Always Florence by Muriel Jensen Read Free Book Online Page A

physically pushed him out. Instinct told him that was coming next. “Thank you.” He held up the bag. “Dylan will be very happy.”
    “You’re welcome. See you on Halloween.”
    He stepped onto the porch as the door began to close.
    It was clear that, for whatever reason, she didn’t like being understood. Which was probably best. He didn’t want her to become a chummy neighbor and understand that he was a deeply angry man who wasn’t dealing very well with his life, and had no idea how to raise two lost and frightened little boys.
    God, he missed Ben.

CHAPTER THREE
    “C OOL !” Dylan studied the art supplies spread out on the kitchen table. He picked up a sketch pad and flipped through the blank pages. “Really?” he asked Nate for the third time. “Bobbie gave you all this for me?”
    “Yeah.” Nate turned off the burner under the whistling teakettle. “She was telling me she’s teaching art at your school until the holidays, but just for the lower grades. I told her that was too bad, because you like to sketch. She thought you might like to have some stuff to work with.”
    “Wow.” Sheamus hung over Dylan as he zipped open a green fabric envelope that contained pencils, some new, some stubs. There was a large-format paperback on basic sketching and a box of pastels. Dylan held up a two-inch-square gray object wrapped in plastic.
    “What’s that?” Nate asked.
    “The wrapper says it’s an eraser.”
    “I’ve never seen one like that.”
    “It’s probably for real artists. Wow.”
    Nate turned back to the stove before Dylan could think he was too interested. That would certainly ruin his own fascination with Bobbie’s gift. After pouring boiling water over the cocoa powder in the mugs, Nate added two ice cubes to each, then topped them with miniature marshmallows. He poured himself a cup of coffee.
    He put the cups on the end of the table, away from the supplies. Sheamus, wearing a pout, sat down in front of his cup. His hair was disheveled and a smear of dirt ran across his cheek like a scar. Stella would be horrified that Nate had seated the boys at the table without making them wash first, but there should be some advantages to an all-male weekend.
    “She doesn’t like me, does she?” Sheamus asked, his voice a little strained. “’Cause I thought she was a witch.”
    Nate gave him a gentle shove. “Of course she likes you. But this is for Dylan because he’s interested in the same thing she’s interested in. And she gave you a carved pumpkin to hang in your room.”
    That didn’t help. “But Dylan got one of those, too.”
    “Remember when we bought you a new winter jacket, but we didn’t get one for Dylan because he didn’t need one?”
    Sheamus was horrified by the comparison. “That’s clothes! Who cares about clothes?”
    Nate bit back laughter, having to give him that one. “I’m sorry. You can’t have everything he has, and he can’t have everything you have. It’s the way the world works.”
    “It sucks!”
    “I know.”
    Sheamus blew out air and sipped carefully from his cup. He gave Nate a pleading, put-upon look over the rim. “Can we buy me a new game for my Nintendo?”
    “No.”
    He sighed noisily. “Then can I have a cookie?”
    “Sure. Help yourself.”
    Dylan put everything in his bag and picked up his cup. “I’m going to look at this in my room.”
    “Bobbie said the pastels are messy,” Nate warned. “So be careful, okay?”
    “Okay.” Dylan walked away, the bag slung over his shoulder, the cocoa held carefully ahead of him. Arnold, curled up under the table, stood—unsure whether to follow Dylan or stay with Sheamus. Then he heard the cookie jar lid and the decision was made.
    Sheamus came back to the table with three cookies. He handed one to Nate, held one out to Arnold, who snatched it greedily without touching the small hand with even a tooth, then sat down again.
    “Thank you,” Nate said. Sheamus sloshed his cocoa and Nate handed