Page 39 of Home Body
CHAPTER 23
Kenyon hated everyone and everything on Earth. It’d been a long day. The flight from the Los Cabos Airport with a stopover in Dallas had taken nine hours. All she wanted to do was get home, have a nice cup of hot chocolate, and go to bed.
But there they were, pulled over on the side of the road, staring up at Chad Damon’s roadside sign. The graffitied word “moron” had been painted out, with “best” in its place. It now read: “Chad Damon – your best choice.”
Kenyon’s dad, Mack, had picked them up at the airport. Her mom, who got up each morning at three-thirty to get to work, had stayed home in bed. Jessa would be staying with them, as her parents were on a cruise and she was afraid to stay alone, something Kenyon had learned about her friend while on the faux honeymoon. She had to leave for college the next day.
“So,” Mack said as he stared up at the sign, “that’s it. The graffitied version made the headlines of the local paper, but the dipshit had it fixed the next day.”
“Dad, I never hear you swear. Good job.”
“Yeah, Mr. O’Brien,” Jessa said, “if anybody deserves to be called a dipshit, it’s that dipshit.”
Mack pulled back onto the road and headed home. “I don’t believe in using foul language around children. But I guess you two are grown women now, and I can let loose and be more myself. I’m still careful around your brother, though.”
“Dad, I hate to break it to you, but Zach’s been swearing behind your back since he was nine.”
“I know, I know. Jessa, Llayne told me it was you and Zach who graffitied the sign. Is that right?”
Neither woman said anything.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’ You two might have an entertaining sense of humor but still, you shouldn’t be breaking the law.”
“But Mr. O’Brien,” Jessa objected, popping her head in-between the front seats, “you have to admit Chad deserves it. Is it all that bad when the person being vandalized deserves it?”
“Yeah,” Kenyon agreed. “There’s that.”
“Well, I admit, Chad deserves everything he gets.” The dad, who was working hard at his dad role, almost cracked a grin. “But nobody needs to get arrested over it.”
“Aw, Pop, you know you’d bail them out,” Kenyon chided.
When they reached the house, they entered as quietly as possible with Mack pulling in their roller bags and the girls carrying their tote bags and purses. But Llayne came down the stairs in her bathrobe.
“You’re home! Hello, girls. It’s so good to have you here.” The mother offered a hug to each traveler.
“Mom, I’m so sorry. We tried not to wake you up. You have to get up in a few hours.”
“I know, but I couldn’t wait to see you. When I get home from work tomorrow, I want to hear all about your trip. But for now, let’s all get some sleep.” Llayne started back up the stairs with Mack right behind her towing up the roller bags.
“Mom, we’re going to make some hot chocolate first. We’ll be quiet.”
“Oh don’t worry about that. Are you hungry? The fridge is well stocked.”
“Nah. We’re good.”
They said good night and Kenyon and Jessa went into the kitchen to go about the business of preparing their comforting midnight potion.
“Wait. What’s that?” Kenyon held a wooden spoon midair as she cocked her head to listen.
“What?” Jessa stood still and stared in the direction of the mudroom.
They heard it again, a noise so soft it could barely be heard, as if a thief tried to slither into the house like a sneaky snake.
“Should we call your dad?” Jessa asked breathlessly.
“Not yet. It might just be a stray cat that got shut in our garage or something. That happened once.” Kenyon pulled a kitchen knife out of its rack and held it up in attack mode.
Jessa grabbed a skillet and held it high.
