Read Online Dune Road by Jane Green - Free Book Online Page B

interrupts Tracy who is trying to speak. “But no, it seems there was a mysterious man before Richard Stonehill who is known, simply, as Jed.”
    “Jed? Sounds like a biker.” Alice smiles.
    “He was, actually,” Tracy says, and sighs. “I was very young, had no idea what I was doing, and married the first man who came along and asked me. He was tall, dark and dangerous, and I thought he was the most exciting man I’d ever met.”
    “And was he? ” They lean toward her, intrigued.
    “Which? Exciting or dangerous? ”
    “Both.”
    “Well, yes. He was. It was that crazy whirlwind first-love thing, and it didn’t last, and honestly, I hardly ever even think about him. I can’t imagine why his name would just come into my conversation.”
    “Perhaps you’re not quite as over him as you thought? ”
    “Oh please. This was years ago. I haven’t heard from him in fifteen years.”
    “What happened to him? ”
    Tracy shrugs. “I have no idea. I’m sure whatever it is he’s up to no good.”
    “Was he up to no good then? ”
    “Yes. That was one of the reasons I left.”
    Charlie sits back and shakes her head with a grin. “God, you do have a habit of attracting the wrong men. They all seem to have terrible secrets.”
    “This wasn’t a terrible secret, nothing as perverse or strange as Richard. Let’s just say honesty wasn’t a priority for him.”
    “Oh come on”—it’s Kit’s turn—“you can’t just say something like that and leave us all dying of curiosity. What happened? ”
    Tracy looks uncomfortable. “Nothing happened. Okay, well, a small something. He stole some money.”
    “From you? ” Kit’s eyes are as big as saucers.
    “From me?” Tracy bursts out laughing. “I didn’t have any money. Neither of us did. He was working in a retail store and it turns out he’d been stealing from them. He was accused of grand larceny.”
    “God! ” Charlie says. “That’s pretty big. Did you know? ”
    “No! Absolutely not. That was the end. There were some other things too, things that had happened before that. We’d gone to see my parents and my mom had phoned afterward and accused us of taking some stuff that was valuable, my grandmother’s silver, things like that, and I screamed at her and told her she was crazy, and how dare she accuse us.”
    “But presumably this . . . Jed . . . took it? ” Alice has pulled a chair up to the table and joined them.
    “Yes, I guess so, but I never found it. I think he’d sold it pretty soon afterward.”
    “Wow! ” Charlie sits up and crosses her arms. “What do you think it was in you that attracted bad men? ”
    Tracy laughs. “My therapist in California said horribly low self-esteem.”
    “We’ll just have to find you a decent man,” Alice says with a smile.
    “She’s already got her eyes on Robert McClore,” Charlie tells Alice.
    “Robert McClore the writer? ” Alice is impressed.
    “Yes. Robert McClore the writer, who’s also my boss, which is just a tiny bit embarrassing.”
    “Not embarrassing at all.” Tracy nudges Kit and says, “Just think, if Robert McClore and I get married we’ll see each other every day! Think how much fun it will be.”
    “Okay, this is a little much for me,” Kit says, wondering just what it is that is making her so uncomfortable. Tracy is joking, after all, and even if she isn’t joking about being attracted to Robert, why exactly is it so unsettling?
    “Never mind about Tracy,” Edie pipes up, “how about Miss Kit here? She could do with a decent man herself.”
    “You’re single? ” Alice has seen Kit, but never had a conversation with her, knows little about her.
    “Divorced. Two children.”
    “I’ll keep my eyes open,” Alice says. “Although most of the men I meet these days tend to be Mexican gardeners. Cute, though. Interested? ”
    “My Spanish isn’t up to par,” Kit says. “But thanks for thinking of me.”
    “Hey,” Alice says suddenly. “Isn’t Robert McClore