Read Online Sugar Springs by Kim Law - Free Book Online Page B

vacant seat beside her, knocking several bottles of polish off the attached tray as she did so. They were in Joanie’s salon on late Monday afternoon, completely alone. Joanie reserved Mondays for errands, administrative tasks, and much-needed girl talks. “You know that isn’t true. They love you. But you are going to eventually have to quit avoiding him.” She jabbed a button and the rollers started. “Ahhh...that’s better. Now, fill me in. I heard he showed up at the bake sale Saturday. What did he want?”
    Lee Ann forced open one eye and peeked at her. “He says he wants to talk.”
    “About darned time. Did he go there specifically to find you?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe.” She shrugged. “I don’t think so. Keri had talked him into bringing her back some cinnamon rolls, and then I saw him leaving with Holly as if they’d come together.”
    Joanie let out a little snort. “She’s probably hoping he’ll rescue her from what she considers a town she’s outgrown.”
    “She deserves better than him,” Lee Ann grumbled, aware she sounded petulant. The thought of him and Holly did not sit well with her. Closing her eyes, she imagined herself hiking through the mountains with nothing but her camera, wildlife, and solitude. And zero stress. She loved people, but sometimes she needed to decompress. “The worst part was he met the girls and acted like any stranger they might run into. Passed along a message from Keri, and then he was gone. There was no recognition, no shock, no...nothing. Simply nothing.”
    Silence from the other chair finally pulled her attention back from her fantasy of escaping. Joanie sat very still, a line pulling at her brows. “You think he didn’t realize they were his?”
    “How could he not know, Jo? Who else would be raising them? Plus, how many sets of twins could he possibly think we’d have in our family? Heck, twins don’t even run in our family.”
    “So then, he’s still a coldhearted jerk, same as he was when he left.”
    Lee Ann looked away from her friend and focused on the waning light outside the building. It would be dark soon, but she could still make out everyone outside on the streets. Locals and tourists, all going about their day, their lives seemingly perfect. Whereas her life was on the cusp of ripping open and bleeding in a way it hadn’t in over thirteen years.
    She nodded, sadness creeping into the movement as she realized she’d hoped to find that he had changed. “Seems like it.”
    Joanie was silent for a moment, seeming to decipher Lee Ann and what she really thought about the matter. Finally, Joanie reached over and squeezed her hand. “That sucks.”
    “Yeah.”
    They sat in silence for a few more minutes until the sight of a very large black-and-white dog got their attention. Behind him at the end of a leash was Cody. Tall, strong, and perfect in profile. He wore another skullcap today, this one black and pulled down low over his ears. His hair curled out the back beneath the fleece. His leather jacket was zipped against the wind, and today’s jeans and boots matched the rest of his attire, all black. Like Lee Ann’s mood.
    As he made his way down the sidewalk on the other side of the street, both women watched, lost in their own thoughts.
    Finally Joanie uttered, “He may be an ass, but you can’t ever say your kids didn’t come from some really fine genes.”
    Wasn’t that the God’s honest truth?
    The massage rollers came to a stop, and Lee Ann fiddled with the controller to start the vibrations again. It was definitely a two-cycle day.
    They watched as man and dog moved on down the sidewalk, different people stopping him along the way to chat or pet the four-legged beauty on the head, until the pair disappeared from view.
    “I heard he ended up helping finish up the Christmas decorations yesterday afternoon,” Joanie said. “They had a couple of cancellations and Holly ran down to his apartment to talk him into