Read Online The Touch of a Woman by K.G. MacGregor - Free Book Online Page A

herself—she’d done that before too—but it was every bit as emotionally manipulative. “You can do this, Rita. All you have to do is decide which person you want to be. The one in control of her behavior, or the one making a drunken spectacle of herself. You can’t go back and forth between those two people. It’s got to be one or the other.”
    Rita nodded and wiped her nose with her napkin.
    “I’m willing to bet you don’t like yourself very much right now. Nobody likes regretting things they’ve done. And nobody likes feeling scared about what could have happened. You should seriously consider talking to somebody…a substance abuse counselor. They know how to help you deal with this.”
    “I don’t need that kind of help,” she said sharply, before looking around to see if anyone had heard. “All I’m saying is this would be a lot easier if I knew getting sober meant you’d at least consider taking me back.”
    “No. I’m over you.” Summer rose and slung her purse over her shoulder. Leaning close so she could keep her voice low, she added the message Rita most needed to understand. “I have no intention of being your reward for doing something you have to do for yourself. That’s the bottom line here. The only guarantee you have for turning your life around is how you’re going to feel about it. Stop trying to make it sound like I have anything to do with it. Because I don’t.”
    * * *
    Ellis pinched a slice of California roll with her chopsticks and dipped it in soy sauce. Not the greatest sushi she’d ever had, but hard to beat at four dollars a roll. Summer knew the best neighborhood places to grab a cheap meal. Cheap also meant casual, so they’d come straight from their workout wearing exercise tights and sneakers. Tucked in a booth under the dim light of a Japanese lantern, they could have worn pajamas and no one would have known.
    “I can’t believe Rita still thinks her guilt trip’s going to work on me. Like it’s my responsibility to keep her sober.” Summer took a bite of her Dynamite roll and chased it with a gulp of ice water.
    “So just between us…is there any chance you’ll take her back if she cleans herself up?”
    “No way. I’m always going to care about what happens to her, but we won’t ever be in a relationship again. And we won’t ever…you know.”
    Her sheepish look was charming. Apparently, “you know” was code for having sex.
    “This time it finally feels like never , especially after we sold the house. We were so angry about everything…we didn’t even speak to each other for about six months. But then I ran into her last April at a wedding, and I went and gave her a hug. Huge mistake. She took it as an invitation.”
    Ellis caught herself eating the edamame as if it were popcorn. “Here, we’re supposed to be sharing this.”
    “We’re supposed to be sharing the conversation too, and all I’ve done is talk about Rita. What’s going on in your world?”
    She’d rather listen to Summer than grouse about the fact that her kids were too busy to visit. That left work, where the only thing worth talking about was Rex, who had dropped by her desk again to invite her to lunch.
    “There’s this guy at the magazine…Rex Brenneman. He’s the political writer.”
    Summer peered over her glasses with a pensive look. “I know who he is. He wrote that column on the legislators who raked in campaign cash from the utility companies and then pushed through the rate increases. I bet something like that goes on in every single department.”
    “Then you can also bet he’ll find out about it. He’s really sharp.” She was glad to hear Summer read Vista. It was validating to know her friends thought the magazine was worth their time. “It seems Rex has taken more than a professional interest in yours truly. He asked me to lunch today but I’d already eaten, so he promised to give me more notice next time.”
    “Hunh.” A grunt that sounded like