Meant for Her by Amy Gamet Read Free Book Online

nothing of the landscape and everything about the woman beside him.
    “The house is up here another mile or two.”
    “Great,” she said, rubbing her hands on her thighs. “Who’s going to be there?”
    “My mom, Marianne. Tough as nails, with a soft side. You’ll like her.” If she likes you , he added to himself. His mother was not one to suffer fools gladly, but Hank wasn’t overly concerned. If anything, his mother would probably like Julie too much. That’s why he made sure to tell her that Julie was only pretending to be his girlfriend. “She took over the family business when my dad passed away a few years ago.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Thank you.”
    “What’s the family business?”
    “Our first product was organic fruit soap. We’ve expanded over the years to include natural gardening products.”
    “Wait, as in Uncle Billy’s Rockin’ Organic Fruit Soap?”
    “That’s the one.”
    Julie laughed. “Who came up with that name?”
    “Kelly. My father thought it would be a fun family project to market it at the local Agway one summer. I designed the packaging, Norah wrote the copy. We never expected it to take off.”
    “Who’s Norah?”
    “My older sister. She’ll be there tonight, along with her husband Steve. She’s a professional cellist with the Boston Philharmonic; he teaches linguistics at Northeastern.”
    “Any more brothers or sisters?”
    “Nope. That’s the whole family.”
    Julie rubbed her hands together. “Your mom is Marianne, Kelly’s marrying Ron, and Norah’s married to Steve.”
    “Relax. You’ll be fine.”
    “I’m not good with names. I make associations to remember them.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I get pictures in my head that help me remember. Like your sister, Kelly. Kelly Ogden was my best friend in the fourth grade. So I picture her standing at the altar with Ronald McDonald.”
    Hank knew that the polished and athletic Ron wouldn’t appreciate this game at all. “Go on.”
    “For your sister, I picture Nora Roberts playing the cello on the back of one of her books.”
    “Who’s Nora Roberts?”
    Julie looked at him like he had blasphemed. “Just one of the best romance novel authors of all time, thank you very much.”
    Hank raised his hands in mock surrender. “What about Steve?”
    “The book with the cello is about a linguistics professor at Northeastern who falls for an older student. A music major. It’s very touching.”
    “Is that a real book?”
    “Of course not. Didn’t you hear me? I’m just trying to remember their names.”
    He laughed at her absurd thought process. “Whatever works for you.” He slowed down as they drove alongside several hundred feet of stacked stone fence, then turned onto a driveway that meandered away from the road and back toward the lake. “This is it.”
    Julie turned around and woke up Gwen, then watched as the tree-lined driveway opened to a wide, snow-covered lawn. The big house was a mixture of Tudor and log cabin styles, clearly one-of-a-kind in its design. There was a three-car detached garage and what looked to be a large screened porch off the side of the residence.
    Hank pulled to a stop in the circular driveway. “Leave the bags. I’ll come out for them in a bit.” Julie opened her door and stepped out into the chilly night air.
    The front door opened and a slender woman with long gray and black hair appeared under the porch light, some fifteen feet from the car.
    Hank helped Julie with her bag as Gwen stepped out and stretched her legs. Raising his voice, he said, “Mom, I’d like you to meet Julie and Gwen Trueblood. Ladies, this is my mom.”
    Julie swore quietly.
    Hank realized her problem at once. He sang quietly, “Sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a mighty ship…”
     
     
     
    Chapter 4
     
    “And this is where you and Julie will be staying,” said Marianne, opening the door to a single bedroom with a queen size bed and its own bathroom. Julie’s