Read Online Family Matters (DiCarlo Brides book 4) (The DiCarlo Brides) by Heather Tullis - Free Book Online Page B

headache. Nothing serious. Just give me a second. And I ought to change my blouse.” It was still covered in dust and debris from the accident. “Go get your shoes,” she told Cleo.
    Before she knew it, they were pulling in front of Chuck E Cheese. “How did I not realize how far we drove?” Rosemary asked, looking over at Harrison. They had talked about things to do in DC all the way to Virginia, and Cleo had sung them belated Christmas carols from her school program.
    “I don’t know. I don’t recall Scotty beaming us across the distance,” he teased.
    Rosemary smiled despite herself.
    They ordered a big pizza with almost everything on it—just like Cleo liked—and they competed in games, tried to bonk weasel heads and fill water balloons first. Rosemary found Harrison was surprisingly competitive, which she met head-on. “Come on, you think you can take me?” she asked as they stood in front of Spy Hunter, an old arcade game she played often as a kid.
    “You better believe it. I was the pro at this game when I was her age,” he gestured to Cleo.
    “That game is so lame, it’s not even cool like the Wii or anything,” Cleo announced. “You had stupid games when you were kids.”
    “Oh, we did, did we?” Rosemary asked as she grabbed her daughter and tickled her. Cleo shrieked with laughter and Rosemary tipped her unbruised cheek onto the little girl’s head, so happy in that single moment. “I was the world champion of this game—I bet I can beat Harrison’s score. Don’t you think so?”
    Cleo looked around Rosemary’s shoulder to studying Harrison. “He looks pretty tough.”
    “Tougher than me? No way. You know I’m tougher than anyone.”
    “Hey, you talk big,” Harrison said. “Care to put your money where your mouth is?”
    She laughed despite herself. “Loser pays for the winner’s next game?”
    “You’re on.”
    She didn’t even feel bad when she had to ante up the quarters for the next round.
     

 
    “There’s a lot of snow here.” Cleo said as they wound around the mountain roads near Rosemary’s house two days later. It was a relief to be reaching home as Rosemary was exhausted from the crazy week. Her aches and pains were getting better, but she had to use serious stage makeup to cover the bruise on her cheek.
    “Yep. The skiers like it that way. Snow keeps them from hitting bushes and rocks.”
    “I want to learn to ski. And to snowboard. And to drive a snowmobile. Does anyone you know snowshoe?” Cleo asked.
    “Fine to the skiing and snowboarding, the snowmobile is out of luck for a few more years—though maybe we can find someone to take you for a ride—and I’m sure someone around here snowshoes, but I don’t know who.” She made a mental note to ask the resort concierge. If anyone in the area took people out, they would probably know.
    “This road is really windy.”
    “Are you getting sick?” Rosemary wondered if she had anything the girl could puke into. She didn’t think Cleo had been prone to car sickness in the past.
    “No. It’s just really windy. And the trees are tall. There are a lot of them. Are they like this everywhere?” She stared out the window, watching the world flash past her.
    “Pretty much.” Rosemary nearly sighed in relief that the barrage of questions was at an end. She pulled up to her house and clicked the garage remote.
    Cleo’s eyes widened. “Cool. This is where you live? It’s so huge.”
    “Yep. It had to fit six of us, so there’s lots of space. Try to keep out of other people’s rooms unless they invite you in, okay?”
    “I’m not stupid. I know how to respect other people’s space.” Cleo sent her a dirty glare.
    Cleo was growing uncharacteristically snippy, but though Rosemary’s own temper was being tested by it, she understood the fear of the unknown. Cleo would be living with two total strangers in a new town and making new friends. They had been traveling all day and spent the previous day packing