Read Online Dream Lover by Suzanne Jenkins - Free Book Online Page B

other, so she kept those thoughts to herself. There were other interesting topics to cover.
    “I can see that,” Tom said. And she was right; it was cool down by the water, the mosquitoes were terrible, and he got thirsty and asked for the water. “I never get thirsty! I’m a guy!”
    Tom talked about his sisters. Sandra told him she was frightened to meet his family. The idea that they were in Brooklyn and she had lived in Manhattan all her life was scary enough. They would have nothing in common
    “My sisters will love you!” he said. Was that the truth? He wondered. They would probably hate her. His sisters were critical snobs. He couldn’t see them with Sandra at all, but he wasn’t going to say that. He would protect her from reality for as long as he could.
    “The truth is that you don’t need to meet them until you are ready. Eventually, I will tell them the truth about not being the baby’s father. If they can’t accept that and be respectful, they don’t have to see the baby. This brings us to the next issue. Do you want to have more? Because I want kids. A lot of them,” Tom stated.
    “I never thought about having children! This baby was a huge surprise. But I want it so badly; I guess I must want children.” Sandra was feeling very protective of her unborn baby at that point. Did she want competition for him or her? Possibly someone who would take all of his father’s love away? Jack and his real father suddenly entered her thoughts; Harold was Jack’s stepfather, a secret discovered after his death in documents stored in Jack’s desk. A chill went through her. History was repeating itself, only this baby’s life would have a better outcome than Jack’s did.
    She thought of the HIV. Would her doctor dissuade her from getting pregnant again? It was something she hadn’t thought of. She didn’t bring it up because once again, she didn’t want to ruin the mood.
    At dusk, they started walking back to Sandra’s apartment. Although they were silent, Tom held on firmly to Sandra’s hand, looking at her and smiling from time to time.
    They arrived at her apartment. “I’m going to pull my car around back. Want to come with me?”
    Sandra felt the flush move through her body as if she were on a rollercoaster ride. He was going to spend the night.

7
    Blythe
    I’ m having a bad financial month. When Jack was alive, I got used to the money he gave me. Two thousand dollars in cash every month. It was enough to cover my rent, electric bill, and food. He told me to save it but I never did. Now I have to pay all my bills with the paltry money I make from my job, which is next to nothing when you have to start living on it. I am a bartender at Prestige. It’s not prestigious, however. It’s a dive. Jack lived a block from Prestige. Just one block over from the opulent Madison Avenue lifestyle is a filthy alleyway and Prestige is right off the alley. Jack came in every night for a drink.
    I’ve been working there for a long time. I’m a career barmaid. It isn’t what I had planned on doing with my life. I graduated from college. The job was supposed to be for just the summer. In the fall, I was going to start teaching in Smithtown. But that never happened because I met Jack. The first time he saw me, he hit on me. “Boy, you sure are pretty,” he said. I thought, You’ve got to be kidding me! What a corny line. So I decided to keep it corny and answered, “I bet you say that to all the girls.” We started talking. He came in the next night and we talked. He made the night go by quickly. He didn’t waste any time letting me in on what he wanted from me.
    I found out later that he lived in the neighborhood and that he lived alone. That was all I was able to learn about him. I still lived in Brooklyn at the time, but Jack wanted me to move into Manhattan. There was no way I could afford it. He never asked me to his place. “I don’t take girls up there,” was all he said. He refused to discuss