Read Online Special Delivery by Danielle Steel - Free Book Online Page B

clutched his arm, and turned away with a look of terror.
    What is it? If she had been married, he would have guessed that she had just seen her husband in the corner, with another woman. All he could see was a young couple dining there, but Amanda was already out the door, and her heart was pounding. Who was that?
    My daughter Louise and her husband, Jerry.
    Oh my God. That's all right. Aren't we allowed to be eating dinner? We both have our clothes on. He tried to make light of it, but she looked as though she wanted to run away, and he didn't want that to happen. They walked back to his car, and talked for a moment once they were safely inside it.
    She'd never understand it.
    She's a grown woman, for heaven's sake. What do your kids expect? For you to stay home for the rest of your life? I'm Jan's father-in-law, I'm harmless. He tried to look innocent, but this time Amanda laughed at him.
    You are anything but harmless, and you know it And my kids think you're a masher.
    That's nice. I hope Jan doesn't think that ' well, come to think of it, maybe she does. I guess for quite a while now, I've been one. But there's always the possibility that I might reform. Would that count?
    No. And certainly not tonight. Maybe I should go home.
    Tell you what, we'll go to Johnny Rocket. She smiled at the suggestion. It was where the kids hung out, drinking milkshakes and eating hamburgers, just like they did in the fifties.
    And when they got there, they sat at the counter and ate chili dogs and fries, and drank milkshakes, and Amanda even managed to laugh at herself, before they ordered coffee.
    Did I look like a complete fool running out of there? She looked like a kid who had made a huge faux pas, and couldn't believe she'd done it, but Jack loved everything about her.
    No. You looked like a married woman out on a date, who had just seen her husband.
    That's what I felt like, she confessed with a sigh, and then glanced up at him. Jack, I'm not up to this. Honestly, I'm not. I think you should go back to the chorus line again, you're a lot better off with them, believe me.
    I think you should let me decide that. And then out of nowhere, he asked her what she was doing the following week for Christmas.
    The kids are coming to my house on Christmas Eve, they do every year. And then this year we're going to Louise's on Christmas Day. Why? What do you do?
    Sleep, usually. ' I mean, as in snoring, nothing more exotic than that. Christmas in the retail business is a nightmare. We're open till midnight on Christmas Eve, to accommodate our customers who can't face their shopping until nine o'clock that night, mostly husbands. It's as if they lose their calendars every year and find them at six o'clock on Christmas Eve' . Oh my God, it's Christmas! I usually take the last shift and then I go home and sleep for two days. It works for me, but I was just wondering if you wanted to go skiing with me the day after. You know, separate rooms, just good friends and all that.
    I don't think I should. What if someone sees me? It hasn't been a year yet.
    When will that be? He honestly couldn't remember.
    On the fourth of January, she said solemnly, and I'm actually not much of a skier.
    It was just an idea, I thought it might do you good, to get some fresh air, and get away. We could drive up to Lake Tahoe, or stop in San Francisco.
    Maybe someday, she said vaguely, and he nodded. He was pushing it, and he knew it. She really wasn't ready.
    Don't worry about it. Why don't you drop by the store one of these days. I'll be there all week, and we can eat caviar in my office. She smiled at the suggestion. In spite of his reputation, and the fact that she wasn't ready for this, she really liked him. And he seemed to understand everything that she was feeling. There was a warm, caring side to him, that had taken her by surprise and caught her off guard completely. And he seemed so much younger than Matt, so full of life, so happy to be with her, and much as she