Love? Maybe. by Heather Hepler Read Free Book Online Page B

if I thought the sun got lonely. I told him I hadn’t really thought about it, but that I imagine he did. It was the wrong answer. Dom got pretty quiet for the rest of the night. I turn off the light beside my bed, wondering if I should have told him something else. Something a little more upbeat. But, when I think about it, I’m sure the sun does get sad sometimes. He just sits up there, shining on everyone and keeping everyone rotating the way they’re supposed to. But what about him? I wonder if sometimes he just looks aroundand says “Hey! What about me? Who’s keeping the lights on for me? Who’s making sure I’m not going to fall out of the sky?” I shake my head. Too much literary symbolism.
     
    It’s not until I’m almost asleep that I remember my promise to Claire. I try to come up with a plan—anything—but I’ve got nothing. I’m praying that Jillian has at least some idea of how to find Claire a boyfriend. I’m praying just as hard that she won’t try to snag someone for me in the process. If there is one wish I have for Valentine’s Day
and
my birthday, it’s this: I’d like a little peace and quiet. A little fun maybe, and no drama.
     

chapter six
     
    I ’m doing the dishes in the bathroom sink when the doorbell rings. I’m hoping it’s the plumber, but I’m pretty sure I know who it is.
    “I’ll get it,” Dom hollers.
     
    “Hold it,” I yell, wiping my hands on the dish towel I have slung over my shoulder. Dom waits at the door, hopping from one foot to the other. Lucy is sitting on the sofa, her pink suitcase at her feet. I’m not sure what’s worse, Dom’s enthusiasm about seeing his father for the first time in a month or Lucy’s sadness. I take a deep breath and open the door.
     
    “Hi, sweetheart,” Beau says, leaning forward and kissing my cheek. He reaches down and tussles Dom’s hair. I step back to let him in. “It’s so good to see y’all,” he drawls. I hear my mother’s footsteps above us. “Hey, Lucy. Don’t you have a hug for your daddy?” Lucy stands up and walks overto him, giving him a stiff hug around the legs. “Hold it,” Beau says as she starts to walk away. He reaches behind her ear and pulls out a necklace of pink beads and hands it to her. The necklace earns him a real hug and a smile.
     
    “Now me!” Dom says, jumping up and down in front of him. Beau does the same trick with Dom. He opens his hand to reveal a new Matchbox car. Even though I’ve seen the trick about a million times, I still never see him palming anything.
     
    “How about you, darlin’?” he says to me. I just shake my head. When I first met Beau, I begged him to marry my mother so he would be my father. Now I’m too old to be taken in by his charms. Hearing my mother coming down the stairs, I amend that thought. Maybe I’m just too cynical. “Hey, beautiful,” Beau says when my mother appears. He walks over and kisses her cheek. She stiffens slightly, but she also blushes. I wonder where Stacy, his girlfriend, is.
     
    “It’s good to see you, Beau,” my mother says. Beau offers her his best smile and I see her blush again.
     
    “Whoops,” he says, looking at his watch. “We’ve gotta skedaddle if we’re going to make the movie.” Dom and Lucy both start jumping up and down when he says that. “You sure you don’t want to join us?” he asks me. I just shake my head. There was a time when I was younger that I would wait for Beau to get home just like Dom does, but not anymore. Beau Paisley is charming and handsome, but he’s also unreliable and selfish.
     
    My mother heads upstairs after saying good-bye to Domand Lucy. I watch them through the kitchen window as they make their way toward Beau’s enormous truck parked in front of the house. The overhead light goes on as he opens the door, illuminating the inside of the truck. Perched in the passenger seat is Beau’s girlfriend, Stacy. After Beau gets the kids settled in the back, he climbs in