Read Online The Time of Her Life by Jeanie London - Free Book Online

the
house with us. She had some cousins who used to visit from Ireland. They were
older and with my brother and I tearing around like wild boys... Well, let’s say
they enjoyed a place where they could go for some quiet. My mother, too. She
used the cottage for work. She liked to leave the house and have a place where
she could concentrate without too many distractions.”
    “Work?” Susanna’s interest piqued visibly. “Your mother didn’t
work at The Arbors?”
    “Everyone in my family worked at The Arbors.” Past tense.
Wasn’t anyone left but him. Except for Drew, who didn’t count, but Jay wouldn’t
dwell on something he couldn’t change. And he couldn’t change his brother. “My
mother was a writer, too. Whenever she was on deadline, she liked to wrap her
head around her work. Used to tell my brother and me not to show up unless we
were bleeding.”
    Susanna went to the passenger side of the golf cart. “I’ve said
the same to my kids.”
    Jay would take her word for it, since he hadn’t gotten to that
part of his life yet. “Ever drive one of these
before?”
    Susanna shook her head, more glossy waves tumbling around her
neck and shoulders in a display that was so feminine, so at odds with her
ultra-businesslike appearance.
    But not right now. Not when she was casually dressed, all tiny
and curvy and tucking her waves behind her ears as she leaned eagerly toward the
controls for instruction.
    Circling the golf cart, he hopped in and explained the basics.
He showed her how to disconnect the battery when she parked the vehicle then
took her for a spin to the access road, with the dogs trotting beside him as
they always did.
    Then they swapped seats and she took him for a spin, starting
off tentatively but increasing speed as she gained confidence.
    “Not so close, Butters,” she shrieked while making a turn.
“They won’t get too close and get hurt?”
    “Not a chance. They keep up with me all the time. Have since
they were pups. And if they don’t get out of the way of a moving vehicle they
deserve what they get.”
    He had to work to keep a straight face as he enjoyed her
horrified expression. “They’ll move if you get too close.”
    “Keep your distance, Butters. I’m serious.”
    “That your mom voice?”
    She scowled at him, and he lost the battle with a smile.
    “So what did your mother write?” she asked after another lap
around the cottage.
    “Fiction. Literary stuff for magazines. Short stories mostly.
Had a few anthology collections published.”
    Slowing as she cornered the house yet again, she paid close
attention to the dogs as she parked. “How interesting. I bet she got lots of
inspiration from around here. From what I’ve seen so far, this place is another
world.”
    “Oh, it’s that. No question.”
    She chuckled, taking the opportunity to ruffle Butters’s neck
when he nuzzled up to her. “Keep out from under the tires. Promise me.”
    The dog was so greedy for attention he would have promised to
live forever. Jay escorted Susanna back to the porch before heading out with his
dogs again, but she stopped short and said, “Where on earth did that come
from?”
    Taking the stairs with light steps, she made an attractive
display as she leaned over the big basket propped in a rocking chair. Even in
profile, he could see her expression soften as she inspected the gifts.
    Perfect timing, Pete.
    “Guess I should have had it waiting when you got here a week
ago,” he admitted. “But I didn’t think about it until you said you hadn’t made
it to the grocery. Welcome to The Arbors.”
    “Oh, Jay, how kind. Thank you so much. This couldn’t be more
perfect.” She looked as if she was going to pick up the basket, so Jay skipped
up a few steps and took it from her.
    “Tell me where.”
    She held the door as he stepped through, or tried to, since the
dogs bullied their way in first. “Kitchen, please.”
    He scowled at Gatsby, who headed straight for the sofa.