A Marriage Between Friends by Melinda Curtis Read Free Book Online Page A

kitchen towel at Vince’s knee before trundling back to the kitchen without an ounce of remorse in her expression.
    Matchmaking. Busybody. Traitor.
    Edda Mae met Jill’s narrowed gaze and shrugged.
    “I feel like a pretzel,” Vince grumbled as he pushed himself upright in fits and starts.
    Teddy grinned from ear to ear as he watched Vince unfold himself from the furniture. Gathering Moonbeam closer with one hand, Teddy pointed to Vince’s chest with the other. “You have dog drool on your shirt.”
    Vince spread the white cotton with both hands. “What the…?” He sank back onto the love seat, thumbs rubbing temples.
    “You gave him whiskey?” With a huff of disgust, Jill searched her cabinet for some aspirin. Everyone in Railroad Stop knew Edda Mae’s homemade whiskey was more powerful than jet fuel and just as deadly. Vince was clueless. Yet another difference between her fantasy Vince and the real McCoy.
    “I did no such thing.” Edda Mae used a fork to turn over the bacon strips.
    “I turned her down.” Beyond the occasional shoulder-and-neck roll, Vince wasn’t moving. He barely acknowledged Jill when she offered him a glass of water and two aspirin tablets.
    “Teddy, wash up for breakfast.” Jill turned her back on Vince and went to set her small dining table. “Once you’ve fed Vince, Edda Mae, he’ll be on his way.”
    “He’s a bit of a pretty boy. Don’t you think he might like to shower and shave before you send him down the hill?” Edda Mae took eggs out of the refrigerator.
    “We’re not running a bathhouse,” Jill countered, more than a little uncomfortable with the idea of Vince naked in her shower. “Remember him? He’s the enemy.”
    “He’s no such thing,” Edda Mae pooh-poohed her, then frowned and stared at Vince. “He’s so pretty, in fact, he might be one of those men who like men. I could be wrong but—”
    “You’re wrong,” Vince growled. “Not that I have anything against men who like men. I’m just not one of them.”
    Edda Mae didn’t look convinced.
    Jill tried not to smile. “He and Arnie want to build a casino, remember?”
    “I want a golf course,” Teddy said, grinning at Vince. “I’d like to play golf if I had someone to teach me.”
    “Have you looked at his face?” Edda Mae continued. “That’s a face you can trust.”
    Jill rolled her eyes.
    “Come on, Mom. You did marry him.” Teddy came into the kitchen and put Moonbeam down so he could wash his hands. “There must be something about him you like.”
    Jill didn’t want to remember.
    Prancing expectantly around Edda Mae’s ankles, the little dog began to yap.
    “Moonbeam’s cranky this morning. She’s out of food,” Edda Mae announced.
    Never a patient dog, Moonbeam barked louder while Edda Mae apologized to her for forgetting to buy dog food and Teddy rooted in the pantry for something Moonbeam could eat, all the while claiming Moonbeam should have bacon for breakfast.
    “Excuse me.” Scowling, Vince entered the kitchen, which suddenly seemed too crowded to Jill, but Edda Mae, Teddy and Moonbeam didn’t seem to notice how much space a big, angry man could take up. “Excuse me!”
    Everyone fell silent, until Moonbeam realized it was Vince who was shouting and she still hadn’t been fed. She returned to her protest.
    “Back off, looney dog,” Vince growled right back at her.
    Moonbeam sat down and gazed up at Vince as if he were about to give her a piece of the bacon that crackled in the pan above her. Jill shouldn’t have been surprised. Vince had always been able to get girls to eat out of his hand.
    “In the past twenty-four hours I’ve been lost in the woods and kicked out of this place, after which I nearly mowed down an innocent bystander, was threatened by a poofy mouse with fangs and slept on what has got to be the most uncomfortable couch in the state of California.” He glared at each of them in turn.
    First at Teddy. “No, the dog is not getting bacon for