Saturday Morning by Lauraine Snelling Read Free Book Online

more than a year, right?”
    His lips twitched. “Eighteen months, actually.” He lined his utensils up so that all the ends made a straight line before looking across the table at her. “But I’ve learned that I’m ready to live again, and while Beverly will always be part of my life, I need to make a new life.” A smile started, gently curving his lips and then wandering up to his eyes, eyes that had borne the weight of grief and now sparked with remembered joy. “She’s in that perfect place.”
    Julia felt herself start to tear up and took a deep breath. “Yes, she is.”
    “I guess I forgot to tell you this—I’ve had a lot on my mind—but before she died she made me promise her something.”
    “What?” Julia couldn’t help but smile. His fingers had rearranged the utensils again, she was sure without his realizing it.
    “She made me promise that I would take you out to lunch first and then see.”
    “See what?”
    “What happens.”
    Feeling a chuckle bubbling up, Julia leaned back against the leather seat and stared at him. “Do you mean to say … ?” How odd that not fifteen minutes ago she’d wondered about deepening their relationship. And now … this.
    “I’m not saying any more right now, but you know we’ve been friends for a long time. Good friends.”
    “Yes, we have,” she agreed. Julia and Beverly had been friends for over twenty-five years, having met at church back when Julia had been struggling at being a single mother, going to law school, and trying to cope with a daughter like Donna, who’d been determined to follow in her mother’s footsteps. The rebellious footsteps, not the “go to school and make something of yourself” footsteps.
    Glen and Beverly had been her family when Donna got pregnant in her sophomore year. Like Julia, Donna had insisted on keeping her daughter instead of giving her up for adoption. Glen and Beverly had consoled her when Donna quit high school and decided to move to Minneapolis with a man she’d just met. While it didn’t seem possible that matters could get any worse at that point, they did. Donna took baby Cyndy with her.
    Darling little Cyndy, the light of her grandmother’s life and a hope for a brighter future. Cyndy was six when Donna put her on a plane and sent her back to Julia to deal with. Though she was only in first grade, Cyndy showed signs of having some serious problems. Julia did everything she knew how to do: she hired therapists, moved Cyndy into a private school, provided her with tutors, and gave her unconditional love. Nine years later, the day of Cyndy’s fifteenth birthday, the girl borrowed Julia’s ATM card, took five hundred dollarsfrom her checking account, and left the ATM card wrapped in a note saying that the house rules were too strict and that she was going home to her mother.
    “Have you heard from Cyndy?” Glen’s voice penetrated the bubble that had transported Julia into the past. “Where is she now?”
    Julia’s demeanor changed instantly; her smile turned into a frown. “Back in Minneapolis with Donna. I haven’t talked to her in a couple of weeks.” She mentally counted back. Maybe it had been longer than that. With her heavy caseload lately, the days had slipped away. “Perhaps that’s why she’s been on my mind and in my dreams lately.” Or else she’s in trouble . Julia changed the subject. “How are your kids?” She laughed. “Well, I know they’re not kids anymore, but … ”
    “But when do we quit calling them that?” He shook his head. “I don’t know. Both families are doing fine. I’ve become a well-behaved spectator grandpa.” One eyebrow arched. “At Joe’s insistence. He said I couldn’t attend the ball games if I didn’t lay off the umps.”
    “You’d think you would—”
    “Know better?” he interrupted.
    “Something like that.”
    “That’s the problem. I know the game too well. Never could abide lousy calls.” He took a bite of his salad. “Beverly