Dream Lover. Stacey Keith

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СКАЧАТЬ said. “I found him in the cellar. Told him you wanted to talk to him.”

      Ryan had his cop face on. She’d seen it before: Alert. Determined. Accept no bullshit.

      But Matthew just seemed hugely annoyed. He yanked his shoulder out of Ryan’s grasp and glared up at him. “Fuck school. I’m not going.”

      “It’s the law, Matthew,” April told him, wishing they didn’t have to start out like this. “The state of Texas says—”

      “I don’t give a shit about the state of Texas,” Matthew said. “When I turn sixteen, I’m taking the GED, so get your goddamn foot off my balls.”

      Brandon gazed fondly at his brother. He actually smiled.

      April stared at him in shock. Did he think this was funny? She hadn’t known Matthew thirty seconds and she was ready to scream. You’ve got to be kidding me. She couldn’t believe Brandon took pride in his brother’s smartass mouth.

      “You heard him,” Brandon said, his gaze flicking over her before he marched back into the garage. “Now take your mall cop and go.”

      Chapter 2

      Overloaded with plants and groceries, April staggered into her kitchen and heaved everything onto the counter. Her legs just wouldn’t hold her anymore. She felt dizzy and confused and in way over her head.

      The house, a turn-of-the-century white clapboard belonging to her grandmother and then to her sister Cassidy, was littered with drop cloths and paint cans. The half-finished wall in her kitchen showed a coat of cheerful yellow paint.

      Right now, though, her mood was anything but cheerful. After meeting Brandon McBride and going through the whole awful business of her home visit with his younger brother, there was nothing to be happy about.

      She went to the refrigerator, poured herself a glass of sun tea and then settled outside on the front porch swing. A soft breeze rustled the leaves of twin sycamores that grew in her yard. Instead of soothing her, the sound made her even more restless and gloomy. Her neighbor, Mrs. Felps, waved to her from across the street and April waved back, pretending everything was okay.

      Pretending that she hadn’t just called into work with a headache so she could try to pull herself together.

      She was a failure. Shame twisted her stomach in knots. She’d failed to establish trust with her client Matthew, and she’d failed to protect herself from whatever had just happened with his brother. Her glass was sweating and it almost slid out of her hand. She took a hasty swallow and then set it down on a side table.

      All she’d thought about on the way back from that disastrous home visit was the searing heat in Brandon’s eyes, the sensation of falling she’d had when he stood in front of her.

      If she weren’t such a failure, she’d be thinking of ways to get Matthew back in school. It was her job as a caseworker to serve and protect. Instead, her body wasn’t even hers anymore. Her stomach couldn’t find gravity. She was burning up inside. Her blood had shunted to areas of her body that she’d always kept in cold storage.

      There were reasons—sound, practical reasons—she didn’t allow herself to feel things. She knew better. She knew where those kinds of feelings led—despair, unintended pregnancies and ruined lives. Every case file on her desk held dark reminders of why you couldn’t let yourself go there. Failure or not, she wasn’t about to do that. Not now. Not for some muscle-bound motorcycle-riding bad boy who wasn’t even her type.

      If she had one. Which she totally didn’t.

      Grabbing her glass, she went back into the house, determined to shake this thing off, whatever it was. A flat of summer petunias sat on her kitchen counter, ready for planting. They were an impulse purchase from Strom Mart, six for five dollars. April never could resist a bargain.

      Finding a place for them might lift her spirits. She stood on the back steps and surveyed the yard. After six months, Cassidy’s old ten-speed still leaned against the garden shed. A marble bird bath April had found at a yard sale and dragged home in the back of her Jetta stood in the center of the yard. The thing weighed a ton, but she’d managed to get it here by herself. It proved that she didn’t need a man around the house. For anything.

      She found a bag of potting soil and a terracotta pot and then sat on the back steps to replant the petunias. She gently loosened the white veiny roots, snugged them into a hole she dug with her bare fingers and then packed loose soil around the root ball.

      Everyone said she was good at her job. She helped, changed lives, made a difference. So why did she feel as though her life were spinning out of control?

      A car pulled up the driveway. It was Jacey Mulkowski, her best friend since third grade and probably the only person who could put a smile on her face right now.

      April stood, wiping dirt from her hands and squinting into the late afternoon sun.

      Jacey was a self-described high-functioning deafie. Cochlear implants had restored around fifty percent of her hearing. For the rest she used a combination of American Sign Language and lip reading. Still, April waited until Jacey was in front of her before asking, “What are you doing here?”

      Jacey wore a wrap dress that looked suspiciously fancy for a drive by. Her black hair was pulled into a sleek sophisticated ponytail that brought out her exotic amber eyes and model-worthy cheekbones. When she crossed her arms, a pink pom-pom swung from her keychain. “April, I swear to God if you’re bailing on this thing, I’m going to kill you.”

      “What thing?” April racked her brain trying to remember. Whatever it was, Jacey obviously wasn’t going to let her weasel out of it. Like most shy people, April tended to commit to social engagements she never wanted to go to.

      “My sister’s bachelorette party?” Jacey said. “At the Double Aces? Is any of this ringing a bell?”

      April slapped one hand over her mouth. “I remembered last week when I went shopping. Does that count? I bought Tessa a whole bunch of cool stuff. I even wrapped it.”

      Jacey did the open b-handshape, flipped out under her chin like a boat rudder. It meant “So what?” Jacey had taught her a lot of sign language over the years. They used to sign to each other in class.

      “I don’t care that you bought stuff,” Jacey said, marching her into the house. “You’re going and that’s final.”

      In the kitchen, April wheeled around and said, “I’ve had a really bad day and—”

      “Don’t care. Get in the shower while I find something indecent for you to wear.”

      April trudged into the bathroom and made a face at Jacey before closing the door. She shed her work clothes and stuffed them inside the hamper. Dread made her limbs feel leaden. She didn’t want to go to Tessa’s bachelorette party. She wanted to stay home and brood.

      After her shower, April stood dutifully in front of Jacey, bathrobe belted and hair wrapped in a towel.

      “I can’t decide between the denim miniskirt and the sundress,” Jacey said, holding one and then the other against April.

      “Do I get a vote?” April asked. Maybe clown shoes and a barrel with straps?

      “Absolutely СКАЧАТЬ