Free Jaded by Varina Denman

flashed as though I’d accused her of shoplifting. “Work went fine. Just like every other day.” She grabbed the remote and punched the volume up a notch.
    Why even try? Momma’s depression prevented her from carrying on a normal conversation.
    I moseyed into the kitchen to scrounge up a snack, settling for a bowl of Rice Krispies. After that I soaked in the bathtub until I wrinkled, then brushed my teeth and slipped on an oversize T-shirt before sliding between the bedsheets, where I lay awake pondering the day’s events.
    School would be back to normal tomorrow. Or at least the day after. Soon everyone would get used to the Cunninghams and stop paying them any mind. It might take longer at the United, since most of the customers didn’t interact with the Cunninghams every day. They’d have to jabber the new family out of their systems. The thought made me pull my pillow over my head, but even then, Dodd Cunningham’s face appeared. I pictured him as he peered in the truck at JohnScott and me.
    And then he clammed up.
    His silence irked me. Not because I wanted to talk to him but because he hadn’t had any trouble speaking to me at the United. Or that morning in the office. And certainly not during our tour. No, he only ignored me when other people were around. A familiar cloud of inferiority pressed me into the mattress.
    What was it he expected from me when nobody was around? At first I thought he considered me loose, but now I wasn’t so sure. He didn’t seem the type to act on that knowledge, even if it were true. Which it wasn’t.
    Grady, on the other hand, caused me a different dilemma. Why so chummy? Friendliness could be tricky when I didn’t know what motivated it, and I suspected his kindness held underlying motives.
    An hour later, as I stared at the ceiling with my jaw clenched tight, I heard JohnScott rev his truck and pull away from the house.

Chapter Nine
    The next day JohnScott acted odd. If I hadn’t known he’d talked to the preacher for so long the night before, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but by the time I slid into his truck for our speedy shuttle to the United before practice, I was fed up with his aloof behavior.
    â€œBy the way …” I didn’t even wait until we were out of the parking lot. “I never asked you about your extended conversation with the Cunninghams last night in front of my house. Pushing two hours.”
    â€œWas it that long?” He tilted his head away from me as he made a left turn. “I guess they’re the sort of people you feel like you’ve known for years.”
    â€œGive me a break.”
    â€œI know what you’re thinking, Ruthie, but they’re different.”
    â€œLike you said, that’s the city. It’ll wear off.” I fumbled with the zipper on my purse, unzipping it a half inch, then zipping it. “So what did you talk about?”
    â€œThey were telling me about the Bible.”
    He said this as though it was the most normal event in the world—like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
    â€œThey’re trying to get you to go to church.”
    â€œHonestly, they didn’t mention church at all.”
    The thought of JohnScott sitting in a pew contradicted everything I had ever known about him, but I had to ask anyway. “Do you want to go to their church?”
    He whistled through his teeth. “Of course not.”
    As he pulled into the United parking lot, I pondered his words. The preacher’s family impressed JohnScott, which was weird. After all, we had pretty much been raised by the same woman, and Velma always warned us to tread cautiously anywhere the Bible might be lurking. “What did they say about Momma and me?”
    â€œNothing.”
    I opened the door, and the fall breeze whipped my hair across my face, slapping reality against my cheeks. “But they will.”
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    By the time