The Ugly Truth by Cheryel Hutton Read Free Book Online Page B

the highest peak.
    “Holy crap,” Maddie muttered.
    I nodded. My sentiments exactly.
    Only slowly did I realize the high pitched sound was gone, replaced by an almost unearthly quiet. Little by little the murmur of voices began to grow louder. I looked at Maddie, and she looked at me, wide-eyed and just a bit pale. She turned to speak to her mother and I found myself looking back over my shoulder. Jake looked right at me.
    His gaze met mine, and he mouthed, “Whoa.”
    I nodded, and he smiled. My heart leaped, and other parts of my body warmed and softened. The man was just too freaking good looking for my own good.
    Then he looked away, and I turned back to the front. Music was again filling the air, and I leaned back and tried to relax. I noticed, though, I wasn’t the only one who kept glancing upward. Apparently, a UFO wasn’t usual even in Ugly Creek.
    Thank goodness.

Chapter 5
    “Why don’t you come with me? It’ll be fun, I promise.”
    “To a cheerleader brunch? Are you serious?”
    Madison sighed. “Are you going to hold this cheerleader thing against me for the rest of my life?”
    “Of course. What kind of friend do you think I am?” I shoved a bite of bagel into my mouth, and ignored the cute doggie eyes and the sweet pouty lip she was giving me.
    “Well fine, if you want to walk around town in nine thousand degree heat, it’s not my concern.”
    I shrugged. “The stores have air conditioning.”
    She narrowed her perfectly lined, shadowed and mascaraed eyes. “You’re going shopping without me. That’s the plan. You rat.”
    I shrugged. “This way, I don’t have to sit through a cheerleader brunch, and you don’t have to slug through thrift stores and flea markets.”
    She leaned her head to one side and chewed a shiny coral lip in thought. “Okay. I give. I’ll meet you at The Café for lunch.”
    “Lunch? Aren’t you going to a brunch?”
    “Yeah, so?”
    “Isn’t brunch supposed to take the place of both breakfast and lunch?”
    She rolled her eyes. “It’s a bunch of ex-cheerleaders. They’ll be nothing on that table but celery, grapes, and bottled water.”
    Ah, so Maddie’s astonishing metabolism strikes again. “Fine with me. Which café?”
    “ The Café, that’s the name.”
    “Why am I not surprised?”
    Maddie chuckled. “Because you’re from Crooked Tree Hollow.”
    I shuddered. “Please don’t say that name. Rumor has it if you say it three times, you’ll be whisked away to Main Street, in front of the county courthouse.”
    A gentle hand touched my arm. “Steph, I know you don’t like to talk about your past, but if you hold all that pain and anger inside it’s just going to fester.”
    I glared at her. “What do you know about it? You with your perfect cheerleader life.”
    She didn’t even blink. “I know you’re in a lot of pain, and I wish you’d let somebody in. You can’t handle everything by yourself, Stephanova, no matter what you think.”
    She turned toward the counter and poured herself a second cup of coffee.
    Did she really have to bring up my hometown? Did she have to remind me of all those awful memories, of the hell I’d grown up in? I wanted to lash out at her, to scream, to tell her she had no business telling me I needed to talk about things I seriously just wanted to forget?
    Except I’d said similar to her. And I was afraid, very afraid, she might just be right. I really needed to change the subject.
    “So, your mom must get up at the crack of dawn.” Though we’d crawled out of bed fairly early, she’d already left for work.
    Maddie nodded. “She’s very devoted to her job. She’s been the secretary for Mantuck, Conner, and Holmes for so long they couldn’t get by without her. The lawyers think they’re in charge, but she’s the one who actually runs the place.”
    I smiled with vicarious pride, but that didn’t stop a trickle of envy from moving down my spine. What would it be like to be proud of a mother you