Heat Wave by Nancy Thayer Read Free Book Online

Safe Place, the library, the AIDS network, and the hospital. She was definitely the kind of woman to make lemonade. Or, today, cookies.
    Of course she was wearing a dress. She was the only female on this windy island who regularly wore dresses. She insisted she couldn’t find jeans to fit, but really Vanessa had developed a kind ofcamouflage of loose dresses covered with looser sweaters to make less of a display of her shape. Her arms were full of bags of flour, chocolate bits, butter, and sprinkles, and when she came in the front door, she was laughing.
    “I couldn’t help it, I sampled some of the chocolate, the bag was just leaning there, tempting me.”
    Carley lifted one of the bags into her own arms. “You’ve got chocolate on your chin.”
    Vanessa followed Carley into the kitchen. Together they unpacked the groceries.
    “There’s fresh coffee if you want it,” Carley told her.
    “Yum.” Vanessa knew this kitchen as well as her own. She took a mug off a shelf and poured herself a cup of the fragrant brew.
    Cisco strolled into the room. Lanky and trim in the tee shirt and boxers she wore for pajamas, she edged herself onto the corner of the table. “Whatcha doin’?”
    Vanessa gave Cisco a big hug. “Good morning, darling. We’re going to make cookies for the bake sale. Want to help?”
    Cisco hugged Vanessa back. “No, thanks. I’m going over to Delphine’s to practice.”
    “When’s your next recital?” Vanessa asked.
    “I’m not sure,” Cisco told her. Her face grew wistful. She was longing to wear pointe shoes, but at twelve, she was not yet allowed. Lost in her reverie, she slid off the table and wandered out of the room.
    “She’s such a beauty,” Vanessa observed.
    “I’m not thrilled about this ballet obsession,” Carley confided. “Cis worries about her weight, and she’s already a little twig. I don’t want her becoming anorectic.”
    “Honey, she’s not. Enjoy this phase. In a flash, she’s going to be getting her teenage hormones, complete with periods, breasts, zits, and mood swings.”
    Carley rolled her eyes. “Oh, help.”
    As they talked, they moved around Carley’s kitchen, sharing the work with familiar ease. Carley was proud of her kitchen. It was theone part of the venerable old house she’d insisted on having renovated. It had two ovens, and a rack hung with pots, skillets, and utensils over a central island. She’d had the two rooms that once had served as pantry and butler’s pantry opened up to make one large room, and a long pine kitchen table with comfortable captain’s chairs stood at one end of the kitchen, next to a small desk where the household calendar and computer were kept. Her kitchen was the command control center of her own domestic world. Sometimes she thought she’d rather be here than anywhere else.
    She set out the measuring cups, mixer, and bowls. “How’s Toby?”
    Vanessa shrugged. “Busy. Too busy. We really could use another pediatrician on this island. Well, I knew what I was getting into when I married a doctor. Or I thought I did. Most days we scarcely have time to talk before he falls into bed, exhausted.”
    Vanessa measured out two cups of flour, then stopped and looked directly at Carley. “Carley, sometimes … sometimes Toby kind of bores me.”
    Carley gave Vanessa a gentle smile. “Every marriage goes through phases like that.”
    Before Vanessa could reply, the front door opened. Footsteps sounded down the hall and Maud appeared, her two exuberant sons at her side.
    “Hi, Carley! Hi, Vanessa!” Maud’s enormous blue eyes were wide in her heart-shaped face, and she looked rather like a child herself, with her turned-up nose and brown hair cut in an easy Dutch-boy bob. Under her quilted jacket she wore black tights and a leotard, which made her look even more petite. She kicked off her clogs and settled into a chair. Recently she’d been dropping her boys off at Carley’s while she went for an hour of yoga.