Dandelion Dreams by Samantha Garman Read Free Book Online Page B

this competition?”
    “My dream, my rules, remember?”
    “Right.”
    “Tell me about Lucy.”
    “Fuck if I know. She’s the perfect woman. Not only did she knock beer bottles out of my hands, but she knocked sense into me on more than one occasion.” Tristan grins.
    “You’ll find it, you know.”
    “Will I? I’m not sure.”
    “You won’t wander forever. You’ll find a reason to stay somewhere.”
    “You were closer to her than you were to us, weren’t you?”
    “It’s different,” Tristan explains. “When you meet the woman you’re supposed to spend your life with, you’ll understand.”
    I shake my head. “You grew up, didn’t you? I didn’t even notice.”
    “Happens to the best of us. It’s going to happen to you.”
    I laugh. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Chapter 9

    Sage

    One night, when I’d been in France for a little over a week, Luc came to my door and demanded I get dressed. “Where are you taking me?” I asked, even as I grabbed my coat.
    Luc grinned. “A dive.”
    Dive was a generous description of the bar. It was a seedy hole-in-the-wall with an old jukebox and a few scarred, un-level pool tables. It was stuck in the ‘80’s, but as I was learning, Tours was a mishmash of culture from the past. That was part of its charm.
    “What are you having?” Luc asked.
    “How about a beer and a game of pool?”
    “Rack ’em.”
    I kicked his ass in pool, or he let me, and I introduced him to “Eye of the Tiger”. I didn’t think I would laugh again, not so soon after losing my mother. But laugh I did when a ridiculously drunk Luc played the songover and over on the wailing jukebox, singing along off key and annoying the other patrons.
    Taking pity on them, I selected a Tom Petty song, hoping Luc didn’t know the lyrics. I set down the pool cue and headed to the middle of the dance floor. I wasn’t a dancer by any means, but tonight, I wanted to move. It was probably the five beers I’d consumed, but still, I felt good.
    I was paying homage to Mom. She had loved classic rock, and had hundreds of compilation playlists on iTunes. Some days it had been nothing but Zeppelin, on others it was Simon and Garfunkel. I could always tell her mood by what music was playing.
    Neon lights from beer signs painted my skin in a medley of fluorescent glow. I drank and danced until the world spun, and then I let Luc cart me out into the crisp night.
    “You’re beautiful—did you know that?” he said, his hands steadying me while I stumbled like a clown on stilts.
    “It’s not polite to lie to a woman,” I teased.
    “I’m not lying.”
    “Thanks for being here. You’re a good sport to put up with me.”
    He gazed down into my eyes. “Sage, I—”
    I stopped him from speaking by placing a hand on his chest. “I just need a friend, okay? I’m not ready for anything else.”
    Luc squeezed my shoulder gently before turning me in the direction of home. “Okay.”

    •••

    The next morning, I threw on a pair of old sweats and a sweatshirt, and went in search of coffee and Luc in the main house.
    Luc seemed to be a relationship kind of man. Until recently, I had been a relationship kind of woman, but I had been down that road with Connor, becoming entrapped in a loveless relationship. I didn’t want to make the same mistake again, and I needed time.
    “Where’s Luc?” I asked Celia, who was at the desk sending an email. After typing something, she looked up.
    “He went to visit his grandmother early this morning.”
    I frowned.
    “Do you want to tell me what happened? Don’t think of me as Luc’s mother.”
    I smiled. “But you are, and I’d never say anything that would make you—”
    “Look at him differently? You think I’m blinded by the love I have for my son?”
    “Not if you’re anything like my mother.”
    My mother’s revelations about me had often left me breathless, my feelings casualties in her war with truth.
    Celia came out from behind