Lone Star by Paullina Simons Read Free Book Online Page B

nothing for a moment. “It’s just awesome, Spain. Why do you think I’ve been taking Spanish these last six years?”
    â€œI have no idea why you kids do half the things you do.”
    â€œI want to go. I’m not a child anymore, Dad.”
    â€œIf you’re such an adult,” said Jimmy, “then what are you talking to us for?”
    â€œI need your help with the passport.”
    â€œOh, now she needs us,” Jimmy said. “A signature. No help, no advice. No money. You’ve got it all figured out, big girl.”
    â€œI don’t, but . . . it’s just a few weeks in Europe, Dad. It’s not a big deal. Lots of kids do it.”
    â€œLike who?”
    Chloe stumbled. She didn’t know who.
    â€œIt’s the worst place, by the way, to have a vacation,” Lang cut in.
    â€œYou mean it’s the best place! Have you been there, Mom?”
    â€œI don’t need to go to Calcutta to know I don’t want to go to Calcutta.”
    â€œCalcutta? Mom. It’s Barcelona! It’s on the sea. It’s nice. It’s fun. It’s full of young people.” Did she sound calm? She didn’t think so. Things were getting away from her.
    â€œDid I hear your mother correctly?” Jimmy asked. “The two junkyard wildings down the road want to go with you?”
    Well, at least it was out there. The pit in her stomach couldn’t get any bigger. “Why wildings? It’s Blake and Mason. You like them.”
    â€œDon’t put words in my mouth or feelings into my heart.”
    â€œYou do like them. Mr. Haul is still your friend. Despite everything.” Chloe took a breath. “You help him out with money, you lend him your truck, you barbecue with him. You exchange Christmas presents. Mom gives them tomatoes.”
    â€œWhat does that prove? Your mother gives tomatoes to everyone, even the Harrisons who tried to have Blake’s dog put down that one time. And in my line of work, I’m forced to talk to a lot of unsavory characters.”
    â€œYes; Mr. Haul is not one of them. And Mom and Mrs. Haul are friends.”
    â€œDon’t get carried away,” said Lang. “I drive to ShopRite with her. She is not the executor of my will. So don’t hyperbolize.”
    Chloe took a breath. “Now who’s hyperbolizing?”
    â€œI don’t know why anyone, especially my daughter, would want to go to Spain of all places,” Jimmy said, getting up from the table, as if done with the conversation he was himself continuing. “Do you think there’s any place more beautiful than coastal Maine? Than the White Mountains of New Hampshire?” He snorted as he scraped the remains of his dinner into the trash. “You have staggering beauty outside your own door.”
    â€œThat’s what I told her, Jimmy.”
    â€œWould that I had a chance to compare,” said Chloe.
    â€œI’m telling you how it is.”
    â€œSo I have to take your word for it? I want to see for myself, Dad! Why can’t you understand that?”
    â€œWhere did this crazy idea come from? Lang, did you know about this?”
    â€œJimmy,” said Lang, “she doesn’t know anything about Barcelona. If she did, she wouldn’t want to go. Believe me.”
    How did one stay calm when confronted by a mother such as Chloe’s mother? “Mom,” Chloe said slowly. The slower the speech, the more she wanted to shout. At the moment, she was positively hollering. “I know you think I might not know anything about Barcelona. But what in the world do you possibly know about Barcelona?”
    â€œChloe! Be respectful to your mother.”
    â€œ That wasn’t respectful?” If only her parents could hear how Hannah talked to her mother.
    Lang raised her hand. She was still at the table, across from Chloe. “No, no. Chloe makes a valid point. Clearly she thinks Barcelona has virtues Maine