Read Online Crazy About the Baumgartners by Selena Kitt - Free Book Online Page A

over.
    “Come
on, Gretchen,” Mrs. B murmured, taking my elbow again, gently this time. “Let’s
go.”
    I
knew she wanted to get me out of there before Ronnie saw me. Maybe she thought
I was going to make a scene, but that wasn’t my thing. I was more than happy to
slip out unnoticed. After all, that’s what I’d done when I discovered Ronnie
having sex with Vince in our bed. If I could do it then, I could certainly do
it now. I started to leave, following Mrs. B.
    That’s
when Ronnie looked up and saw me. And I froze.
    It
was a moment, just a brief, fleeting thing. Our eyes locked. She recognized me,
her gaze moving to Mrs. B by my side and then back again. Her smile faded and
the suit she was holding dropped to the floor. Then Vince noticed her noticing
me. I had a moment of insanity, when I wanted to run over and do something. I
didn’t know what. Shake her. Kiss her. Something.
    But
I didn’t. Instead, I turned and walked toward the exit, Mrs. B following me
now.
    “Are
you okay?” Mrs. B asked as we left Macy’s and headed toward Gymboree at the
other end of the mall.
    “Fine,”
I lied, walking faster. My stomach was in knots. Of course, she knew I was
lying.
    “Hey,
let’s go get some lunch.” Mrs. B caught up, grabbing my hand in hers,
squeezing. “How about P.F. Changs? Let’s go eat the Great Wall of Chocolate.”
    “Whatever
you want to do.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat.
    The
kids were at camp this week and Mrs. B had decided to take the week off too so
we could have a “real vacation” she said. Doc was still working, of course, but
we’d gone to dinner last night, the three of us, which was a lot of fun. And
today Mrs. B said she wanted to have a girls’ day out. She wanted us to buy
some sexy dresses to go to a new nightclub tonight that had just opened.
    “Don’t
let her ruin things,” Mrs. B pleaded. “You’re going to move on. You’ll find
someone else. I promise you.”
    I
nodded, trying on a smile. I knew she was right. Probably right. I mean, I’d get
over Ronnie. We weren’t even really, officially, anything at all. So why was I
holding on to what we’d had? I knew I needed to let go. Maybe Mrs. B was right.
Maybe I just needed to move on. Find someone else. Maybe several someones.
    “Okay,
let’s go shopping.” I squeezed her hand, seeing her smile reach her eyes at my
sudden enthusiasm. “I need to find the sexiest dress on the planet for
tonight.”
    “That’s
the spirit.” Mrs. B laughed and we headed into the mall.
    * *
* *
    It
had been a long time since I’d been to a night club or even a party. Ronnie and
I had been homebodies. She spent so much time with school and studying, and me
working at the Baumgartners and supplementing that income with selling the
photos I took on stock photo sites, that most of the time we just crashed and
watched Netflix DVDs together. Sometimes we went out to see an actual movie,
but we rarely hung out with other people and never went to parties.
    So
I was nervous. I used to go to parties and nightclubs. I used to pick up guys.
And girls. But I didn’t know if I was that person anymore. So I tried my best
to find her, to bring her out with a short, black sequined dress; a cut, color
and highlights at the salon that afternoon with Mrs. B; and the application of
make-up, which I hardly ever wore anymore.
    “My
God, Gretchen, you have the most beautiful skin.” Mrs. B swabbed my cheeks with
a fat bristled brush.
    “Thanks.
I’m so pale though.” I met her eyes, beautiful and bright, rimmed with mascara
and eyeliner. Her dress was just as low-cut as my own, her tanned cleavage
pushed up in the wonder of a Miracle Bra, not that she needed one. But it
certainly made her breasts stand out, tantalizing mountains of flesh. A silver
pendant necklace hung between them, drawing even more attention there, hanging
loosely as she leaned forward to put the finishing touches on my makeup.
    “You’re
like peaches and cream.”