Sudden Independents - By Ted Hill Page 0,8
it was a new hat for Jimmy.” Molly noted the way Ginger blushed at the mention of Jimmy, but there were more pressing matters at hand.
“So you and Vanessa have been working on this?”
“Well, I just wanted to put together a little wardrobe for the baby.”
“But Vanessa and I agreed to wait until the baby was born to see if it was a boy or a girl.” Molly gripped the outfit in a tight fist. “Why would she go behind my back?”
“She didn’t go behind your back. I offered to make a couple newborn outfits because I thought it would be nice for the baby to have something to wear.”
Molly threw the outfit onto the pile and placed her hands on her hips to keep from tearing out a patch of Ginger’s tawny hair. “Where on earth have I been during all this?”
“In your office.”
After Molly pulled out her hair, she would strangle her with it. “You probably knitted the baby a blanket with teddy bears on it.”
Ginger bit down on what was left of a dirty fingernail and looked away.
“You mean you actually did?”
Bending down, Ginger pulled a faded blue milk crate from under her table and lifted out a soft looking, yellow blanket. Then she brought up a fuzzy brown Teddy bear.
“Where on earth did you get that?”
Molly was the aunt. She was the head seamstress. She should have been included. Anger surged into her like something more solid than emotion. The anger carried weight and heat and filled every ounce of her body. Her hands trembled with the strain of keeping the anger inside as she waited for Ginger’s answer.
Ginger scratched the fur on the Teddy bear’s head. “I made it.”
Molly’s knees dipped with the added weight of jealousy. For a second, she fought back tears. Why was Ginger better than her at everything?
From the look in her eyes, Ginger’s evident concern rekindled Molly’s fury. She clawed the bear away, dug her fingers into the seam of the neck and tore off the fuzzy head. White stuffing gushed out the decapitated section of the bear’s body. Molly threw both pieces at Ginger’s shocked, pretty face.
Molly’s lungs tightened with each new breath. Spinning away from Ginger, she stormed through the front door of the shop onto the brick cobbles of Main Street. Distracted, she almost tripped into the unrepaired, gaping pothole. An orange cone marked the hazard, and Molly kicked it a good ten yards down the street.
The stifling heat surrounded her as she prepared to face the dinner crowd. Deep inside, Molly bottled up her rage. This was all Vanessa’s fault. First she’d taken Mark from her. Now she was corrupting the people in her shop. Molly refused to allow anymore of Vanessa’s interference in her life.
Hunter felt the impact and his back tire flipped up, pitching him forward. He reflected on his situation for an instant.
Oh shit.
He swooped through the air, arms stretched out like Superman on a collision course with the planet. Violent pain accompanied a terrible snap.
Hunter howled over the blaring roar his motorbike made lying on its side, throttle stuck once again, the rear wheel grinding through dirt, making the air thick with dust. His right arm trashed. Drawing in his courage, he looked at the jagged shard of bone jutting out of his skin. Hunter kicked as the sight and the pain all registered at once. Another agonized, rattled howl escaped past his lips. He quickly stifled his screaming when Scout silenced the motorbike.
Hunter couldn’t focus on anything with the light of day totally gone. He tried to sit up, but the pain kept him down. He stopped screaming and settled for squirming on the ground.
Scout slipped past him and vanished like a fox through a patch of fog.
“Where are you going? I’m dying over here!”
His shrieks went unheeded. He waited anxiously for Scout’s return, until he remembered the little girl, Catherine. He wanted to sit up, but failed again. Scout’s surprised voice floated out of the night.
“You’re all right. I don’t believe it. You flew over twenty yards. How can you be all right?”
“That was fun. Can we do it again?”
“Let go. I have to take care of Hunter. Please, you can hug me later, I promise. Catherine, let go!”
Another burst of pain exploded through Hunter’s broken forearm. He gasped, bearing up for Scout, who finally slid down beside him.
“Yeah, you broke it good. I never thought you could be so stupid. What were you thinking?”
Hunter gritted his teeth. “I was