Read Online A Sister's Wish by Shelley Shepard Gray - Free Book Online Page A

to take his anger out on me. For years. I walked around these streets of Charm any chance I could. Some days I would just be lonely. Some days, I’d be so hungry I could hardly stand it. Other times, I would just be hoping that someone would care enough to notice.”
    â€œDid anyone?”
    â€œNope.” Eyeing the teenager carefully, he added, “I guess I just wanted you to know that I noticed.”
    For a split second, a look of longing so sweet entered the young man’s eyes that it practically took Simon’s breath away. Then his expression became shuttered again. “I’m not you.”
    â€œAll right, then.” He held out his sack from Josephine’s. “Even if you don’t want any ice, you’re welcome to my leftovers.”
    â€œNo, thanks. I gotta go.”
    As Simon watched him turn and walk away, he called out, “Boy, what’s your name?”
    Though the boy kept walking, he slowed his pace. “Justin.”
    â€œGood to meet you, Justin. If you are ever out this way again, stop by and say hello. You can see my place close up.”
    Justin froze, then started walking again.
    Simon smiled. At least he’d been heard. He reckoned that was a start.
    Later, when he was walking up his drive, his gaze drifted to the old barn that rested a few hundred yards from his house. It was a large, looming thing. It was a bit lopsided and covered in peeling red paint. Ugly. Since he didn’t keep a horse, he’d often thought of tearing it down, but he hadn’t had the heart to destroy something that was still useful.
    But now, thinking of Justin, he wondered if there was a reason it was on his property. Maybe that barn could be used for something besides housing animals and farm equipment?
    â€œI THINK I made a really big mistake, Jill,” Tess said into her cell phone after filling her in about her surprise meeting with Simon and the meal they shared. “I might have come on too strong.”
    Jill laughed. “You, Tess?”
    Tess flushed. “You know me as a pretty direct girl, but I wasn’t always like that. I used to be fairly timid.”
    â€œI remember exactly how you used to be,” Jill said softly. “You’re right. You weren’t always so confident.”
    And just like that, the memories returned. Before she knew it, she was lying on her side on her motel room’s queen-sized bed, her legs tucked close . . . just the way she’d gone to sleep in her twin bed in the attic of her childhood home.
    Realizing that she was holding one arm protectively around her middle, Tess pushed herself up into a sitting position. Then moved to sit at the desk. Anything to break the memories threatening to overtake her. Feeling a panic attack looming, she closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing in and out.
    â€œTess? Don’t go there,” Jill ordered in her ear.
    She opened her eyes on an exhale, then realized, to her surprise, that she’d been awkwardly holding the phone to her cheek the whole time. “I’m sorry. Was I panting in your ear?”
    â€œA little bit.”
    â€œSorry. I don’t know what happened.”
    â€œDon’t apologize. I can’t imagine how difficult those memories must be.”
    Rubbing a hand across her forehead, she grimaced. She was sweating like she’d just run a marathon. She pulled up the tail of her shirt and wiped her brow. “I thought I was better.”
    â€œYou are better. You just haven’t forgotten.”
    â€œI guess I haven’t.”
    Jill paused, then said in a soft voice, “I remember that little girl who I found in the park real well. That girl was shy and scared and unsure. But there wasn’t a thing wrong with her, Tess.”
    There wasn’t a thing wrong with her. How many times had Jill whispered that to her? Likely too many to count. Most of the time she believed it, too. Then, there were moments like today,