Read Online Jumping Puddles by Rachael Brownell - Free Book Online Page A

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    I DON’T ASK SCOTT and Alice for much, so when I do, they always find it in their heart to say yes. In fact, Alice was over the moon when I asked if she would take me shopping for a new dress for the Christmas party.
    “What kind of dress are you thinking you might want, Charlotte?” Alice asks as we walk through the entrance to the mall. The noise makes me cringe, the sounds from the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers assaulting my ears.
    “The first thing that fits will work,” I reply.
    “If you want to impress Blake, we may need to try on more than one.” Stunned, I turn to find Alice grinning at me. “I’m very observant, Charlotte. Not to mention the phone bill is half as much as it used to be.”
    “We had a fight,” I confess, “and he brought someone home with him for Christmas. Emily. I just want to look pretty.”
    “Pretty won’t cut it. We need to find you something that shows him what he’s missing. Well, it can’t show too much. Scott would kill me.”
    I can’t help the giggle that escapes. I may be turning eighteen next month, but you wouldn’t know it by the way Scott acts sometimes. He’s protective, over-protective, and most of the time, he treats me like a little girl and not an adult. At first, I thought it was because he wasn’t sure how to handle a teenage girl, but after a while, I realized it’s his way of showing me he cares. I hope after I leave, Scott and Alice decide to foster other kids. They are amazing parents, and I’m so lucky to have found them.
    Two hours after our arrival, Alice and I are on our way back to the house so we both can start getting ready for the party. After trying on more dresses than I can remember, one finally stood out to me, and Alice agreed. It’s an electric blue strapless mini-dress. At first, I thought it was rather plain until Alice offered to sew on the sash from the dress I wore last year. There’s no way Blake won’t notice me at the party, and that was the entire point of me braving the mall this afternoon.
    I’m engulfed in a huge hug as I step through the front door of the Collins’ home. Blake’s uncle Mark is a big man, towering over me by almost a foot and weighing in at close to three hundred pounds, I’m sure. The air is forced from my lungs, and I struggle to take a breath. When he finally lets me go, he kisses me on the cheek and walks away as if nothing happened. No, “hello.” No, “nice to see you, Charlotte.” Nothing.
    I catch sight of Judy laughing from her seat in the living room. The same thing happens every year. Uncle Mark isn’t much of a talker, but he likes to hug. I shake my head and point up the stairs.
    The music from downstairs fades as I reach Blake’s door. I knock twice and wait patiently for him to answer. If Emily is in there, the door is more than likely locked. When he doesn’t answer after a few beats, I knock again, getting impatient.
    “You look irritated, Charlie,” Blake says softly, causing me to jump.
    Regaining my composure, I turn to find him holding the hand of a stick-thin, brunette standing behind me.
    “What was your first clue?” Sarcasm is my standard cover when I’m nervous, and Blake knows this, yet his eyebrow shoots up in surprise.
    “Well, where should I start,” he replies, dropping Emily’s hand and walking around me. “You were tapping the toe of your heels against the carpet, not that you even realized it.”
    Nope. I didn’t realize.
    “Or, maybe it was the fact your hands were balled into fists and resting on your hips.”
    Slowly lowering my hands to my side, I shoot him a dirty look. I didn’t realize that, either.
    “No. That wasn’t it, either. It was the way you blew your bangs out of your eyes. That was it.”
    “Don’t sound so smug. I know the same shit about you, Blake.”
    “I know you do, but it’s fun to point these things out from time to time,” he says, coming to a stop in front of me. “Don’t you agree?”
    “I