Reunion in October (The Calendar Girls Book 2) by Gina Ardito Read Free Book Online

me in the gut. “I didn’t know…”
    “You didn’t know what?” Verbal sleet pelted my face with each word he spoke. “That he was sick? Don’t feed me that line. You said something was wrong with the dog last week. You should’ve called Dr. Bautista then.”
    Shivers rippled across my flesh, but my blood simmered. “Really? How? Was I supposed to peel off another personal day? I’m already on probation for the time I took when Gabriella came down with chickenpox last month.” How dare he pin this on me! I planted my fists on my hips. “So, great. I call my boss and explain how I’m not coming into work because the dog is acting a little listless and I must take him to the vet immediately. I get fired, and you get to lecture me about how dismal our financial picture is? Again? Thanks, but no thanks.”
    We locked stares, his frigid and gray, mine smoldering.
    “Mom? Dad?” Corey tiptoed into our fray from the living room. “How’s Freckles? Can we bring him home today?”
    Pushing off the counter’s edge, Roy whipped past me, past his oldest son. “Ask your mother. I have to go to work.” His dirty breakfast dishes still sat on the counter, but he ignored them. Rather than clean up his mess, he stalked to the back door and stormed out. Weasel. My anger climbed a peak and coasted down the other side into resentment country.
    Thanks a lot, Roy .
    “Mom?”
    I sighed. “Sit, Corey. Let me get your sisters, and I’ll tell you what’s going on.” I hated to wake them for the bad news, but Corey wouldn’t rest until he knew, and no way I could get through the story twice more. I wouldn’t bother waking Luke. He was too young to understand. A week from now, he wouldn’t even remember Freckles.
    “It’s bad, isn’t it?” Corey asked.
    I didn’t answer. “Have some cereal while you’re waiting.”
    “I can’t eat,” he grumbled as he sank into his usual seat at the middle of the oblong table in our dinette.
    If this were a normal day, I would have argued, would have lectured him about the importance of protein to his building muscles. At 6:30, today was already anything but normal. My feet heavier than twin cement blocks, I trudged upstairs, down the hall, and into the bedroom my girls shared. Gabriella, curled up in her plastic princess bed, clutched her Baby Dumbo doll to her chest. One slender foot stuck out from beneath her pink butterfly quilt, the toenails painted a chipped glitter blue.
    On the other side of the room, Mellie sprawled in what I called her “Jesus pose,” arms flung wide, ankles locked one on top of the other. In her right hand, she gripped her cell phone, which lit up and buzzed as I neared her bed. The phone worked better than the loudest alarm clock. Mellie’s eyes sprang open, and she yanked the glowing screen closer to read whatever text whichever friend had sent.
    “It’s Amanda,” she announced as she swept the blankets aside. “Her mom can give us a ride to school today. Is that okay?”
    “Sure,” I said. “But before you get dressed, can you come down to the kitchen?  I need to talk to you about something.”
    She stood still, her nightshirt barely concealing her thong panties. God, how could she wear those without feeling like her butt was sliced in half?
    “What’s up?”
    I shook my head. “Downstairs. In the kitchen, please.”
    “Can I at least go to the bathroom first?”
    “Yes, but don’t shower yet. I want you down in five minutes.”
    She strode toward the bedroom door, heaving a sigh full of impatience. “Ho-kay.”
    “Put a robe on, please. Your brother’s downstairs.”
    Shifting her weight to one tan and curvy flank, she clucked her tongue. “Duh. I was just about to.”
    I waited until she pulled a terrycloth robe from the hook inside her closet door before turning to Gabriella. Kneeling beside the low bed with its plastic purple curlicues, I gently shook my younger daughter’s shoulder. “Sweetheart? Time to get up,