Whisper Privileges by Dianne Venetta Read Free Book Online Page B

resist.”
    She smiled, uncomfortable but enjoying him at
the same time. “No problem...”
    “Your smile is nice.”
    The abrupt switch tripped her pulse. “Thank
you,” she replied, then dodged his gaze again. She encircled the
stem of her martini glass with her hands and stared at the orange
liquid. But rather than do the same, she could feel Clay staring at
her.
    “That shade of blue is pretty on you.”
    “Thank you again ...” she said,
stressing in her tone that they weren’t talking about her, but his
son. Struck by his ease with compliments, she turned to him.
Growing up, no one ever told her she was pretty. Not her mother,
not her father. They told her she was good at sports. As an adult,
the compliments came to her but she chalked them up to one thing:
men wanted sex. Men would say most anything to get sex.
    Allowing his gaze to linger, Clay shrugged
his shoulders. “What can I say—life with Q is complicated. Even at
twelve, he requires a lot of attention. While I love him to death,
it can be hard on me. He’s made a lot of progress, but we still
have frustrating days.”
    Frustrating ? Sydney couldn’t imagine
what his average day must be like when things were going well let alone on a bad day. She envisioned it would require
constant care—every minute, every hour. Could the boy ever be
alone? Could he feed himself? Bathe himself? Sure he wasn’t here
with him now, but only because his grandparents were caring for
him. It must require his time 24/7 to care for his boy.
    But with no personal experience, she felt at
a loss for something intelligent to say. It seemed like a sensitive
subject to her and she didn’t want to say anything stupid or
hurtful—though she found herself intrigued by the situation. “How
could a mother leave her child?” she asked, before common decency
had a chance to intervene.
    “Q wasn’t what she expected and she couldn’t
handle it.”
    “I’m sorry —” Her pulse thumped against
her ribcage. “That was rude of me. I didn’t mean to pry.”
    “You didn’t. I offered the information.”
    But seriously, she calmed the pound of her
heart with a deep breath, she couldn’t comprehend the mother
leaving just because her child had autism. Fathers left, sure. But
mothers? Sydney wanted to say something meaningful to demonstrate
that she understood, but she didn’t. Instead, she chose to sip from
her martini. If Clay wanted to continue, he could—but she wasn’t
about to push. Aware he was watching her, she mis-sipped causing
the alcohol to tingle across her lips.
    “That good, huh?”
    “What?” she asked, the tangy mango still wet
and heavy on her lips.
    He shook his head and emitted a half-chuckle.
“Nothing.” But his smile suggested otherwise as his gaze idled on
her mouth.
    Sydney rolled her lips together and avoided
his eyes—hot eyes, blazing eyes—eyes that were taking her in even
now as she tried to evade them.
    “We were young,” he continued, as though
nothing passed between them—but something had—Sydney was sure of
it! “She worked the beauty pageant circuit and didn’t know much
else. She had big expectations from life, from marriage... From
everything, really.” He shrugged again. “They didn’t pan out for
her.”
    The sentiment was stated so plain and casual,
Sydney couldn’t be sure if he was sad, mad, glad, or indifferent.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered. Weak, but it was all she had. Parents
left. It happened. Life wasn’t always fair. Ask her, she could tell
you. Though leaving a child with special needs seemed a heck of a
lot harsher than leaving a perfectly normal teenage girl.
    “It’s past tense,” he said. “But when she
left I realized I had to buckle down. My son needed me and there
were no other options. I was it. I wasn’t going to abandon my son.
Whatever happened, whatever the future was going to bring, he would
always have me.” Clay took a swallow from his drink and tossed
Sydney a smile. “It’s