Read Online Time for Love , The McCarthys of Gansett Island, Book 9 by Marie Force - Free Book Online

so pretty,” Sarah said.
    Sarah always had something nice to say, which Daisy appreciated. “So do you. Love is clearly agreeing with you.”
    Laughing, Sarah blushed as she pulled away from the curb. “I don’t know if it’s love, but it sure is fun.”
    Sarah had been dating Charlie Grandchamp for a while now, and her eyes lit up whenever she spoke of him.  
    “I’m glad you’re having fun.”
    “How about you? Still hanging out with Dr. David?”
    “Still hanging out,” Daisy said, and making out, she thought but didn’t say.
    “And having fun?”
    “Lots of fun. It’s nice to be with someone I don’t have to be afraid of—at least not physically.” He was becoming a bigger threat to the well-being of her heart with every passing day.
    “I know what you mean.” Sarah drove to Marco’s pizza place because neither of them ever had much in the way of extra money, so they kept their “dates” on the cheap. “Although, I wonder sometimes how long Charlie is going to put up with me.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Every time he touches me, I flinch. Every time he makes a sudden move, I flinch. Every time he tries to kiss me, I turn away. I can tell he’s starting to get frustrated with me, and I can’t say I blame him.”
    “You still haven’t told him about Mark?”
    Sarah shook her head. “I hate to think about him, let alone talk about him with someone like Charlie, who has been so nice and so patient.”
    “Maybe if he knew what you’ve been through, he’d understand why you react the way you do to him.”
    “I’m sure he has his theories about why I’m so jumpy.”
    “How do you plan to get around telling him where you’re going when you leave for the trial?”
    “Owen asked me that, too.” Sarah had been living with her eldest son and his fiancée, Laura McCarthy, at the Sand & Surf Hotel since the fall. “He thinks I ought to tell Charlie the truth about what’s going on, but I’d rather wait until it’s over and behind me for good before I tell him. After all he’s been through himself, why would he want to be burdened with my baggage?”
    “Has he talked to you about being in prison?”
    “Yes,” she said softly as she found a parking space and killed the engine. “He told me how he saved Stephanie from her abusive mother and landed in prison for his trouble.”
    “It couldn’t have been easy for him to share that with you—or anyone.”
    “I’m sure it wasn’t. I could tell he was embarrassed about having been in prison, even if he was falsely accused of being the abuser.”
    Daisy reached for Sarah’s hand. “You should tell him your story, Sarah. If he cares about you, and I think he does, he’d want to support you during the trial.”
    “I don’t know if I want him to. I’d be so ashamed for him to hear about what I put up with for so long, not to mention what I let that monster do to my children.”
    “It wasn’t like you ‘let’ him do anything. I don’t think Charlie is the type to pass judgment. He’s already shown you he’s nothing like Mark, hasn’t he?”
    “He’s nothing like Mark,” Sarah said with a harsh laugh. “Thankfully, most men aren’t like Mark.”
    They got out of the car and walked inside, pleased to find their usual table in the back corner of the crowded restaurant available. When they were settled with sodas and had ordered a pizza and house salad to share, Sarah propped her chin on her upturned hand and studied Daisy. “So tell me everything about the handsome doctor.”
    Daisy thought of his laughter the night before and what it did to his gorgeous face. “He is handsome.”
    “That he is. He was very good to me when I arrived here in pieces, and I won’t soon forget his kindness.”
    “He’s been extremely awesome to me, too. Perhaps his specialty ought to be damsels in distress.”
    Sarah laughed and raised her glass. “Sounds good to me.”
    “There’s something else though, something he needs to tell me.