Read Online A Measure of Happiness by Lorrie Thomson - Free Book Online

pretty and she smells like frosting!”
    â€œYou’ll have plenty of chances to play with Celeste. She’s going to stay with us for a while.”
    Abby ignored Charlie’s eyes popping out of his head.
    For once, Celeste agreed with the douche bag.
    If Celeste woke up on the couch every morning to find Charlie sauntering out of Abby’s bedroom and scratching his crotch, she’d be able to hold neither the contents of her stomach nor her tongue.
    That wouldn’t be a problem, if it weren’t for one beautiful little boy who looked an awful lot like the daddy he adored.
    â€œPut your eyes back in your head, Charlie. I’m not staying,” Celeste said.
    â€œYes, you are,” Abby said.
    â€œNo, I’m not.”
    â€œYes, you are.”
    â€œLeave her alone, Abby,” Charlie said. “You heard Celeste. She doesn’t want to stay here.”
    Abby and Celeste glared at Charlie.
    â€œWhat?” Charlie looked from Celeste to Abby, his facial expression the equivalent of throwing his arms up in defeat.
    Only Abby cracked a smile. She brushed Charlie’s hair from his eyes and touched Luke’s face. “Can you take Luke—?”
    â€œSpider-Man!” Luke said.
    â€œRight. Take Spider-Man,” she said—and Luke nodded—“to his room for a few minutes. I need to talk to Celeste alone.”
    â€œSure, babe,” Charlie told Abby. “Good to see you, Celeste,” he said to Celeste, but she was sure he was thinking, Good riddance.
    â€œBe good to them,” Celeste said. She hoped he heard, Don’t you dare hurt them again.
    â€œAlways,” Charlie said, his voice lowered and serious. Celeste could’ve sworn she saw Good Time Charlie tear up. Then he snapped up his Sam Adams from the coffee table and took Luke to his room. The door clicked shut, muffling Raffi.
    â€œHe’s changed,” Abby said.
    â€œBecause he says so?” Celeste lifted her duffel bag from the couch to her shoulder.
    â€œWhat do I have to say to make you stay?” Abby asked, her voice as full of resolve as when she’d said those words to Charlie a little over four years ago, and just as sad.
    It proved Celeste’s point. Staying here would only succeed in bringing Abby down.
    â€œI gotta go,” Celeste said, pretty much Charlie’s response from years ago. Even though she heard it secondhand, Celeste would never forget the last conversation Abby and Charlie had before he left her the first time. Celeste didn’t care to hear his second-time leaving firsthand.
    In high school, Abby had never listened to Celeste’s advice about Charlie. Oh, sure, Abby would nod and smile and agree to the Charlie facts. Then, one look from Charlie, and she was gone.
    â€œWait!” Abby said. “Let me make some phone calls for you. I’ll see if another B&B has an opening. Something.”
    â€œNot really in my budget. Don’t worry about me. I’ll figure it out. I always do.”
    â€œ We’ll figure it out,” Abby said, reminiscent of Celeste’s words to Abby. The first time, when the sight of two bright pink lines had knocked Abby down. The second time, when Charlie’s leaving for college had dragged her under. “Please. Let me help. Stay.”
    Abby had two boys to take care of. She didn’t need to worry about Celeste again. She didn’t need to stress over cutting up Luke’s food, counting Charlie’s empties, and hovering over Celeste’s meals.
    No way in hell Celeste was going back to those days.
    Celeste pulled Abby into a bear hug. Celeste’s heart beat hard and fast, the opposite of the slowed heart rate that earmarked starvation. This time, sleep, not food, was what Celeste’s body craved.
    â€œMiss you,” Celeste said.
    â€œI’m right here.”
    â€œYou’re miles away, in Charlie Land.” Celeste slid open the pocket door.
    The