Read Online Always You by Crystal Hubbard - Free Book Online Page B

Cady told her. “Kyla hasn’t made you cry like that since you were in braids. Something’s up, isn’t it?”
    “It’s nothing.” Chiara stood and moved to kneel at the twins’ bedside. “It’s something at work. I can handle it.” She was aware of her sister’s gaze on her as she rested her hand on Sammy K.’s small back. She envied his complete obliviousness to what was going on around him. He and his twin shared the same breath, and Chiara envied that, too. She had been close to her siblings, but being the youngest, she’d never felt as though she’d been on an equal footing with them. Sammy K. and Claire had come into the world together and would always have someone on whom to depend.
    She touched his freshly shorn curls, marveling at the beauty of his dark brown skin and his chubby cheeks. Sammy K. was the more active of the pair, the one who unfailingly followed his sister’s mischievous schemes. Claire, with her dark honey complexion, ginger curls and long, sweeping eyelashes, could charm a saint into snatching candy from the Brach’s display at the supermarket.
    “Chiara?”
    She tore herself from her contemplation of her niece and nephew and returned to the foot of the bed.
    “They’re going to be here tomorrow,” Cady told her. “You don’t have to fill up on them tonight. Why don’t you go to bed? You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”
    Chiara nodded. “I’ll squeeze in with the girls, I guess.”
    “Mama hadn’t counted on them staying the night, but they insisted,” Cady said. “Clara and Ciel were glad to have them out of the way, so they could finish wrapping their gifts.”
    “Were the boys here tonight?”
    Cady nodded. “Troy brought his new girlfriend. The girl wore him like a piece of jewelry.”
    “You just didn’t like her.” Keren nestled closer to Cady and punched his pillow before scrunching it under his head. “She was nice.”
    Cady glanced at the ceiling. “Nice and possessive.”
    “Troy seems to like her,” Keren said.
    “Troy is only eighteen years old, he has no idea what he likes.”
    “She’s got big tits, doesn’t she?” Chiara asked knowingly.
    “They’re the same size as her head,” Cady scoffed.
    “Then that’s what Troy likes about her.”
    “How do you know so much about Troy’s preferences?” Cady asked.
    “He sent me an e-mail when I was in Tokyo. He wanted some Japanese anime graphic novels. He doesn’t read Japanese, and the only other reason any red-blooded American teenager wants those books is because of the artwork. Big knockers feature prominently.”
    “C.J. brought his little cross-eyed girlfriend, too,” Cady said. “You should have seen him. He got his license a few weeks ago, and he drove her here.”
    “Chris Jr. has a girlfriend?” Chiara smiled. “Do you hate her, too?”
    “She’s a sweetie, and I don’t hate Troy’s little floozy. I just think he can do better. He’s going to Stanford in the fall. He shouldn’t be hooking up with some hoochie.” Cady lowered her voice. “She reminds me of some of Zweli’s old girlfriends.”
    “That bad, huh?” Chiara chuckled lightly. “Hopefully, it’s just a phase he’s going through.”
    “It took Zweli twenty years to outgrow his phase,” Cady pointed out.
    “Yes, but look at him now,” Keren said. “He’s a happily married family man.”
    “So, Chiara,” Cady started with exaggerated casualness, “have you seen John Mahoney lately?”
    Chiara dropped her gaze to her feet. “I stopped over before I came here.”
    “Did Almadine give you a big ol’ kiss and hug?” Cady teased.
    “I didn’t run into her.”
    “You’re a little old to be climbing in windows, aren’t you?”
    “I really needed to see John.”
    Chiara shifted her gaze from Cady’s, but not before she saw the understanding there. Cady, perhaps better than any of her other sisters, knew the importance of finding a strong shoulder—the best shoulder—to rest your