptop where he scrolled through social media while waiting for his order confirmation. Sarah didn't say anything. Vance watched as she paced around, cleaning the countertops and sink.

"Must be nice," he remarked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"I mean having a place nice enough to have to worry about all that."

Sarah walked over and lifted Vance's glass of orange juice he'd set on the table and slid the coaster underneath. "Oh, boo-hoo. Cry me a river," she shot back. "I worked hard for everything I have." The air got silent as she relentlessly wiped down the table surface. "There's no family to look out for me at the end of the day." He remained quiet as he watched her flip her hand up in the air while she continued. "So what? Your mom died and now you live in a trailer park with your dad.” Sarah looked away and continued cleaning. “Shit happens,” she said. “I never had a family."

Vance felt hot inside. "No wonder you keep the thermostat so low. Must be tough living with yourself."

A few minutes went by as Vance switched tabs, looking over the football team's page. Then he checked his social media messages while Sarah compulsively straightened up the living room.

"Guess that's it," he said. He closed the laptop and stood to leave. Sarah seemed deaf to him, still sweeping away at the floor.

"Hey, I shouldn't have said that," Vance said, raising out his palm. "You're right. Everything you have was built with your own two hands." He rubbed the back of his head and cleared his throat. "I just don't know how you hold it together so great. Wish I had that... and I guess it makes me kind of mad that I don’t." He put one hand in his pocket as he glanced for the door, just beyond her. “Guess what I’m tryin’ to say is I really look up to what you do here.”

Sarah dropped the broom against the wall and looked at him with round eyes for what seemed like forever.

Shocked that she actually stopped cleaning, Vance threw his palms out to face her. "Whoa. Not goin’ to hit me, are ya?"

"No," she said softly. She briskly turned her face away toward the wall where the broom leaned. "Thank you." She gently grasped the broom, still turned away from him.

On his way out the front door, Vance clasped the frame and turned to lean his head back inside. Sarah's face was still turned from view. "But if having a family there for me means a fat, lazy drunk that yells and beats the shit out of me for everything..." He paused to look at the back of her blonde hair as she stood, a statue, clasping at the standing broom. "I'd rather take my chances on my own." He casually slung himself back from the door as he walked away. The tall grass seemed to welcome his stride as he neared his red pickup and the gentle click of Sarah’s door closed behind him.

###

Heavy clouds rolled in to envelop the night sky above Pine Bluff. Into the dead of night, the town remained calm except for the occasional clap of thunder and the light patter of rain. The noisy animals of the forest and fields roamed safely and the residents slept peacefully through the passing darkness. Maybe the moon-shrouding dark matter that swirled in the sky above town had concealed the cravings from the beast’s belly, or perhaps this time it had become full with a soul of its own.

Chapter 12

#Sarah#

The early morning light found Sarah wrestling to pick herself up from the couch. Several dented, empty beer cans sat beside the filled ashtray on her otherwise spotless living room table. Though the comfy cushions begged her to sink back into her dreams, the incessant crowing from the neighbors' roosters told her that it wasn't going to happen today. "Just what I need. Another cock telling me what to do." The sound of tires crackling up the gravel road caught her attention. Sarah bounced up from the couch and snapped out of her morning haze to look out the window. "Just the people who live up the road," she said.

After a few failed attempts at her long unlock code, she checked the group chat. David hadn't been active for over twenty-four hours. The last messages were Vance and Terry going back and forth about the deer, the fire tower camera and something about a stake out. A giggle escaped her chest when she saw how Vance spelled it. Steak out… He might as well have written takeout. It didn't seem like a bad idea, her stomach told her with a slight growl while she grabbed a towel and began to run a steaming hot shower.

"I still can't believe you said it," Sarah whispered while looking at her screen. She spent a few minutes thinking of what to text him before finally settling for, "Thank you for helping with my yardwork yesterday." A loud ding sounded from her laptop in