The Duet Read Online Free Page B

one thing I was not, it was a mindless drone.
    “Well, it may have started out because of my hair – apparently HR Gwen prefers blondes – but once I called her a cow, I think my fate was pretty much sealed.”
    “Incredible.” Mrs. O’Donnell just stared into space. I knew she was genuinely concerned for me, but her mind was far away with worry over Cooper. I squeezed her shoulder to let her know I understood, and she gave me a lopsided smile.
    “It’s all okay, though. I didn’t belong there anyway, and as soon as Cooper gets his act together, he’s going to ask Darden if I can sing at the club. Then I can pick up some part time work, maybe at the outlets or something, and I’ll be golden.”
    Mrs. O’Donnell patted my hand. “You’ll be just fine,” she said.
    “We all will be just fine, you’ll see.”
    “Hey!” we heard from the other room. It was Tommy, yelling from his spot on the couch. “There’s a cop pulling in the driveway. Cooper, must be for you, buddy.”
    “Oh, little brother, what did you do now?” Shane Jr. chimed in.
    Michelle ran out of the kitchen, anxious to be the center of the action, and I led Mrs. O’Donnell out to the living room slowly by the hand.
    The entire house fell silent at the sound of the knock on the door, and for a moment, I thought I would have to be the one to answer it. Everyone was just still. But finally Michelle bounced over and swung the door open with dramatic flair.
    “Good afternoon, Officer.”
    The officer, who couldn’t have been more than a year out of the academy, blushed when he saw Michelle. In his defense, she was giving him the full court press; hand on hip, chest puffed out, twirling of the hair and big, doe eyes. The poor guy.
    He cleared his throat. “Yeah, uh, sorry to bother you. I was told I may find a one James Archer at this address?”
    Michelle turned slowly and all eyes were now on Jay. He looked confused, and then maybe a little annoyed. His court date had been set for next month, and he was told as long as he didn’t try to flee California, he could go about his business until then. Unless he got into some other trouble, I didn’t blame him for being peeved. And here they were tracking him to the O’Donnell’s and interrupting Sunday dinner just to mess with him.
    “I’m here.” Jay stepped forward. The officer looked up at him and an entirely different look of discomfort came over his face.
    Again with the clearing of the throat. “Uh, Mr. Archer. I’m gonna need you to come with me for a moment, if you don’t mind. I’m afraid we have some bad news.”

4
     
    Jay’s father was dead.  Less than six months after losing his mother, Jay now had no living parents. Was a twenty-three year old still considered an orphan?
    He sat on the swing set behind his parents’ house. The officer had dropped him off at the O’Donnell’s to pick up his car, but he hadn’t gone inside. Instead he had walked the once familiar route through the backyards of the two neighbors that separated Cooper’s house from his own. As he sit there, the darkness and the chill in the air settling around him like a thin, scratchy blanket, he wondered why there was even a swing set in the yard. They had moved into the house when Jay was already a teenager. If they took down the swings, his mother would have had more room for a garden, and his father would have had an easier time mowing the lawn.
    He nearly laughed out loud at the thought. His mother never planted a garden. In fact she rarely went outside during the day. And his father hired some random lawn service to mow once a week; it had never even occurred to him to ask his own son to do it.
    He heard the crunch of footsteps in the grass and looked up, surprised to see Izzy. He was also kind of amazed that he was happy to see her. Unfortunately, as usual, his words didn’t match the tone of his thoughts.
    “What are you doing here?” he snapped.
    Izzy stood a couple feet from him. She was