Sisters Found. Joan Johnston

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ

      RABB WHITELAW HAD FALLEN IN love with Amanda Carter long before his brother had come along and gotten engaged to her. Rabb had first noticed Amanda when they were both in the ninth grade. All through high school he’d admired her from afar, because he’d never felt like he was anyone she’d be interested in. Amanda was smart; he hadn’t done well in school. And Amanda was tall. He hadn’t caught up to her in height until he was a senior.

      The long and the short of it was, he’d never been able to work up enough courage to ask her out. He’d figured she’d want to talk about Shakespeare and Molière and Faulkner and Hemingway, and reading was difficult—make that excruciating—for him, because he was dyslexic. She’d dated lots of different boys, but he’d always been grateful that she’d never settled on any one in particular.

      When Amanda had pursued her teaching degree at the local university, Rabb had been in agony worrying that she would fall in love with someone else. But she’d finished her education unattached and gotten a job teaching English at the local high school.

      During the years Amanda had been in college, Rabb had found his niche working with his hands. He’d started small, making kitchen cupboards for his mom and then graduated to a bedroom suite for his sister Jewel and her husband Mac. Most recently he’d made a baby crib for his brother Avery and his wife Karen.

      He took pride in his work, and now made a very comfortable living creating unique pieces of wood furniture that were in demand across the country. About the time professional success had given him the self-confidence he needed to pursue a relationship with Amanda, her mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and Amanda had become her mother’s nurse.

      He’d asked her out anyway. She’d gone to the movies with him once, leaving her mother home alone, because at the time Mrs. Carter’s disease wasn’t very far advanced. But Amanda had come home to find her mother distraught and confused about where she was. Amanda had been so upset that she’d hurried inside. Rabb hadn’t even gotten to kiss her good-night.

      He’d asked her out a number of times after that, even offered to come over to her house with some popcorn and a rented video, but Amanda always refused.

      But he hadn’t stopped loving her. He’d figured that at some point Amanda would put her mother in a home where she could get round-the-clock care. But Amanda had never sent her mom away. She’d hired a nurse for the days when she was teaching high school. And spent her evenings at home.

      Mrs. Carter had survived a long time. She’d died only three years ago. And Jake had swooped in at a vulnerable moment shortly after the funeral and asked Amanda to marry him.

      She’d said yes.

      Rabb had felt like punching his brother’s lights out. Instead, he’d swallowed his anger and wished both of them well. He’d been miserable, wondering how soon he would have to sit in church and watch the brother he idolized marry the woman he loved.

      But they’d never set a wedding date, and Rabb had begun to hope it would never happen.

      Two years ago, he’d volunteered to build a gazebo for a charity raffle, and amazingly, Amanda had purchased the winning ticket. He’d spent far longer working on the gazebo he’d built in her backyard than was necessary. But it had given him the opportunity to get reacquainted with her.

      He would never forget the hot summer day she’d come out back with a tray of lemonade and oatmeal-raisin cookies. She’d been wearing one of those summer dresses held up with a couple of skinny straps over the shoulders and sandals that showed off toenails she’d painted pink. Her brown hair was cut in a short bob that made her look more like a teenager than the nearly thirty-year-old woman he knew she was.

      “Thought you could use something cold to drink,” she’d said, setting the tray on the unpainted steps of the gazebo.

      He’d started to reach for his shirt, but she’d said, “You don’t have to cover up for me. I’ve lost my modesty where the human body is concerned.”

      It was a strange thing to say, but he knew that, at the end, she’d taken care of the most intimate duties for her mother. He sat down beside her on the steps, took the glass of lemonade she handed him and drank most of it down. When he lowered the glass, he caught her staring at him.

      She blushed and said, “I’m sorry. It’s just that…you look so…healthy.”

      “My job keeps me in shape,” he said matter-of-factly.

      To his amazement, she reached out a hand and traced the corded muscles from his shoulder, down across his biceps, all the way to his forearm. She seemed totally absorbed in what she was doing, unaware of the response it was eliciting in him.

      He waited, keeping himself totally still, wondering when she would realize what she was doing, not wanting her to stop. When she traced a small scar at his wrist, his hand reflexively clenched into a fist.

      “Oh,” she said, looking up at him with startled eyes. “I’m sorry.”

      He caught her hand before she could flee. “No problem. I liked you touching me.”

      “You did?”

      “It felt good.”

      “Oh,” she said. “I wondered if…I mean as an experiment I wondered if you’d mind if I…”

      “What?”

      “I’m just curious, you understand.”

      “About what?” he asked, his voice harsh with unexpected desire.

      “Nothing,” she said, rising abruptly.

      He still had hold of her hand and rose with her. “About what?” he persisted.

      She looked almost frightened as she gazed into his eyes. “I wondered…” She laid a hand around his nape, drew his head down and kissed him. Her lips were soft and gentle, and he was so surprised that he didn’t respond, although the kiss was electrifying.

      She broke the kiss abruptly and stepped back, her blue eyes stark. “Excuse me. I have some papers to grade.”

      He’d wanted to hold on to her, and if she’d been engaged to anyone but his brother, he would have. But when she ran, he let her go.

      Rabb had never mentioned the kiss. And neither had Amanda.

      She’d brought him lemonade and cookies several more times over the summer as he built her gazebo. She even stayed to talk about her work and the books she was reading. She’d made sure their conversations stayed on a friendly footing. But she’d been careful never to touch him again.

      Rabb had felt frustrated that he couldn’t tell her how much he admired her. How much he loved her. But she was engaged to his eldest brother.

      It seemed odd to him that Jake never seemed to come around much. He’d watched the engaged couple together and realized something shocking. His brother didn’t seem to have an intimate relationship with Amanda. Rabb was grateful, but frustrated. Especially since Jake kept throwing him together with Amanda. Whenever Jake couldn’t escort his fiancée to some event, he would deputize Rabb to take his place. And since Rabb was grateful for every moment he could spend with Amanda, he was happy to oblige.

СКАЧАТЬ