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

"What's going on in there?" Janice asked, poking at her temple.

Before David got her meaning, she spoke again.

"Oh. I know." Her smile resurrected itself, pushing her big cheeks all the way up to her eyes and she pranced lightly toward him, almost leaning into his chest. "Mom's home," she whispered against the side of his face. Her voice reassured him as much as her words while they walked up the carport steps and entered the side door.

The inviting smell of chicken casserole filled the kitchen along with the tapping sounds of plates and silverware. A drawer slid closed and Janice's mother walked around the corner.

"Hello, Elaine," David said as formally as he could.

"Oh, hey David," she said as she turned to Janice with a heartwarming smile. "I didn't know you were having company over."

"Oh. I, umm..." David cleared his throat as Janice's mother tilted her head to listen. "I just came by to look at Jan's old photo projects from last school year."

Janice giggled as she shook her head at him and reached out to take her mother's hand. She turned to him. "Can you give us a minute?"

"Sure," David said, looking toward the stairs. "Mind if I head on up to your room?" he asked as he lifted his thumb in the direction. He turned to walk, no longer waiting for a response as they spoke.

He jogged up the stairs as lightly as possible and stretched his arms with a yawn when he entered Janice's room. David plopped onto her bed. He thought of what pose he should surprise her with when she came up. As his head sunk into her pillow, he pressed his face against it to take in the aroma of her strawberry scented shampoo.

Their voices could barely be heard from the dining area below. He listened intently while he stretched his legs across the sheets to kick off his shoes. "Oh. David?" Her mother's voice said with a tone of wonder as they hushed into more inaudible conversation. He heard Vance's name too. But it seemed to carry much less approval in its tone.

David got up and began to look around Janice's room, dimly illuminated by the light from her opened bathroom door. Her mirror had collected more pinned photos since the last time he saw it. What was once a pristine, neatly laid out dresser was now home to stacks of old yearbooks and unfinished school work from the year before.

"Must be when she took off from school after her dad died," he whispered to himself while he looked in gloom upon the pages he lightly slid aside. Scribbled notes with long faded creases were unfolded underneath her photography awards. You got these when you took the team photos. I remember when they used to hang on the wall at the old rec, before the fire.

Janice could be heard below, finishing the conversation with her mom. David glanced over her written letters. One was to Vance. The worn corners and crinkles blended with the many repeated folds it had known, a testament to its age.

"That's an old one," he said as he briefly scanned over the contents. Janice's footsteps quickly got louder from the stairs as the word "fire" caught his attention near the bottom of the page. He hurried to read the passage "...you so much for saving my awards from the fire..."

Janice's footsteps went silent and David's eyes bounced up to her doorway where she leaned against the thin wooden frame with a stare in his direction.

"I know," she said while waving her arm as she walked gracefully closer. "It's a disaster."

"Oh, no. I was thinking how much has changed since you took these." He grabbed a stack of portrait sized photos of the baseball and football teams and scooted them over the notes as she strolled near.

Janice leaned her head against the side of his chest and tilted it to the mess on her dresser for a moment before looking back up into his eyes. "I have to change out of this thing." She slid her finger along the shoulder strap of her red dress.

David looked down at the smooth skin of her neck and let his eyes wander down to her breasts, pressed together in her tight dress that wrapped down around her hips while she turned to grab some clothes out of her dresser drawer.

"Changed in the other bathroom," she said before strolling over to shove him with a laugh.

"I wasn't thinking anything at all, Jan." David smiled with his hands up.

"Sure you weren't, mister."

As she started to walk away, he pulled her back by the wrist with his left hand and cupped his right hand gently behind her neck, drawing her soft lips into his.

"Okay. Okay." Janice's eyes gleamed up at David. "Don't get me started again."

Janice turned once more as she stepped out to the hallway. "By the way, dinner should be done any time."

"On my way," David said softly, unsure if she even heard him.

###

The evening started to close into darkness as they enjoyed a much needed meal of chicken casserole within the safety of the brightly lit kitchen. Somehow, David managed to bring up how long it had been several times without mentioning Janice's dad or the animal attacks in front of her mom. Finally, David's full stomach matched the heaviness of his eyes and it was time to head home.

Janice walked him out to his car as they talked for a moment and shared a kiss before he began the dark drive home. David's mind swirled with thoughts of Janice. Everything was finally coming together, he thought.

A light rain sprinkled onto his windshield and he turned his wipers on low. They screeched side to side as he wondered what the note was about. "Vance must have been involved in the fire at the old rec center," David said to himself. I should have known it was him. He was already connected to the old barn fire near where the creature was first sighted.

The rain started falling faster