The Sweetheart Bargain (A Sweetheart Sisters Novel) by Shirley Jump Read Free Book Online Page A

woman like that sure as hell didn’t figure into that dark timeline. Nor did a woman like her want a man who had made the mistakes he had.
    No woman would. And for that reason alone, he’d be smart to keep his distance.
    For a while, he’d thought maybe she was a renter. In one month, gone the next. In Florida, plenty of people came for a temporary stay, a break from winter’s cold. But there’d been a delivery truck from a local hardware store, and a pile of boxes on her curb on trash day, clear signs she was no temporary visitor. Couple that with her determination to rescue that stray, and she’d piqued his curiosity.
    Luke got to his feet, crossing to the percolating coffeepot. “Don’t try to fix me up, Grandma.”
    “Why? You’re single. She’s single. As well as beautiful. Employed. You should ask her on a date.”
    He whirled around so fast, he brushed one of the mugs on the counter and sent it spinning. He’d never even seen the mug there.
    The world had narrowed on him, like curtains closing. He had always been a man of action, but now, he’d become someone who couldn’t make a cup of coffee without bringing in help. He took a breath, clenched his fists, released them. Wallowing in self-pity only made the mud deeper and thicker.
    “I’m not in any condition to date anyone. What woman is going to want this?” His hand went to his face, and he cursed himself for letting that self-pity creep in again.
    The air in the kitchen stilled. The coffeepot perked away, one glub at a time. Outside, the faint sound of sirens rose and fell. Greta crossed to Luke and put a hand on his left cheek. Her soft fingers inched up, pausing by the scar that zigzagged down from his hairline. Such a small injury, but such big implications. “Oh, Luke, this doesn’t have to stop you from having a life, you know.”
    He turned away from her touch. “What kind of life do I have now?”
    “What happened changed the life you had , Luke. Not the one that’s ahead of you.”
    “I’m a pilot, Grandma. A pilot who can never fly a plane again. I’m half blind and all I can look forward to right now is more . . . nothing. Oh, I can collect my disability pay and maybe stand on the corner with a cup of pencils, but the life I had is gone.” He let out a low curse, then shook his head. So much for not wallowing.
    “You don’t have to be a pilot. You can—”
    “All I’ve ever wanted to do is fly. You know that.” His lifelong dream, jerked from him in a split second, one bad decision. “I’m done.”
    Greta sighed. “Life is about change, Luke. And part of that is what makes every day an adventure. And when life hands you lemons, you make limoncello.”
    He smiled. “Another bit of wisdom from your daddy?”
    “Of course. And a useful tip. How do you think I survived that move to the retirement home?”
    His gaze went to the open window, to a yard that no longer held crisp green grass and bright yellow flowers but had blurred into dark spheres and pyramids like a twisted geometry problem from God. His entire world cast in shadow.
    Some days, his vision cooperated and he could see the world through a gauzy film. Those were the good days, the ones when he thought maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. He’d find a way around it, maybe a way back to the Coast Guard. Other days—the dark days—his eyes refused to show him anything beyond shades of gray. At first, the bright days had filled him with hope for recovery, and then he’d begun to curse them as a cruel, temporary gift.
    His grandmother’s hand was on his shoulder again, but he barely felt it. Didn’t hear her words. His mind saw another darkness, one teeming and churning like an angry machine, the sea reaching up in whitecapped waves, a growling beast below him. The helo pitching and rolling in the storm, the flight controls shaking in his grip, and the white faces of the crew.
    Lowering the rescue litter, hearing Joe shouting through the headset that they were