Shadow of Doubt Read Online Free Page A

were still out there at the end of the finger of rock. I didn’t want him to fall.
I
didn’t want to fall.
    Ben started to tremble. At least, that’s what I thought he was doing until I looked up at his face. He wasn’t trembling at all. He was laughing.
    â€œYou think this is
funny
?” I said. “You scared me, Ben! I thought you were going to fall.”
    â€œI was just checking to see if you cared,” he said, grinning at me, his body shaking with suppressed laughter.
    â€œBy risking your
life
?” I said.
    â€œLook down, Robyn.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œLook down. Please.”
    I clung to him as I peeked below. When I did, I felt like pushing him over the edge—not that it would have had much impact. A few feet below the finger of rock that he’d been spinning on, but completely invisible from where I’d been standing, a thick, snow-covered ledge jutted out. If Ben had slipped off the rock, he would have had a close, soft landing. He wouldn’t have even bruised himself, but he would have scared me to death.
    â€œSee?” he said. “Perfectly safe. I’ve done a joke-fall off here a dozen times. You should have seen the look on my buddy Alan’s face the first time I tried it.” He laughed again.
    â€œBut I thought—”
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said, still chuckling. “But if you’d seen your expression...And you do care, don’t you?”
    â€œI didn’t want anything bad to happen to you.” I looked into his mischievous eyes. “But now I’m not so sure.”
    â€œI won’t do it again,” he said. “I promise. Are you hungry? There’s a hikers’ shelter just up the trail.”
    We made our way to a three-sided wooden hut with benches along the walls and a spectacular view of the lake below. Ben opened our packs, laid out the food we had brought, and handed me a sandwich. I was surprised at how hungry I was. I devoured that sandwich and reached for another one. Ben poured hot, sugary tea for both of us and leaned back against the wall.
    After we ate, we hiked partway around the lake. Ben stayed close to me and talked the whole way about the history of the area. It had once been filled with forests and logging camps, he said, but those had gradually given way to farms and fields of crops—the rolling countryside was still dotted with barns and marked off with rows of trees that protect the fields from harsh winds. Nowadays, slowly but surely, the farmers were selling their land to developers, and suburban homes were springing up where cows had grazed and corn had grown.
    Finally we went back to the car and started for home.
    â€œI’ve been thinking,” Ben said. “We have a place up north. My father calls it a cabin, but it’s not really. It’s more like a country house. We could go up there for March break.”
    â€œYou and me?”
    â€œAny other time, Peter would probably insist that he or Catherine be there to chaperone.” Peter is Ben’s father. Catherine is his wife. “But the baby is due any time now, so that won’t be a problem. I already invited Morgan and Billy to come with us.”
    â€œYou did?”
    â€œMorgan seems really excited about the idea. So how about it? We can spend the whole week together. Maybe start making plans for the summer.”
    Summer? It was only January.
    â€œI was thinking we could do something with Habitat for Humanity. They need volunteers all over the world. Or there’s another organization I heard about—it builds schools in poor villages and neighborhoods in South America. I put our names down for an info session.”
    â€œYou what?”
    â€œWe don’t have to make a decision right away,” he said. “We’ll just see what’s involved. We can do something useful for a month or so. Then we can travel for a couple of weeks before coming home. It’ll be