Read Online His Perfect Woman (Harlequin Superromance) by Kay Stockham - Free Book Online

the do-able category.
    â€œThank you, Bryan, but everything is almost ready. Why don’t you go sit down? Melissa, maybe you’d give me a hand?”
    Bryan disappeared in a flash and Melissa glared at his back, wondering why she’d thought for a moment he’d stick around as a buffer. He was obviously on Ellen’s side.
    From somewhere in the interior of the house a door opened and familiar footfalls sounded across the old wood floors. She heard her father greet Bryan and the two of them began talking, the walls muting their deep voices.
    â€œI guess we’d better get this on the table so you can all get back to work.” Ellen set to work dishing the food into large bowls and platters, and Melissa watched for a moment to see where things were kept before stepping forward to help. They performed the chore in tense silence, but when everything was ready to carry into the dining room, Ellen stilled and Melissa knew the moment had come. Her heart picked up speed and sweat beaded her forehead. Why had she let Bryan talk her into this?
    â€œMelissa, before we go in there I—I’d like to say something. I—I love your father very much. We never meant to hurt you by keeping our relationship private.”
    Private, not secret. Melissa’s grip tightened around the lip of the bowl she held, and she faced the woman who would become her stepmother at this late date in her life. Unless she made her father see that dating was one thing, and perfectly okay, but marriage—
    â€œWell that’s all I wanted to say. I guess we’d better get this in there before it gets cold.”
    Melissa nodded readily at the excuse to escape and started toward the dining room where Bryan and her father waited.
    â€œMelissa?”
    She should’ve known she couldn’t get away so easily. She paused in the doorway.
    â€œI don’t expect you to like me right away, but please try to understand that we just want to be together. Hal needs to be loved for the man he is, not because he’s your father or the chief or anyone else, but as a man. Surely you understand that?”
    Melissa ignored Ellen’s question and forced herself to put one foot in front of the other. The best thing to do was get the luncheon over with as quickly as possible and get out of there.
    And she intended to do just that.
    Â 
    T HE NEXT HOUR CONFIRMED Melissa’s fear that she had to work fast if anything she said or did was going to change her father’s plans. The problem was exacerbated by the fact she still couldn’t decide if Ellen’s behavior was an act or not. Her dad was handsome, yes, but Ellen couldn’t seem take her eyes off him. She touched her hair and smoothed it away from her cheek, listened with rapt attention to every word her dad spoke. She waited on him, refilled his iced-tea glass and smiled nonstop albeit shakily when she caught Melissa watching.
    The woman displayed all the classic signs of being in love, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept. Ellen was taking advantage of her father’s loneliness. His pain. Why couldn’t he see that? Melissa shoved her food around on her plate, not the least bit hungry.
    â€œAnna was gone this morning when Ellen got up,” her father informed Bryan. The statement brought Melissa out of her daze.
    â€œI just hope the poor girl called someone to come get her and didn’t walk all the way home. She was hurting pretty bad when she went upstairs to lie down last night,” Ellen murmured.
    Bryan sat with his head down, his gaze unfocused. He’d been devouring Ellen’s cuisine seconds ago but now set his fork aside and shifted in his chair. “Sometimes no matter how much you want to help there’s only so much you can do.” Bryan lifted his glass of tea but paused when the mug neared his lips. “Accepting it isn’t easy, but you can’t let that stop you from helping