GG01 - Sudden Anger Read Online Free Page A

convinced there were useful eco-friendly compounds to be discovered, and had some kind of hush-hush government grant to work on them.
    "Hey, Bill!" she said. She thrust her plate in his direction with both hands. "Hold this for a sec, would ya?" Bill slid his hand under the over-full plate before it had a chance to fall apart, and lost the meatballs anyway. Gracie picked up the other plate and told him, "Lemme just go give this to my aunt and I'll be right back."
    Jeanine had buttonholed Jim Holloway and was droning on to him about some misfortune. Gracie dropped the plate on her lap with a quick "Here," and turned around to make good her escape. As she left she could hear Jim saying, "I'll leave you to eat your cake in peace." Poor Aunt Jeanine, she never Got It that she bored people. No wonder her husband had left her after only six months. The wonder was that he'd stayed that long!
    Bill was sitting at one of the tables set up on the lawn. Gracie sat down and attacked the food. "Don't they feed you at home?" Bill asked with a big grin.
    "'M'ungry," Gracie said. She continued to shovel food into her mouth for a few minutes while Bill watched, shaking his head at the voracity of teens. The bottomless pit temporarily satisfied, she sat back and sighed contentedly.
    "You left a couple of sausages," Bill pointed out.
    "They're too spicy," she replied. "So, how've you been? How's the research going?"
    "Well, I didn't happen to make any breakthroughs after you left Tuesday afternoon. I feel like I'm close, but can't quite seem to get there. Wish I could spend more time in the lab, but the grant doesn't pay the bills so I have to teach."
    "You must be doing a little better," she said. "You're wearing new clothes."
    "How can you tell?" Bill was a little nonplussed.
    Gracie laughed good-naturedly. "You're such a
guy
. They're not all soft and faded, they haven't been through the wash a zillion times." She cocked her head to one side as she regarded his attire critically. The shirt was a big plaid in black-and-gray on a white background and looked good with black Dockers. "You look nice. It's good to see you spiffed up a little."
    "Thanks," he replied. "It's not that I have any extra money, I never seem to. I just decided I needed a little something for myself, don't want to look like a total slob up there in front of the kids. Though God knows none of
them
dress to impress!" Bill sighed resignedly. "I'll have to brown-bag it for a couple weeks to stay within my budget, and probably ride my bike to work, too."
    "I know teaching doesn't pay real well," Gracie said. "But Bill, you're such a
good
teacher, you could get a job at a bigger school. Make more money."
    "It wouldn't matter, Gracie," he said. "My child support is based on my income and it would go up too. And I like the college, and I'd have to move somewhere else to get a better-paying job.
Not
that I regret taking care of the kids. I wasn't able to give them much when they were young, at least there's more money for them now. I
do
wish I could see them more often." His voice sounded regretful.
    Gracie knew that Bill loved his two children, and missed them a great deal since his ex-wife had moved a couple hours' drive away. The ex hadn't understood his passion for teaching and research; she didn't feel it was as worthwhile in and of itself as he did. It wasn't that she was greedy, she just wanted a better life for her kids.
    And there was something else Gracie knew, too. Her dad had been drunk one night and had told them all about Bill's skeleton in the closet. That was sooo like her dad to enjoy airing someone else's dirty laundry, she thought. Even his best friend wasn't immune.
    Bill had never spoken about it, and she'd never let on that she knew. In college Bill's girlfriend had gotten pregnant and her parents had insisted he stay away from her. They'd also insisted he sign support papers, which he'd willingly done. But it meant that he'd had less money for his own family