Read July Thunder for Free Online

when he might have been flattered, but no more. Now he just wanted to escape as quickly as he could.
    Gunning his engine, he backed out of his driveway and turned away from Sheila, even though the route to work would be longer.
    Coward, he thought almost wryly as he took his alternate route. But he wasn’t interested in Sheila and didn’t want to give her any idea that he might be. The best way for both of them to save face was to avoid any situation where someone might be embarrassed. Especially in a town this size.
    But he kind of felt sorry for her, too. Her divorce was new, and loneliness was a miserable thing. Hector had walked out on her only six months ago, leaving her for another woman. Sam had no doubt that part of what Sheila needed was reassurance that she was still attractive. Well, he wasn’t up for that game. She was nice enough, as a neighbor, but there it ended.
    â€œDinner tonight,” Earl Sanders reminded him theminute he stepped into the office. Apparently he was the first arrival for the day shift.
    â€œI remember.”
    â€œGood. I don’t want you wiggling out again.”
    â€œI won’t.” What was the point? Earl was going to keep on stalking him like a lion after prey.
    The thought caught Sam like a hiccup, and suddenly he laughed. A genuine laugh. A feel-good laugh. God, was he really this morose? Or was it just an ugly habit?
    â€œWhat’s so funny?” Earl demanded.
    Sam was still grinning. And for once his face didn’t hurt from it. “Me, boss. Just me.”
    Earl scanned him from head to foot. “I don’t see anything funny about you.”
    â€œAnd that’s the whole problem, isn’t it?” Sam shook his head. “I think I’m getting bored with my own company.”
    â€œIt’s about time. Six o’clock. And bring a date if you want.”
    â€œWho, me?”
    â€œYeah, you.” It was Earl’s turn to grin. “I figure you could have your pick of about half the single females in the county.”
    â€œWhat’s wrong with the other half?”
    â€œBeats me. Maybe not smart enough?”
    Sam laughed again, much to his own surprise. “Or maybe just too smart.”
    â€œNah. So, are you going to bring a date, or do you want me to invite some nice lady?”
    That sure sounded like an ultimatum, Sam thought, and he didn’t like ultimatums. His inclination was to become more stubborn than a Missouri mule when he felt pushed or cornered. But this time, just as his contrariness was rising, he found himself thinking of Mary McKinney. Thinking how comfortable it had been last night to share dinner with her. “Yeah,” he heard himself say. “I’ll ask someone.”
    â€œGreat.”
    As he was walking back out to his car after the morning briefing, he started shaking his head and grinning to himself. Earl was like every other happily married man: he wanted everyone else to be happily married, too. Until last year, when he’d married Meg, Earl had been content to let Sam work out his problems in his own way and time, ready to lend an ear when necessary, but essentially hands-off.
    Not anymore. Since his marriage, Earl had been persistently nudging Sam to rejoin the human race.
    Well, maybe it was time, Sam thought as he slid behind the wheel. Not to date or anything, but to get over himself. Grieving was one thing, but clinging to it was something else.
    And he supposed he’d better ask Mary if she wanted to come with him to the Sanders’s house tonight before it got much later. He wasn’t so rusty he didn’t remember that last-minute invitations could be construed as insulting.
    He drove over to her house—it was along his patrol route anyway—and found her in her front garden. Wearing shorts, a halter top and a bandanna over her gorgeous hair, she was kneeling before a bed of marigolds, weeding industriously.
    Nice view, Sam thought as he