Read Online Sweet Nothings by Kim Law - Free Book Online Page A

with one corner of his mouth. “There’s apparently a Bigbee Curse.”
    “A what?” Nick couldn’t believe his brother had said that.
    “A Bigbee Curse. Bigbee women have bad luck with men. Her mother dated a string of losers, her grandfather walked after thirty-three years of marriage. Apparently it goes back a few generations.”
    “Let me guess. Joanie believes in this curse?”
    Cody smiled, the action tight and unanimated. “If she doesn’t get close, she doesn’t get hurt.”
    “You do know how ridiculous this sounds?”
    “I’m just spreading the story, man. And to make it better—”
    “Better than the Bigbee Curse?”
    Cody smirked. “Shut up, wiseass, or this will be the last thing I ever tell you.”
    Nick made a motion of snapping his mouth closed.
    “To make it better, Joanie’s birthday is in a few weeks. She’ll be the same age her mother was when she fell for the last guy who pulled her out of here. So getting close to you? Right now?” Cody shook his head. “Don’t see it happening.”
    Which stupidly felt like a challenge.
    “Seems a man would be smart to steer clear,” Nick said.
    “That would be the safe bet.”
    Nick was tired of playing it safe.
    “Thanks for the info.” He clapped his brother on the shoulder, unsure how he was going to proceed. The smart thing would be to forget Joanie existed, other than for a job.
    Then he pictured her standing in her doorway last night, wanting him to kiss her as badly as he’d wanted to do the same, and he worried it was already too late.
    He turned to head back to the kitchen. “Let’s eat.”
    “Hold up.”
    When Nick glanced back, Cody held a business card between two fingers.
    “I got it from a buddy who came into the office this morning.” Cody was one of the two local veterinarians, both working out of the same clinic. He could have gotten a card from anyone in town.
    “What is it?”
    “The name of a PI. I think it’s time.”
    Nick went motionless while his blood slammed through his body. Cody was ready to find their other brother? They’d agreed last month to put it on hold for a while, both wanting to get used to each other first before bringing another into the mix. Nick reached out for the card, reading the name on it. The guy was out of Knoxville.
    He looked at Cody. “You’re sure?”
    Cody nodded. “It’s time. Let’s go find another brother.”
    Nick couldn’t help but smile. Yes, he very much wanted to go find another brother. He let out a laugh.
    “Yes,” he agreed. “Let’s do.”

    Late-season snowflakes dusted GiGi’s yard as Joanie turned into the drive Sunday after church, making her wish for a heavy snow. It had beena couple of years since they’d had a really good one, and they always reminded her of times long past. Before her mother had left. But more importantly, before Pepaw had left.
    She still didn’t understand what had happened to make him leave.
    One day he’d been around all the time, playing games with her in the afternoons, and the next he’d been gone. As sudden as that.
    Pepaw had been the one to stay home with her after school due to the fact he’d lost an arm in Korea. He had his military benefits, and GiGi and her mother had jobs.
    Though he’d been a bit of a curmudgeon at times, it had been a plan that worked. Until her mother ran off with a man, or quit her job because the guy she was currently dating “didn’t care for it.”
    Which made Joanie wonder briefly who her father was. Had he been just another deadbeat in a long line of them? She’d always assumed so since she’d never gotten an answer out of her mother.
    Not knowing was for the best. She didn’t need to know the kind of loser she came from on that side of her family. She’d had enough motivation to be who she was by watching her mother’s escapades over the years.
    Enough reminiscing. She had a house to empty out.
    She turned off her car and opened the door, shocked by the burst of wind hitting her in