Abound in Love by Rosemarie Naramore Read Free Book Online

are you all right?”
    She
promptly turned to the source of the voice.  Candace stood in the doorway. 
Still tall and stunningly beautiful at age thirty, she did, however, look
awfully tired.  Laura noted that half circles framed her lower lids and that
she seemed to be propping herself up in the doorway.
    “Candace,”
Laura said, standing from the table.
    Candace
appeared to search her face, and broke into a wide smile.  “You look so
good—aside from the eye,” she said sincerely.  “But then, you were always a
natural beauty.”
    Laura
could have been knocked over with a feather.  Since when did anyone refer to
her as any kind of beauty?  She paled in comparison to her sister.  She knew
it.  Everyone knew it.  And in truth, she didn’t care.  She’d always known
there was more to a person than their outward appearance.  But she had to
admit, having her sister compliment her felt … good.
    “Thank
you.  You look great yourself.”
    Candace
shook her head and gave a dismissive wave.  “No, I don’t.  But thank you for
saying so.”  She crossed the room and wrapped Laura in a hug.  “It’s so good to
see you,” she whispered.  “So good.”
    Laura
pulled back.  “It’s good to see you too.”
    “Mom,
are you driving us to school?” Krissy asked.  “Please.  I hate the bus.”
    Candace
shook her head, as if bringing herself back to the present.  She checked her
watch.  “I think that can be arranged.”  She directed her attention to Kenny. 
“Would you like to ride along, son?  You’ll be early to your school, but…”
    “No,
I’ll take the bus.”  He sat on the bench, and dropped his head, studiously
ignoring his mother. 
    Laura
saw Candace wince, as if she’d sustained a physical blow.
    “Well,
I’ll see you this evening then.  Thomas, can the kids come here after school?” 
When he nodded, she said, “I’ll pick them up here when I get off work.”  She
turned her attention back to Laura.  “Would you…?  I don’t suppose…?”
    “Mom
wants to know if you can go out to dinner with us?” Krissy cried eagerly.
    “Nothing
fancy, I’m afraid,” Candace said with an almost apologetic shrug, and then appeared
to brace for her answer.
    “I’d
love to.”
    The
relief and pleasure on Candace’s face was so genuine, so intense, that Laura
felt it to her core. 
    Perhaps
Candace had changed.

Chapter Five
     
    “ Y ou’ll
be all right here all alone?” Thomas asked Laura, as he packed up a stack of
student papers in readiness for his work. 
    “She’s
not alone.  I’ll be here,” Dalton reminded them.
    Laura,
resting on the couch in the living room, glanced up.  “I’ll be fine.  I’ll
probably stick around her today.  I’m feeling more jet-lagged than I typically
do after flying.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
    “It’s
either the shock of seeing your siblings again,” he said, grinning cheekily,
“or that blow to your eye is making you drowsy.”
    “I feel
bad enough about that,” Dalton groused.  “Do you all have to keep bringing it
up?”  He was sitting across the room, in Laura’s father ancient recliner, and
fixated on the morning news.  He turned to Laura and surveyed her face.  He grimaced
dramatically.  “I am really sorry.”
    “Forget
it,” she said dismissively.
    “Hey,
Uncle Thomas!” Kenny called from the kitchen.  “Can I catch a ride to school
with you?”
    “I
thought you were riding the bus.  Isn’t that what you told your mom?”
    “It’s
too late.  The bus has already passed your house.”  The boy stepped into the
living room, shifting his backpack more comfortably on his shoulder.
    “You’re
not embarrassed riding to school with your ol’ uncle?” Thomas asked.
    “It’s
not as if everyone doesn’t know we’re related,” he said with a shake of his
head.  “Besides, I’d rather ride with you in your truck, than sit in the stupid
bus for forty-five