One True Love (Cupid, Texas 0.5) by Lori Wilde Read Free Book Online Page B

idea.”
    “Johnny,” she said through clenched teeth. “Help me up.”
    Reluctantly, he took one of her arms and Mabel took the other and they helped Penelope to her feet, but the second she put weight on that right leg, she collapsed back onto the floor with a loud wail of pain.
    Mabel clucked her tongue. “There’ll be no marathon dancing for you.”
    Beneath the pallor of her skin, Penelope burst into fresh tears. “No,” she whispered, “I have to dance.”
    But I could see the fight draining out of her.
    “I’ve bragged to the Ladies’ League.” She sniffled. “I have to show them up.”
    “Well, you know what they say about pride going before a fall,” John said.
    “You’re not helping. I was going to raise the most money for needy children. It was my way back into everyone’s good graces after that mess with Ruthie.”
    “I don’t know why you care so much about what a lot of old biddies think.” Mabel fussed over her, dabbed Penelope’s tears with the corner of her apron.
    “They can make or break you, Mabel. Success in life comes down to how well you play politics.” Penelope let out a long sigh, leaned back against the wall, and closed her eyes. Her right leg was stuck out in front of her, her left knee drawn up.
    Mabel carefully rearranged the flapper dress to cover as much of Penelope’s leg as possible. “There now.”
    “Shoo.” Penelope waved her away. “Let me think.”
    Mabel got to her feet and waddled to the door. “I’ll go for the doctor.”
    I nibbled on my bottom lip and glanced over at John. He studied me with a pensive expression in his eyes. Did I have something on my face? I scrubbed a palm over my cheek.
    “Have you registered for the marathon yet?” he asked his sister.
    Penelope waved a weak hand, but kept her eyes closed. “The registration starts tomorrow morning. Why?”
    “In the rules and regulations brochure that you gave me to study, it said that once the contestants have registered, if one partner drops out the other one can’t go on with another partner.”
    Penelope opened one eye. “What are you getting at?”
    “If you haven’t registered us yet, I can still dance and uphold the family name.”
    She perked up a little. “With whom? Elizabeth is still in Baltimore and besides, even if she was here, Elizabeth might be a good dancer but she has no stamina. A dance marathon is about more than just dancing. It’s being able to outlast everyone else. You’re not going to find anyone who fits that bill this late date.”
    Who was Elizabeth? I darted a sidelong glance at John. An old girlfriend? My chest tightened and I felt slightly sick at my stomach.
    John was looking straight at me. “You’re wrong about that.”
    Penelope’s other eye popped open. “You don’t mean—”
    “Who else has been practicing for weeks?” he asked.
    I frowned. Were they talking about what I thought they were talking about?
    “It’s unheard of, John.” Penelope swept the flapper hat off her head and fanned herself with it. One of the lilies of the valley flew off and landed on the floor at my feet.
    “This is a new decade, Pen, things are changing.”
    “But what will everyone say?” she mused.
    “That Mrs. Penelope Fant Bossier has set this town on its ear.”
    “It would be social suicide.”
    “Or you could start your own society of younger, more modern women.”
    Penelope canted her head pensively. “What about you?”
    “I don’t give a damn what they think about me. Let’s shake this place up.”
    I widened my eyes. I’d never heard him curse. He must be serious.
    Penelope moved to sit up straighter; her faint smile couldn’t cover her wrench of pain. “You make an excellent point, little brother.”
    Both of them were staring at me now.
    “She is about my size. The dress would fit her.”
    Gooseflesh speckled my arms. I looked from John to Penelope and back again.
    Penelope notched her chin up and gave John her permission when she said