C.J. Urban - Julie Townsend 01 - Hidden Intent Read Online Free Page B

gear into drive, he pulled down the overhead visor and removed a CD at random to listen to. Sky had an unusually diverse collection of all kinds of music, and he liked to surprise himself with whatever disc he laid his hands on. He enjoyed it all.
    The drive to his mother’s house only took a few minutes. He carefully backed his truck into the driveway and hopped out. Her house was painted an inviting light blue and boasted beds of multicolored flowers all around. Skye remembered helping her plant them just the year before, and he was glad they were thriving. It made his mom happy.
    He walked to the front door and, upon opening it, took in the smell of fresh baked rolls. His mouth watered.
    “Skye, you’re here!” Gloria exclaimed happily as she swept over to kiss him on the cheek.
    “How’re you doing, Mom?”
    “I’m just fine, as always,” she told her son. “Better, now that you’ve come to have dinner with me.”
    Skye laughed and gave his mom a hug.
    “What about you?” Gloria asked. “How’s life treating you?”
    “I’m doing okay. Just a little burnt out at work, but it is what it is.”
    Skye followed his mother into the kitchen and set the table while she finished making dinner.
    “I understand you met the new girl in town,” Gloria mentioned. “What’s her name again?” Gloria knew Julie’s name very well, but she wanted to know if Skye had taken a liking to her.
    “Her name’s Julie.”
    “Ah, the one who moved into Oliver McGuire’s empty house on Dale Street.”
    Skye sat at his place at the table while his mother served him a large plate. He could have served himself, but he knew his mother liked to do it. “Yeah,” he said, “She told me she just moved in with her little brother. He’s a pistol. But why did they move in to that house? Don’t they know what happened there?”
    Gloria seated herself next to her son with a plate for herself. “I’m not sure. Oliver is her uncle, you know. I don’t think he mentioned anything about it to her. I showed them around the house when they got here, but I didn’t think it was my place to talk about it.”
    Skye dropped his fork, clanking it onto his plate. “Mom. Why didn’t you say something? She might not want to live in a house with that kind of history.”
    “Honey, we were having polite conversation. You don’t talk about things like that under those circumstances.”
    “What? Tell me, what would be the right circumstance?” Skye rarely got this revved up, Gloria knew. He must really like her. He continued, “You should have said something.”
    “I didn’t want to scare her. She had her little brother with her. And she already seemed overwhelmed.”
    “Well,” Sky replied, “It looks like I found my opportunity to get to know her better. I’m going to tell her. It’s the right thing to do.”
    “There’s that reckless streak again,” Gloria commented. “Someday it’s going to get you in real trouble.”
    Skye didn’t respond. The rest of dinner was quiet, the only sounds were the scraping of forks and knives against plates. Gloria was uncomfortable with Skye’s decision. She stole glances at him, trying to find a way to reason with him, but remained silent.
    The moment he was finished eating, Skye rose quickly from his chair and put his dishes in the sink. “I’ll see you later, Mom. Thanks for dinner.”
    “You’re leaving now to tell her?”
    “Yep.”
    “Then the consequences will fall on you, son.”
    Skye didn’t reply, but left the house quickly, closing the front door roughly behind him. He stalked purposefully to his truck and got in. She should have said something, he thought to himself. People deserve to know these things when they move into a house.
    Dale Street, where Julie and Sam lived, was only a few blocks from his mother’s house. Skye climbed out of his truck and strode quickly to the front door, but paused a moment to think. Should I be the one to tell her? He wondered. But if I