TAMING 7 (BOYS OF TOMMEN #5) BY CHLOE WALSH – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Chloe Walsh
- Language: English
- Genre: contemporary romance
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2.8 MB
- Price: Free
CLAIRE
The stench of smoke was in my nose, and I didn’t like it. Mammy said it
was incense; the same stuff Father Murphy burned at mass on Sundays.
I didn’t like going to mass. The church felt stuffy, and old, and sad.
Worst of all, you didn’t get to talk for a whole hour.
An hour felt forever when you were five.
Somehow, the church was even worse today and it was Tuesday.
It was sadder.
Looking around at all the crying faces, I plucked at a loose thread on my
cardigan and swung my legs back and forth, smiling to myself every time I
kicked the back of the pew in front of me.
“Sit still, Claire,” Daddy instructed, placing a hand on my knee. “It’s
almost over, pet.”
“It’s stinky,” I whispered back, pinching my nose. “I don’t like it,
Daddy.”
“I know, pet,” he agreed, smoothing a hand over my curls. “Be a big girl
for Daddy and stay nice and quiet for five more minutes.”
“Then can I play with Gerard?”
He didn’t answer me.
“Can I play with Gerard today, Daddy?” I repeated, pulling on the leg of
his trouser suit. “Please? I miss him.”
“Maybe not today, pet,” he replied, and then he did what the other men
were doing. He leaned forward and pushed his thumbs into his eyes to hide
his tears.
“But how come?” I argued. “He’s right up there.” I pointed to the front of
the church. “I can see him, Daddy.”
“No, Claire.”
“But—”
“Shh.”
I didn’t understand any of this.
Twisting sideways, I looked at my brother. He was crying, too. Mammy
tucked him into her side, as he cried against her shoulder.
“Hey, Hugh?” I whisper-hissed, covering my mouth with my hands. “Do
you want to play with Gerard after mass?”
“Shh, Claire,” Mammy sniffled, using the tissue tucked inside her sleeve
to wipe her face. “Not here.”
Not here?
What did that mean?
I couldn’t figure out what was happening, but I didn’t like it.
I had a strange feeling in my tummy that got stronger every time I looked
at the coffins. That’s what Hugh called the boxes near the altar.
There was a big brown one and a small white one. Hugh said that
Gerard’s daddy, Joe, was in the big brown one, and his sister, Bethany, was
in the little white one.
Because they drowned last Saturday.
Drowned was a new word for me, and it was hard to understand, but it
still made me super sad. Because when you drowned you went in a box.
“Drowned.” Brows furrowed in concentration, I tried to spell out the
word. “D, R … ”
“Shh, Claire.”
Nope, it was too big for me.
Folding and unfolding my hands, I looked around and waved when I
spotted Hugh and Gerard’s teacher across the row.
“Stop it, Claire,” Mammy warned, snatching my hand out of the air, and
placing it on my lap. “Be good.”
For More Read Download This Book
EPUB