Circle of Friends, Part 2 by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online Page A

night?”
    â€œThree,” Noelle continued, ignoring her. “No boys in the house. Not ever, not for five minutes. None. Zero. Girlfriends are allowed, but only when one of us is home. Girlfriends will vacate the house by nine unless they are staying for a preapproved sleepover. Four, you will not go into the pool when you are home alone. Five, you will play your music at a reasonable volume and we determine what is reasonable.” She paused. “That’s all I can think of for now, but there may be more later. If you violate any of these, I’ll pack your stuff myself and toss you out. Is that clear?”
    Tiffany stared at her sister as if she’d never seen her before. “You’re worse than Mom,” she breathed, then turned to Dev. “Tell her she’s being unfair.”
    Dev held up both hands. “This is between the two of you. Leave me out of it.”
    On the one hand, he thought Noelle’s rules were strict, but on the other, he understood her plan. She was trying to make Tiffany see that running away didn’t solve anything. A lesson he obviously needed to learn himself, based on how he’d acted after their big fight.
    â€œDev works and I’m taking classes,” Noelle said firmly. “Everyone in this house has responsibilities and that includes you, kid. So what do you say?”
    Tiffany sighed. For a second, Dev thought she was going to balk, but she nodded slowly. “Okay. Fine. I’ll follow the rules.”
    â€œGood. I’ll take you to day care every morning and pick you up at five.”
    He frowned. “Tiffany’s in day care?” She seemed kind of old.
    Tiffany giggled. “I don’t go. I help. Through the church. Teenagers who are too young to get jobs and stuff volunteer. We don’t get paid, but we will get a nice reference, which helps us when we want to get real jobs.”
    That made sense. He picked up several of the suitcases. “I’ll carry these back.” He looked at Noelle. “The bigger of the two rooms.” Meaning the one she’d occupied.
    She nodded. “Take a bag, Tiffany. You’re not in a hotel.”
    Her sister sighed. “Yes, ma’am.”
    She slung a couple of totes over her shoulder and followed him down the hall.
    â€œHere’s the room,” Dev said, pushing open the door. “Bathroom is next door.”
    Tiffany dropped her bags and flung herself onto the bed. “It’s really nice. At home I share with Summer. Lily shared with Noelle. With Lily going off to college, Summer’s getting her room and I’ll have Lily with me when she’s back from school. But our room isn’t nearly as cool as this.”
    She sat up. “Noelle is really bossy. She likes to take charge and be responsible. Boys don’t like that in a girl. Doesn’t it make you crazy?”
    He set down the suitcases. “No. But then I’m not a boy and your sister is my wife.”
    Tiffany’s eyes widened. “Wow. So you like her?”
    He smiled. “Yes. Very much. I think Noelle is terrific and beautiful.”
    Tiffany flopped back on the bed. “I want someone to think I’m terrific. Does that mean I have to act that way?”
    â€œPretty much.”
    Later, when Tiffany was busy unpacking what appeared to be everything she’d ever owned, Dev walked into the master bedroom and found Noelle curled up in the window seat.
    â€œAre you sure about this?” he asked.
    She turned to face him and he saw tears on her cheeks. Panic seized him.
    â€œWhat happened?” he demanded as he crossed the room. “Noelle, what’s wrong?”
    She shook her head. “I’m fine,” she whispered.
    Like he believed that. “Then why are you crying?” He sat next to her and reached for her hand, but stopped himself.
    She drew in a breath. “I heard you talking to Tiffany. I heard what you said. How can you