Love Somebody Like You by Susan Fox Read Free Book Online

family had solved her dilemma; they’d simply stopped communicating.
    â€œThese things happen,” she said neutrally. “And yes, I’m curious. What did Penny say?”
    â€œTo start with, she’s married and expecting. Far enough along that it’s like she has a watermelon under her shirt.”
    A pang hit Sally’s heart. Her little sister, going to have a baby. She was envious, but mostly regretful that she wouldn’t be there by Penny’s side admiring the sonogram images, teasing her about her food cravings and constant need to pee, throwing her a baby shower. “I’m going to be an aunt,” she marveled. One who might never see her niece or nephew.
    Brushing that pain aside, she asked, “Who did she marry? Anyone I’d know?”
    â€œYou knew she was teaching elementary school?”
    â€œShe planned to get her teaching degree.” She’d always believed that her sister, who loved kids as much as Sally did, would make a great teacher.
    â€œOne of her students had a single-parent mom whose brother helped out a lot. Penny and the brother fell for each other. He’s a lawyer.”
    â€œReally? Bet our dad wasn’t thrilled about that. He never had much time for lawyers.”
    â€œI dunno. Penny said your mom and dad are looking forward to being grandparents.”
    â€œWhat else did she say about them?” she asked, greedy for information.
    â€œWe only had a minute to chat. She said everyone was well, and that they missed you.”
    She bit her lip. Was that true? The only time she’d heard from them in years was months after Pete died, when she got a sympathy card. She hadn’t notified them of his death, not seeing the point, but obviously word had reached them. The card had a printed message reading, “Our thoughts and prayers are with you.” Below it, her mother had written: “They really are, Sally. Love, Mom, Dad, and Penny.”
    She’d felt a tug at her heart, and a crazy wish to be enfolded in the arms of her family, to have her sister sympathize and her parents make everything better. But she’d known it couldn’t happen. They were being polite. They didn’t want to see her, much less deal with her problems. Besides, how could she face them when she was such a mess of shame and guilt? She hadn’t responded to the card, and they hadn’t contacted her again.
    â€œSally?”
    â€œHmm?” She realized she’d been peeling away the label on her beer bottle. “What did Penny say when she asked you to look me up?”
    â€œSomething about maybe enough time has gone by.” He studied her. “Time for what? She didn’t say.”
    â€œI don’t know,” she said quietly. Enough time for her parents to forgive her for marrying Pete and moving away? Or enough time for her to admit that she’d made a mistake and they’d been right all along? Could she do that without spilling the whole nasty story and making herself look like a total loser? “When you see her again, maybe you could ask.”
    â€œIf I do see her, what’ll I tell her about you?”
    Considering, she took another sip of beer. “That I’m well. That I love working with horses and teaching children. That the business is doing fine.” Would Penny tell their parents?
    He frowned slightly but said only, “Okay,” then began to eat again.
    She did the same. The meat loaf wasn’t quite as good as her mom’s, or maybe that was her memory playing tricks on her.
    â€œDo you handle this place all on your own?” Ben asked. “One of the owners who came to ride this afternoon asked me if I was your new assistant.”
    â€œSorry about that.” To mistake a rodeo cowboy for a barn assistant was an insult.
    â€œIt’s okay. I just wondered if you’d had an assistant, and he’d quit.”
    She gazed at his striking brown-skinned face,