The Rabid Read Online Free

me.
    Jack raised an eyebrow
directed at her. Her face remained smug.
    "Oh, yeah. See, I just
like to have sex. Sex is great and everyone involved benefits from it. it's not
my fault you didn't marry Chase when you had the chance."
    "Can we please stay off
that topic?" I wasn't in the mood to discuss Rex's father.
    "Okay, now I really need
to know what's going on." Jack had placed his beer in the sand to lean back on
his hands.
    "No, you don't."
    "Yes! He does." Sylvia
was beginning to act air-headed " a sure sign she was smitten. "See...Rex's dad,
Chase, had asked Lisa to marry him when she got pregnant."
    "Sylvia."
    Jack held up a hand. "No,
it's ok. I'm intrigued."
    "Yes, but I'm not. I've
heard this story a thousand times. I've lived it."
    "Then you can hear it one
more time!" Sylvia laughed and leaned forward to put a hand on Jack's knee.
Then, she scooted closer to him. "So, they were engaged, right? And everything
seemed okay until Lisa did this ultrasonic test or something"
    "Prenatal test." If I was
going to hear the story again, I was going to hear it correctly.
    "Whatever. Prenatal test.
And it turned out the baby had a seventy-five percent chance of having some
sort of defect. Which...well...you can see... Anyway, Chase up and bailed. couldn't
deal with it. I told Lisa she should try and go after him, but she's too damn
stubborn. Has too much pride."
    "Yikes." Jack said the word
as if he'd been holding his breath the entire time. "Chivalry really is dead,
isn't it?"
    "Not entirely, right
Jack?" Sylvia's hand lingered too long on Jack's thigh. When he didn't respond
within her time table, she pretended to lose balance and flop into his lap
laughing.
    "Okay, sweetheart, I
think you've had enough." There was reluctant laughter in his voice as he sat
her back up.
    "Momma, momma!"
    We all turned as Alex
sauntered into the firelight.
    "What is it, kiddo?"
Sylvia's voice sounded bored.
    "I found this, see? What
is it?" She held out a gold object with what looked like a button on the end.
Sylvia studied it for about half a second.
    "I don't know. Go back to
bed."
    "Let me see." Jack held
out his hand. Alex turned and gave him her new toy. He looked it over
carefully, inspecting every angle. "Where did you get it?"
    "In the glove
compartment."
    "Huh...wonder why Silas put
it there. it's a straight key."
    "Does it unlock a door?"
    He laughed. Sylvia
announced she was getting another drink and stood to leave. "Nope. This was
used to communicate across big distances way back when. it's used for Morse
code."
    "Oh, cool! I learned
about that in school. Do you know Morse code?"
    "Sure do."
    "Can you teach me?"
    "Maybe one night I'll
show you, ok, honey?" He handed it back to her.
    "Okay! Goodnight, Auntie
Lisa."
    "Goodnight, sweetie."
    "Goodnight, Jack."
    Jack smiled. "Night,
honey."
    She took a moment to
study him before running back to the SUV to sleep. Jack and I were alone. The
story Sylvia always told to male guests about my relationship with Chase was
inappropriate. Every time, I would tell her to stop, but she'd keep going. It
was almost as if she wanted men to steer clear of me. It didn't faze me too
badly, however. I had Rex to look after. There wasn't much time for dating.
    "So what did you
specialize in?"
    Jack's voice tore me out
of my thoughts. "Oh. When I started the program, I wasn't sure what I wanted
out of it. All I knew is that I wanted to be in medicine. I spent a semester
attending a surgeon, but it didn't quite challenge me enough. I followed a
podiatrist, but I didn't learn anything. Then there was private practice. That
was where I met Chase."
    "Oh, was he a doctor,
too?"
    "No, he was a patient.
he'd come in for a domestic abuse case." I paused, lost in my own thoughts.
"But it was her who'd hit him."
    Jack nodded while
watching the fire.
    "I actually ended up
attending at a hospital. I liked that work much better. Several new cases daily
and I had to learn a blanket of things. I was able to assess and