Untethered by Julie Lawson Timmer Read Free Book Online Page A

a finger to her lips and turned away to inspect the remaining stacks of papers on Bradley’s desk. She was having a hard enough time holding herself together after what had happened in the past six days. She couldn’t possibly find the capacity to relive hurts that had occurred years ago. And this was hardly the time for Allie to have to add guilt to all of the other emotions she was feeling.
    â€œNo better time than now to let all of that water rush under the bridge, wouldn’t you say?”

Six

    W ill insisted on getting a cab to the airport. “Allie can’t come with us,” he told Char, when she offered to drive him. “She has to wait for Lindy. And if the woman doesn’t show, and you arrive back home to find she’s been sitting here, alone—”
    â€œEnough said.” Char kissed his cheek.
    He said good-bye to Allie in her room, and Char walked him out. “You’re the world’s best brother,” she told him as the cab pulled up.
    She held the front door open for him, and he pushed through, pulling his bag with one hand and balancing the two file boxes for Bradley’s office on the other arm. Will nodded to the cabbie and handed him his bag and the boxes to put into the trunk, then hugged Char tightly.
    â€œCall me anytime,” he said. “And remember, open invitation next month, when the kid goes to California for spring break. There’s a lumpy pullout in Clemson, South Carolina, with your name on it.”
    â€œAs inviting as that sounds,” Char said, “I think I’m going tospend the week playing an old role of mine. It’s one you might not remember: your sister as an independent woman. I’m going to start fishing for some new projects, see if I can make myself as busy as I used to be. I’m hoping to spend Allie’s break with a tall pile of manuscripts and a pot of tea—my two old best friends.”
    â€œSounds good,” he said, kissing her cheek and lowering himself into the car. “And you never stopped being independent. You just became a different kind of independent. A scaled-down version. You’ll be fine. You just need to, you know, find your . . . um . . . scales.”
    â€œWas that your version of a pep talk? Because if it was, I’m reconsidering the ‘world’s best brother’ comment.”
    Will laughed. “This is one of the many times when being your
only
brother is my saving grace.”
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    C har hadn’t even taken her boots off when the doorbell rang. It was Colleen and her daughter, Sydney, Allie’s best friend. The girls weren’t the only reason Colleen and Char had become close. There were many other mothers on the field hockey and soccer sidelines whom Char hadn’t bonded with. There was something special about Colleen, though. She had moved away for college, stayed away for a job, and returned to Mount Pleasant only after she was married.
    It had become clear to Char that people who moved back to town despite having many good options elsewhere seemed to have a different worldview than those for whom, for whatever reason, staying put was the only choice. Char had met some “townies” who openly seethed about Lindy’s so-called escape, as though herrejection of her husband and her hometown censured them, too. It put Char in the position of having to defend Lindy, which she didn’t always feel like doing.
    Colleen wasn’t personally offended by Lindy in the least. She sometimes made one comment too many about her, but mostly, she found the whole thing amusing—even Lindy’s habit of introducing herself to Colleen each time she came back to town, as though the two women hadn’t grown up two blocks apart and attended school together for fifteen years.
    â€œHi, sweetie,” Colleen said. She kissed Char on the cheek and bent to pick up three sympathy cards