Read Online Here to Stay by Catherine Anderson - Free Book Online

way of getting back at her because she’d dared to argue with him. He said his pillowcase stank, so she changed it. She forgot to put his slippers out, and he complained that she never remembered all the things he needed during the night. He wanted ice in his water. His arm itched, so she rubbed cortisone on the spot. The horseradish in the salmon glaze had given him heartburn, and he asked for antacid tablets. Then, to top it off, he didn’t want to listen to a recorded book tonight. He wanted Mandy to read to him.
    She opened a John Grisham novel to where she’d left off days before and began to read. Luke appeared to be staring at the ceiling. Mandy could only wish. He was completely, totally blind.
    “Mands?” he said softly.
    Mandy broke off in the middle of a sentence. “Yes?”
    “I’m sorry.” He gulped. “I shouldn’t have pissed on the wall and said all that stuff. I wanted to tick you off and hurt you, and I probably did. I’m sorry.”
    With quivering hands, Mandy marked her place and closed the book. When they quarreled, Luke never apologized. This was the first time. “I’m sorry, too. I don’t mean to harp; really I don’t. I just want so much more for you than this.”
    “I know.” His voice went thick. “I want more, too, but a dog isn’t the solution.”
    Mandy thought of Rosebud, but this wasn’t the appropriate moment to broach that subject. Luke needed a couple of days to recharge before she started in on him again.
    “I know your fear of the dogs is real,” she settled for saying, “and maybe it isn’t practical of me to think you can simply get over it.”
    A surprised expression settled on his face. “Has an alien taken my sister’s place?”
    Mandy laughed softly. “It’s me, the harping sister. I’ve just been thinking, you know? Maybe a dog isn’t the only solution. It’s worth checking into. Don’t you think?”
    Luke took a moment to answer, his surprised expression giving way to wariness. “Sure. Maybe you can get me a potbellied pig. I’ve heard they’re as smart as dogs.”
    A tingling sensation crawled up the nape of Mandy’s neck. Had Luke been listening to the news spot about mini horses, and this was his way of poking fun?
    “There’s a plan,” she settled for saying. “Will you be okay if I bring the sitter in for a while tonight after you’re asleep?”
    “Why? Where are you going?”
    Luke didn’t like it when Mandy went out to have fun, and she’d long since forgone the privilege, because something dreadful always happened while she was gone. “I’d like to do some research to see what might be available out there by way of an assistance animal for you.” That much was true; Mandy would be checking into another kind of assistance animal. To avoid telling an outright lie, she chose her next words carefully. “The library would be a great place to do that. They don’t close until nine.”
    “Can’t you do research online?”
    “I could, but I think a librarian might be able to steer me in the right direction, saving me time.”
    Luke seemed to accept that. “No dog,” he reminded her, “even if it’s toothless and doesn’t have a tail.”
    Mandy reopened the novel and began to read. When her brother drifted off to sleep, she set the book aside. After drawing the covers beneath Luke’s chin, she smoothed his hair and quietly left the room. When she reentered the kitchen, her shoulders sagged. What a mess . But it would have to wait until later. She stepped over to the small table where she kept the phone and punched in the number of the sitter, hoping against hope that the older woman was free to come over. Mandy breathed a sigh of relief when the lady said she could be there in less than ten minutes.
    Mandy tried not to think about Zach Harrigan’s possible reaction when she paid him a surprise evening visit. On TV, he had seemed nice. Hopefully he wouldn’t get in a grump when he learned why she was knocking at his door. If he