Shadow of Doubt Read Online Free Page B

a real adventure.”
    â€œWell, I—”
    He flashed me a smile. “We’ll have a great time, Robyn,” he said. “I know we will.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œCan you think of a better way to spend the summer than building a school in a little village in the mountains of Peru—or maybe somewhere in the rain forest in Brazil?”
    I had to admit that I couldn’t.
    â€œWhat do you say? Want to?”
    A whole week together at March break?
Two months
together during the summer?
    â€œWe’ll see,” I said. “I need to think about it.” As the words came out of my mouth, I realized that I sounded exactly like my mom.
    â€œMorgan already said yes,” Ben said. He sounded disappointed.
    â€œI need to think about it, Ben,” I said again.
    I knew I hadn’t reacted the way he had hoped, but I didn’t want to commit to anything until I was sure it was what I wanted. Ben hooked his phone up to the car’s sound system, and we listened in silence all the way home. When he pulled to a stop in front of my house and I unbuckled my seat belt and opened the passenger-side door, he didn’t move.
    â€œMy mom invited you for dinner, remember?” I said.
    â€œApologize to her for me, will you?”
    â€œAre you mad at me?” I said.
    â€œNo,” he said, but I didn’t believe him. “But it’s been a long day. I’m tired.”
    â€œYou
are
mad,” I said.
    He shook his head. “I’m not. Really. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
    I said my mom would be disappointed. But, secretly, I was relieved. Things were moving too fast.
Ben
was moving too fast.

    . . .
    â€œWhere’s Ben?” my mother said when I went into the house. “I thought he was going to have supper with us.”
    â€œHe said to tell you he’s sorry. He’s tired. So am I. We hiked all day.”
    â€œBut I made lemon chicken...” she said.
    Lemon chicken is my mom’s company dish. She makes it whenever she invites someone to dinner for the first time. It’s easy to prepare, completely foolproof, and utterly delicious. People never fail to compliment her lavishly or to ask for seconds. My mom had obviously been hoping to make a good impression on Ben. That’s why I decided not to tell her about his spring-break invitation. She would probably think it was a good idea.
    â€œHe doesn’t know what he’s missing,” I said. “But to be honest, Mom, I could probably eat the whole thing myself.”
    â€œGood,” my mother said. “Because I made enough to feed both of us and one teenage boy. Go and get changed. I’ll start the salad.”
    I ran upstairs and, hurried along by the aroma of the chicken, quickly changed out of my long underwear and thick socks. I was on the way back downstairs when I heard the doorbell. I groaned. I didn’t want my meal delayed by an unexpected visitor.
    â€œGet that, will you, Robyn?” my mother called from the kitchen.
    I veered for the front door and opened it. It was Ted. He smiled nervously.
    â€œIs your mother home?” he said.
    In fact, she had come out of the kitchen and was standing right behind me, a serving spoon in one hand and salad tongs in the other. “Ted,” she said. Her tone was as frosty as the night air.
    â€œPatricia. I need to talk to you. To both of you.”
    My mother stared at him a little longer. Her eyes were cold and hard. She used to have the same look on her face whenever my father showed up for dinner four hours late, or when he got called away in the middle of an anniversary celebration or, a couple of times, during Christmas. She sounded far from friendly when she said, “Come in.” But at least she said it.
    Ted unbuttoned his overcoat and slowly peeled it off, but instead of hanging it in the closet the way he usually did, he stood in the front hall with the coat in his arms like a