Read Online Here to Stay by Margot Early - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Margot Early
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction - Romance, Deception, American Light Romantic Fiction, Romance - Contemporary, Romance: Modern, Stepfathers
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going on, then I’ll be back to get you out of here. You can stay with Gerry and me till Mom’s ready to be civil.”
Sissy swallowed, thinking she would throw up if she received any more pressure at all from her mother to marry Clark. Kennedy left the room, shutting the door. The minute Jackie went up to speak to Clark and the priest, Sissy’s mother would be out of her seat, hurrying back here. Kennedy would do everything she could to stop her, and Sissy pictured a pushing matching between her sister and mother in the cathedral’s vestibule.
No…I can’t stand this. I can’t take any more….
T HE CONGREGATION WAS RESTLESS . The wedding should have begun ten minutes earlier. Elijah, sitting on the bride’s side of the church among people who probably earned in a month what he made in a year, had begun to suspect what he doubted anyone around him was suspecting.
These people, of course, didn’t have the memory of Sissy standing feet from them at her own engagement party muttering things about Norfolk Terriers.
Elijah, who thought of terriers as ankle-biters, had, upon returning to his small rented house, consulted the AKC breed standards and been unsurprised to learn that while the temperament of the Norfolk Terrier merited one line (none of it actually offensive), the temperament of the truly unsurpassed German shepherd demanded half a page. He’d also read and bookmarked the entire section on Alaskan malamutes, ignoring anything in his new companion Whiteout that could be considered a physical fault because he didn’t believe in such things.
The next morning, Whiteout, as though to emphasize that it was past time for Elijah to stop replaying everything Sissy had said of dogs and of doubts, destroyed the AKC book, depositing much of it in a newly dug hole in Elijah’s tiny backyard.
Unaccountably, Elijah felt a spark of happiness and hope.
In all their years at school together, Sissy Atherton had never once been marked as tardy.
Now she was late for her wedding.
He watched the groom’s sister hurry up the aisle in a blue bridesmaid’s dress, and saw the groom’s face fall.
He wondered if Sissy was on the premises and began concocting interesting scenarios. He imagined herrunning down the street in her wedding dress as he happened to be driving past—not in his third-hand Chevy Nomad but perhaps in a new Corvette. He wondered how rude it would be for him to squeeze out of his pew now, past the line of Sissy’s society friends and relatives.
He did stand and say, “Excuse me,” while the groom and his father conferred with the priest.
Sissy’s immediate family were far ahead of him in the cathedral, and he hoped they would not notice him leaving. They didn’t like him anyhow.
He genuflected, hurried back along a side aisle, past curious faces, dipped a hand in the holy water for a quick sign of the cross and passed into the vestibule. A bridesmaid and a groomsman stood in hushed conversation, glancing toward a closed door.
Well, he couldn’t return to his seat now, and he knew with certainty that there would be no reason to do so. Instead, he walked out into the jungle sauna air and hurried to the old Nomad. The previous owner of the car had suffered a fender bender. Elijah and a friend had repaired the damage in the friend’s body shop. It was a good car, excellent for transporting a malamute and going to the drive-in, but Whiteout was at home now, undoubtedly digging craters in the yard.
Clark Treffinger-Hart drove a Corvette.
Elijah rolled down the windows, started the car, turned it in the street and drove back toward the cathedral. He circled the block three times, slowing each time as he passed the front. What was happening inside?
Nobody came out.
Maybe he was wrong.
Later, Sissy would hear about his leaving and wonder why he had walked out on the wedding. His mother would be appalled by his behavior. Fortunately his mother would probably never hear of it.
He made another
Sissy swallowed, thinking she would throw up if she received any more pressure at all from her mother to marry Clark. Kennedy left the room, shutting the door. The minute Jackie went up to speak to Clark and the priest, Sissy’s mother would be out of her seat, hurrying back here. Kennedy would do everything she could to stop her, and Sissy pictured a pushing matching between her sister and mother in the cathedral’s vestibule.
No…I can’t stand this. I can’t take any more….
T HE CONGREGATION WAS RESTLESS . The wedding should have begun ten minutes earlier. Elijah, sitting on the bride’s side of the church among people who probably earned in a month what he made in a year, had begun to suspect what he doubted anyone around him was suspecting.
These people, of course, didn’t have the memory of Sissy standing feet from them at her own engagement party muttering things about Norfolk Terriers.
Elijah, who thought of terriers as ankle-biters, had, upon returning to his small rented house, consulted the AKC breed standards and been unsurprised to learn that while the temperament of the Norfolk Terrier merited one line (none of it actually offensive), the temperament of the truly unsurpassed German shepherd demanded half a page. He’d also read and bookmarked the entire section on Alaskan malamutes, ignoring anything in his new companion Whiteout that could be considered a physical fault because he didn’t believe in such things.
The next morning, Whiteout, as though to emphasize that it was past time for Elijah to stop replaying everything Sissy had said of dogs and of doubts, destroyed the AKC book, depositing much of it in a newly dug hole in Elijah’s tiny backyard.
Unaccountably, Elijah felt a spark of happiness and hope.
In all their years at school together, Sissy Atherton had never once been marked as tardy.
Now she was late for her wedding.
He watched the groom’s sister hurry up the aisle in a blue bridesmaid’s dress, and saw the groom’s face fall.
He wondered if Sissy was on the premises and began concocting interesting scenarios. He imagined herrunning down the street in her wedding dress as he happened to be driving past—not in his third-hand Chevy Nomad but perhaps in a new Corvette. He wondered how rude it would be for him to squeeze out of his pew now, past the line of Sissy’s society friends and relatives.
He did stand and say, “Excuse me,” while the groom and his father conferred with the priest.
Sissy’s immediate family were far ahead of him in the cathedral, and he hoped they would not notice him leaving. They didn’t like him anyhow.
He genuflected, hurried back along a side aisle, past curious faces, dipped a hand in the holy water for a quick sign of the cross and passed into the vestibule. A bridesmaid and a groomsman stood in hushed conversation, glancing toward a closed door.
Well, he couldn’t return to his seat now, and he knew with certainty that there would be no reason to do so. Instead, he walked out into the jungle sauna air and hurried to the old Nomad. The previous owner of the car had suffered a fender bender. Elijah and a friend had repaired the damage in the friend’s body shop. It was a good car, excellent for transporting a malamute and going to the drive-in, but Whiteout was at home now, undoubtedly digging craters in the yard.
Clark Treffinger-Hart drove a Corvette.
Elijah rolled down the windows, started the car, turned it in the street and drove back toward the cathedral. He circled the block three times, slowing each time as he passed the front. What was happening inside?
Nobody came out.
Maybe he was wrong.
Later, Sissy would hear about his leaving and wonder why he had walked out on the wedding. His mother would be appalled by his behavior. Fortunately his mother would probably never hear of it.
He made another
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