Promise Read Online Free Page B

even new socks and underwear. Just like the first day every year, Gram had insisted, but Kaden knew he was a sitting target for Luke.
    â€œDon’t take off yet,” he told Doris. “Gram’s coming today.”
    â€œGood,” Doris replied. “It’s been a long summer. Lots to catch up on.”
    Kaden was always the first on the bus and the last off. The bus always arrived a half hour earlier than it needed to because Doris enjoyed a cup of coffee with Emmett every morning before going on down the mountain into town. Kaden didn’t mind. Unlike Gram, Emmett loved to bake.
    â€œNot cook, mind you,” he would say. “Bake.”
    Kaden could always count on something good in the morning. Cheese biscuits, apple crisp, or his favorite, homemade cinnamon rolls. Emmett’s treats made a nice dessert to the bowl of lumpy oatmeal with raisins Gram placed in front of Kaden every morning.
    Gram also liked “a little something,” as she called it, andeven though she wouldn’t admit it, she also enjoyed a bit of gossip with Doris. Gram didn’t go every day but rode the bus to Emmett’s at least a couple of times a week.
    â€œI forgot,” Doris said to Kaden as Gram climbed aboard, “you’ll get first choice of middle-school seats now, won’t you?”
    â€œYep,” Kaden answered, “and I’m taking this one, right here.”
    Promise Elementary and Promise Middle School were both squished into the same building. A crow flying over would see its hallways made a big rectangle with a courtyard in the middle. The left hallway held middle-school classrooms. Elementary classrooms were on the right. A back hallway completed the rectangle leading to an all-purpose room that served as both cafeteria and gym. Opposite the all-purpose room was the library, with a set of glass doors that opened into the courtyard.
    A one-way drive for buses only went down the left side of the school, across the back and then up the right side. A cars-only drive curved past the front. Beyond that was a wide strip of grass and then the school parking lot. Standing prominently in the grass were a flagpole and a sign saying P ROMISE E LEMENTARY AND M IDDLE S CHOOL .
    Only teachers and car riders entered through the frontdoors. All other students entered and exited in back. Doris required middle-school students to sit at the front of her bus in the morning because they would get off first. In the afternoon, when the middle schoolers loaded first, she had them sit at the back. She was very proud of her entry and exit system and boasted she could load and unload a bunch of kids faster and with fewer problems than anybody in Hill County.
    Kaden figured the seat right behind Doris would be the best one. He could be down the steps and out the bus door before anyone could push, shove, elbow, or trip him.
    The bus pulled out from the McCrorys’ cabins, went around the bend, down the hill, and pulled into Emmett’s driveway. With the bus windows down in the late August heat, Kaden could smell cinnamon rolls before Doris even opened the door.
    Doris and Gram walked through the kitchen and into the dining room, taking their usual spots at the dining room table. Kaden stayed with Emmett in the kitchen. While Emmett poured coffee and put cinnamon rolls on a platter, Kaden poured himself a glass of milk.
    â€œAny new pictures on the wall?” Kaden asked, even though he knew the answer.
    â€œNo, none since your birthday last month,” Emmettstated.
    They were referring to the wall at the far end of the kitchen, where four large cork bulletin boards hung. Each bulletin board was loaded with photographs. Layers upon unorganized layers overlapping each other, depicting years and years. There were babies, kids, people holding fish they’d caught, trophies they’d won. Dogs and horses, kittens and puppies. Sunsets, flowers, and snowy landscapes. The collection had long ago