Truly Madly Yours by Rachel Gibson Read Free Book Online

“Not at the time though. Having Helen Schnupp, of all girls, steal my first boyfriend sucked.”
    “Yeah, but she did you a favor. Tommy has turned into a real bum. He only works long enough to collect unemployment. He has two kids, and Helen supports them most of the time.”
    “How does he look?” Delaney asked, cutting to the important stuff.
    “Still good-lookin‘.”
    “Damn.” She’d hoped for a report of a receding hairline at the very least. “Who was that friend of Tommy’s? Do you remember? He always wore that John Deere baseball cap, and you had a mad crush on him.”
    A frown appeared between Lisa’s brows. “Jim Bushyhead.”
    Delaney snapped her fingers. “That’s right. You dated him for a while, but he dumped you for that girl with the mustache and big boobs.”
    “Tina Uberanga. She was Basque and Italian . . . poor thing.”
    “I remember you were madly in love with him for a long time after he dumped you.”
    “No, I wasn’t.”
    “Yes, you were. We used to have to drive by his house at least five times a day.”
    “No way.”
    Two more drinks appeared, provided by another of Henry’s associates. Delaney waved her thanks and turned back to her friend. They resumed their gossip over a steady stream of free margaritas. At nine-thirty Delaney glanced at her watch. She’d lost count of her drinks, and her cheeks were beginning to feel a little numb. “I don’t suppose Truly has a taxi service these days.” If she cut herself off now, she’d have over three hours to sober up before the bar closed and she had to drive home.
    “Nope. We finally got a gas station with a mini-mart. But it closes at eleven.” She pointed a finger at Delaney and said, “You don’t know how lucky you are to live in a city with a Circle K. You can’t just grab a box of Ding Dongs or a burrito at two in the morning around here.”
    “Are you drunk?”
    Lisa leaned forward and confessed, “Yes, and guess what else? I’m getting married.”
    “What?” Delaney sputtered. “You’re getting married and you waited all this time to tell me?”
    “Well, we’re not telling anyone for a while. He wants to talk to his daughter first, before it’s common knowledge. But she’s in Washington with her mother until next week.”
    “Who? Who’s the lucky guy?”
    Lisa looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Louie Allegrezza.”
    Delaney blinked several times then burst into laughter. “That’s a good one.”
    “I’m serious.”
    “Crazy Louie.” She continued to laugh as she shook her head. “You’ve got to be pulling my leg.”
    “I’m not. We’ve been seeing each other for eight months. Last week he asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes. We’re getting married November fifteenth.”
    “Nick’s brother?” Her laughter died. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
    “Very, but we can’t tell anyone until he talks to Sophie.”
    “Sophie?”
    “His daughter from his first wife. Sophie’s thirteen and a real daddy’s girl. He thinks if he tells her when she gets back, she’ll have almost six months to get used to the idea.”
    “Crazy Louie,” Delaney repeated, stunned. “Isn’t he doing time in prison?”
    “No. He doesn’t do crazy things anymore.” She paused and shook her head. “Besides, he was never really that crazy.”
    Delaney wondered if her friend had fallen on her head in the past ten years and suffered memory loss. “Lisa, he stole a car in the fifth grade.”
    “No. We were in the fifth grade. He was in the ninth, and in all fairness, he was on his way to take it back when he hopped the curb and got high-centered on that bench in front of Value Drug.” Lisa shrugged. “He might not have even gotten caught if he hadn’t swerved to miss the Olsens’ dog, Buckey.”
    Delaney blinked to clear her head. “Are you blaming Buckey?”
    “That dog always did run loose.”
    All dogs ran loose in Truly. “I can’t believe you’re blaming poor Buckey? You