Read Online Family Affair by Debbie Macomber - Free Book Online Page A

that was a growing experience for me.” She paused to rub her nose against his. “I realize this probably sounds silly, but I couldn’t make myself ask, and it got to be this really big thing, like a monster, and then I was terrified.”
    “But you did it?”
    “Yes. I owe it all to you—and to my friend Jeanne. Knowing you has helped me so much, Jack. You’ve given me my confidence back. I’m not sure how you managed it, but since we’ve been . . . neighborly, it seems everything’s turned around for me.”
    “I couldn’t be more pleased, and naturally I’ll accept the credit,” he said warmly.
    “Mr. Sullivan’s going to think about it overnight, but you see this isn’t about the money. It’s about me.”
    “You certainly didn’t have any problem confronting me when Dog stole Cleo’s virginity. As I recall you were ready with a tidy list of demands.”
    “That was different. I wasn’t the one affected, it was Cleo. I didn’t have the least bit of trouble sticking up for my cat.”
    “I’d like to complain, but I won’t,” Jack said. “I’m more than pleased that Dog decided to call upon Cleo; otherwise I don’t know how long it would have taken me to break through those barriers of yours.”
    He kissed her then, slowly, thoroughly, leaving her trembling when he’d finished.
    “We’ll celebrate. Dinner, dancing, a night on the town. We’ll—” He stopped abruptly and closed his eyes.
    “What?”
    “I’ve got another one of those stupid dinner meetings this evening.”
    “It doesn’t matter.” She was disappointed, but she understood. “This is rather short notice. We’ll celebrate another time. It doesn’t matter, truly it doesn’t.” Nothing could mar her happiness. “How soon do you have to leave?”
    He glanced at his watch and frowned. “Ten minutes.”
    “I’d better go.”
    “No.” He kissed her hungrily.
    “Jack”—she managed a protest, weak at best—“you’ll be late for your dinner.”
    “Yeah, I know.”
    “Jack!”
    He kissed her nose. “Spoilsport. Remember, we’re on for dinner on the town tomorrow night.”
    “I’ll remember.”
    Lacey returned to her apartment in a daze. When she slumped onto the sofa, Cleo settled in her lap, and she slowly stroked the cat’s back, thinking over her day. Lacey wasn’t sure how long she sat there before someone knocked on her door. Checking the peephole, Lacey was shocked to see who it was.
    “Sarah!” she said, unlocking her door.
    Jack’s sister took one look at her and burst into tears. “Oh, Lacey, I’ve been such a fool!”

Eight
    “S arah, what happened?” Lacey led Jack’s sister into her apartment. Sarah slumped onto the love seat and covered her face with both hands. Several seconds passed before she was able to speak.
    “I . . . found out Mark’s involved with someone else. I found them together, in our bed. I thought I was going to be sick . . . I couldn’t believe my own eyes. How could I have been so stupid?”
    “Oh, Sarah!” Lacey wrapped her arm around Sarah’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry.”
    “Jack told me Mark was seeing someone else, but I didn’t believe him. I loved Mark . . . I really loved him. How could I have been so stupid?” She buried her face in Lacey’s shoulder.
    The experience was nearly a mirror image of her own, so Lacey could appreciate the devastating sense of betrayal Sarah was feeling.
    “I know what you’re going through,” Lacey said when Sarah’s sobbing had slowed. She brought her a hot cup of tea with plenty of sugar to help ward off the shock.
    “How could you?” Sarah said. She looked up at Lacey, her face devoid of makeup, her eyes filled with a hollow, familiar pain. The afghan Lacey’s mother had crocheted for a Christmas present was wrapped over the younger woman’s shoulders as if she’d been chilled to the bone. Sarah looked as if she were six years old.
    “It’s like your whole world has been violently turned upside