Still Waters Read Online Free

straight into the
lab at my dad’s company while Eleanor backpacked around Europe for a year with
her sister. Now she’s a second-grade teacher, and she says she couldn’t be
happier.
    “This
needs an hour on low,” she says as she scoops the last of the vegetables into
the pot. “I’ll see you later.”
    “You’re
going?” I say, standing up. “You don’t have to; we could watch a movie or
something.”
    She
looks at me and smiles. “You’ll be fine Hart. You’re just not used to having any time to yourself. That big brain of
yours deserves a holiday. This will be really good for you.”
    She
gathers her things and waves goodbye. I spend the next few hours pacing through
my house, going from room to room and back again as I try to figure out what
I’m going to do about the water samples from Bridal Falls. I walk into the
kitchen and open the refrigerator. A small plastic container sits on the bottom
shelf, carefully hidden behind two enormous jars of pickles. I pull it out with
a sigh and open the lid. Two small sample tubes with Preston Ind. stickers
stuck to the side are sitting there innocently. To anyone else they wouldn’t
look like anything much, but I know that those few ounces of water have the
power to tear my family apart. I spend the rest of the night lying on my back,
staring at the ceiling as my mind searches for a way for me to fix this mess
without hurting anyone. Sometime around 5 am I fall into a fitful sleep, having
finally come to the realization that it can’t be done.

Chapter
Four
    Crew

 
    Jake opens the passenger door of my Jeep and
climbs into the seat next to me.
    “Ready
to go?” he asks as he pulls the seatbelt across his body and clicks it into the
lock. I don’t answer him for a second and I guess he notices that something is
wrong because he stops fiddling with the radio and looks at me. He’s expecting
me to say something, but I’m so damn tired and the last thing I feel like doing
is talking about it. I just want to get this over and done with.
    “Hey
man, are you ok?” he says, putting a hand on my shoulder. “If this is too hard
for you, we can go another time. It’s cool.”
    I
rest my head back and close my eyes. The words I want to say are right on the
tip of my tongue. I can feel them dancing there, daring me to say them. But
instead I sigh and say, “I want to go. I’m just tired. Long flight.” I open an
eye and see him nod in understanding.
    “Seriously
dude, we don’t have to do this every time you come into town, if you’re not up
to it then we can just..”
    I
can’t take it anymore. Why does he have to be so understanding all the time?
Isn’t he angry? Because I can’t seem to help being pissed off. I slam my fist
against the steering wheel and turn to him.
    “I
said I wanted to go. So can we just stop talking about it and drive over there
already?”
    I
feel bad even before the last word leaves my mouth.
    “Whatever
man,” he says and looks out the window. He’s acting pissed, which is what he
does to cover up when he’s feeling hurt.
    “Jake,”
I say, “I’m sorry, man. Shit. I’m really tired, and a bit hung-over. I
shouldn’t have done that.”
    He
looks at me and nods once, and I know that me acting like an asshole has
already been forgotten. That’s the thing about Jake O’Reilly; once he calls you
his friend he’ll forgive you anything. I turn the key and the Jeep roars to
life.
    “Man,
isn’t it time you upgraded or something? You’ve had this thing since high
school, and it was a piece of crap even then.”
    I
look over at him and grin. There’s no way I’m getting rid of my Jeep, and he
knows it. The rain is really coming down now, so I flick on my wipers and
slowly make my way out of the car park.
    “Your
dad meeting us there?” I ask as we pull out onto the road. There’s a girl up
ahead running through the puddles in a huge blue raincoat. I wonder if it’s the
girl from The Sea Shack, but she has the hood up