Read Online Bad Taste in Men (Clover Park, Book 3) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) by Kylie Gilmore - Free Book Online Page B

sister was picking her up for the short drive to their parents’ house for their family Shabbat dinner. The ritual was the one time her family seemed in perfect harmony. She’d often wondered why. Maybe it was because her mom had converted to Judaism and made a big effort to make the night special and all that effort reminded her dad of his wife’s good intentions.
    Maybe it was just the wine.
    The beige minivan pulled up with its three rows of seating and multiple car seats. Sarah’s husband, Mark, drove. Rachel squeezed into the backseat between baby Jacob and three-year-old Olivia. Leah, age five, and David, age seven, were in the row behind them.
    “Shabbat shalom, everybody,” Rachel said.
    “Shabbat shalom,” they chorused back.
    “How’s the ankle?” Mark asked.
    “Doing okay,” Rachel said. “I do these exercises the doctor gave me every day, and the swelling is finally gone. Still need the Ace bandage and hiking boots, but I’m getting there.”
    “Good.” Then Mark barked out suddenly, “I’m with my family. Make it quick.”
    Sarah pointed to her ear, indicating he was on his Bluetooth headset.
    “I do exercises every day too, Aunt Rachel,” David piped up. “Wanna see?”
    “Not now, sweetie,” Sarah said. “Wait for grandma’s house.”
    “I’m not happy with that,” Mark said. “Run the numbers again. Call me back when you’ve got something workable.”
    “Daddy’s mad,” Leah said.
    “It’s just work stuff,” Mark said. “Not you guys. You’re angels.”
    “I’m the best angel,” Leah said.
    “Me!” Olivia screamed.
    “You’re both stupidheads,” David said. “The biggest is always the best. That’s me.”
    A chorus of insults were hurled back and forth. Someone from the way back seat tossed a shoe, hitting the baby’s arm, who started to wail. Rachel cringed, caught in the middle of kiddie chaos.
    “Everybody quiet!” Sarah hollered, sounding very much the general in charge of the unruly brigade. “I don’t want to hear a peep until we get to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.”
    The car went silent, even the baby seemed startled into silence.
    “Bet you can’t wait to have some of your own, huh, Rach?” Mark asked, glancing at her in the rearview mirror.
    “Oh, yeah,” Rachel said. “The more, the better.”
    “It really is lovely to be a mom,” Sarah said. “We love you guys.”
    The kids remained silent. Sarah turned around. “You can talk if you have loving things to say.”
    Rachel glanced behind her. Leah shook her head and crossed her arms. Olivia copied her sister. Then somebody finally spoke.
    “Peep.”
    Then louder, “Peep!”
    Rachel giggled. That set the kids off.
    “Peep!”
    “Peep-peep!”
    “Pee-pee-pee-peeeeeep!”
    By the time they arrived at their parents’ house, the kids had moved on to chicken clucks and rooster calls, and Rachel joined in with a donkey hee-haw that had the kids in hysterics.
    “Shabbat shalom, everyone!” her mom called, greeting them at the door. “Give Grandma a kiss.” She reached out and hugged and kissed each grandchild as they went inside. David wiped off his kiss as soon as he got inside.
    The house smelled of brisket and potatoes. Rachel had brought a strawberry and rhubarb pie she’d picked up at Garner’s. Sarah and Mark brought the wine.
    “How’re my girls?” her dad asked.
    Rachel bit back a sarcastic reply. They were “his girls” exactly one night of the week. Otherwise, he was all work, all the time, the hell with the rest of them. Her dad was the CFO of a major investment firm.
    “Good,” Sarah said, hugging him. “How are you, Dad?”
    “Can’t complain.”
    Rachel hugged her dad too. “How’re the Yanks doing?”
    It was literally the only topic he would talk about besides finance. He’d grown up in Brooklyn and was a die-hard Yankees fan. Rachel could’ve cared less about baseball, but hearing him go off about work stuff was worse.
    “They’re hanging in there,”