Read Justice Is Always Ready (A Graham Family Story, 1) for Free Online Page A

him by.”
    “ Good deal. Now fill me in
on what else is going on with you.”
    With another smile, Kassidy peered
through the eyepiece and stared at the quadrilateral of stars that
formed the head of the constellation, Draco, the dragon. Tightening
the focus, she zoomed in on Rastaban, Beta Draconis, which meant
“head of the snake.”
    As time passed, Kassidy
and her father talked and caught up. This was one of her favorite
activities  to
stay up with her father and stargaze. Many a childhood night she’d
crept out of her room and would join him. It was their time, shared
between father and daughter. To this day both those past and now
present moments were infinitely precious to her.
    The clock read four when she hugged
her dad and headed home with Libby in tow. Kassidy woke around noon
to the sound of her doorbell. Rolling out of bed with a frustrated
groan, she padded to the door, rubbing her eyes.
    “ Yea?” she demanded,
jerking open the door.
    The UPS man stood there. “Sorry to
wake you, Ms. Barrow, but we need a signature for this
one.”
    She gave Steve a soft smile. He’d been
her UPS man for a long time now. Silent, she reached for the brown
board and signed her name. “No problem, Steve. Thanks.”
    “ Have a great one.” He
walked down her steps and easily climbed into his vehicle before he
drove off.
    She sighed and stared down at the four
boxes by her feet. Libby sniffed them briefly and headed back
inside.
    “ Couldn’t take one in with
you?” she snipped as her dog’s tail disappeared.
    The dog snorted as if in response.
Laughing, Kassidy lifted two of the smaller ones and took them
through to the back porch then returned for the other two. She
hefted the smaller of the two and used her foot to slide the larger
one inside and through the house to the porch. Neither of them were
light and she was breathing hard by the time she’d finished. But
excitement ran through her. She’d been waiting on these.
    Boxes through to the back porch and
door closed, she dressed in yard clothes, grabbed a utility knife
and a glass of tea before returning to the packages. A moan of
pleasure left the moment the iced brew slid down her throat.
Crouching down she made short work of cutting open the
boxes.
    Libby played ball with herself while
Kassidy worked to set up her new stone birdbath and bird feeders.
The ringing of the phone reached her while she moved the hose to
fill the stone basin. Putting it down, she hurried into the house
and grabbed the receiver.
    “ Hello?”
    “ Hello,
beautiful.”
    Justice.
    Her heart rate accelerated and she
found she had a nervous smile on her face. Licking her lips, she
pushed back through the screen door to sit on the top step of the
porch.
    “ Hi.”
    “ Am I interrupting
anything?”
    “ Oh no. Not at
all.”
    “ Okay, if you’re sure. You
sound a bit distracted.”
    “ I was working out in the
backyard.”
    “ Want some company?” he
asked.
    It took her a moment to realize she
bore a silly grin on her face from his question. Even still, she
nodded despite him being unable to witness it. “Are you done with
work?”
    “ Yes, ma’am. I’m heading
for my car now.”
    “ I’d love to see you. Come
on over. Come to the back gate.”
    “ See you in a bit,
Kassidy.”
    “ Bye, Justice.”
    The moment she pressed the End button,
she squealed and stomped her feet upon the brick steps. From where
she lay in the sun, Libby lifted her head, yawned and then went
back to chewing on her ball.
    “ Thanks for the support,
Libs.”
    She worried her lip while
debating going inside and changing into something prettier. With a
shake of her head, Kassidy pushed up and headed back into the
sun. I’m working in the yard. He knows
this. I don’t need to get all prettified for him.
    She went in, returned the phone to its
base, and did a few other things before she headed back out. Once
there, she broke down the boxes and put them in the recycling bin.
Picking up the hose, she