Read Sinnerman for Free Online

need some time to think about it,” I said. “And right now, it’s too much for me to deal with. I need to focus on Sinnerman.”
    She nodded.
    “Listen, not to change the subject, but I wondered if you’d mind if I brought a date tomorrow to dinner?”
    “You don’t have to ask my permission,” I said. “Bring whoever you want.”
    “Yes, well, about that—”
    “Oh don’t tell me you made a date with Taye Diggs in the short amount of time we’ve been here.”
    She laughed.
    “Not him, but he is someone you know.”
    Of the two of us, Maddie was the outspoken one more often than not, but at that moment, her hesitation spoke volumes.
    “What’s with all the secrecy?” I said. “Out with it.”
    “Okay then, it’s Wade.”
    “Wade?”
    She swerved her body to the side and bumped her shoulder on mine.
    “You know,” she said.
    I was confused. Had I missed something? I sat there and tried to think of anyone I’d ever known named Wade. And then it dawned on me.
    “Do you mean to say your date is with Chief Wade Sheppard?”
    I couldn’t remember the last time anyone around me referred to him by his first name.
    “The one and only,” she said.
    “Wow, you and the chief. I never would have thought—”
    “I know, isn’t it great!”
     

CHAPTER 9
     
    I woke the next morning and rolled over and tried to make out the numbers that were displayed on the clock that hung over my closet door. It was time to climb out of bed, but all I wanted was to pull the covers over me and return to the depths of my slumber. I should have embraced the day with happiness, but glee was the farthest thing from my mind. It was my birthday, the one day a year to celebrate my existence in the world, but I could never get through it without thinking of Gabby and all the memories we missed out on together because she wasn’t here.
    I wondered if other people felt the same way I did after their loved ones died and what I would change if I could go back in time and be with her again if I knew what was to become of her. I would have talked to her more often and not just once a week like we were obligated to form some regular contact because we were sisters. Now I wished I’d spoken to her every day and planned more trips together and let her know how much she meant to me. I should have shouted my love for her from the rooftops, and I was ashamed that I thought about all those things now when I couldn’t do any of it. It didn’t seem right to me that so many people in the world waited too long to express their feelings to their loved ones, and yet that’s exactly what I’d done with Gabby.
    After she died I found myself at confession airing out all my regrets to the local priest, even though I hadn’t been to church for years. The priest in all of his infinite wisdom told me I shouldn’t concern myself over such things and said Gabby was in a better place now and she knew how I felt and that one day we would be together again. But would we—how could he be so sure?
    Lord Berkeley hopped up on the bottom of the bed and scampered across the blanket until he was about an inch in front of my face. He looked out the window and then at me and made a noise that sounded like he needed some cheese to go along with his whine.
    “Alright Boo,” I said, “time to get up.”
    I swept him up in my arms and attached his leash and opened the front door. Taye Diggs was hunkered down on one of my lawn chairs with his eyes fixated on the street in front of my house.
    “Morning,” I said.
    He glanced at me for a second and lifted his chin a few inches but didn’t respond. He was dressed in a different color shirt which meant at some time he must have left and someone else took the shift for the night, but who that was—I couldn’t say. What I did know was that Nick slept on the couch all night and left hours earlier. It was just a matter of time before he ruptured over the note.
    I walked Lord Berkeley around the cul-de-sac and my