A Little Light Magic Read Online Free

particular attention until he realized they were talking about him.
    “Come on, Mimi…” Leigh said to her grandmother.
    Nick could hear the exasperation in his mother’s reply. Rita enunciated each word slowly and clearly. “Leigh, forget it. Your father will never allow it. You know how he feels about Jason.”
    “He’ll let me go if you say it’s okay!”
    Nonna’s voice intruded, thin and pointed as a needle. “Where is Nicky? This chicken, it’s shriveled like a prune.”
    Leigh’s voice came again, wheedling. “But I have to go! I promised Jason I’d be there.”
    Jason again. Christ. Nick wished to God he’d never heard that kid’s name. He started for the kitchen with angry strides, his blood pressure rising with each step.
    Rita’s voice rose. “Leigh, give it up already. Your father will never agree—”
    He reached the doorway. “What won’t I agree to?”
    The conversation came to an abrupt halt as three pairs of eyes, belonging to three generations of Santangelo women, turned toward him.
    Nick’s right temple started to throb.
    “What won’t I agree to?” he repeated a little louder when no answer was forthcoming.
    “Nothing,” Leigh muttered. She grabbed a serving spoon and fork off the counter and turned to toss the salad.
    “Nicky. At last.” Nonna laid a hand on his arm. “ Grazie a Dio. I was about to call the cops.”
    “I’m not that late, Nonna.” He planted a kiss on his grandmother’s withered cheek and allowed her to tug him to the head of the table. There was no way he was getting away with a quick sandwich now. He’d start World War III if he tried to get back to the office before Nonna’s chicken was reduced to bones and gristle. And with Leigh’s newest drama, whatever it was… Damn. He’d be lucky to get back to the office by nine.
    Nonna forked chicken onto a serving plate while Rita pulled garlic bread from the oven. Nick, frowning, watched Leigh fling lettuce and tomatoes onto salad plates. If the waistband of his daughter’s shorts were rolled down any farther, he’d be seeing parts of her he hadn’t come face-to-face with since her diaper days. The thought made him slightly ill. Goddamn it all to hell. She hadn’t dressed like that before Jason .
    Leigh turned to place the salad on the table. Moodily, Nick watched her. A father didn’t like to notice such things, but he could hardly deny the fact that Leigh had inherited her mother’s bustline. Cindy’s breasts had fried Nick’s brain in high school, and he had no doubt that Leigh’s assets were destroying a similar number of brain cells in Jason MacAllister’s thick skull. If all this was God’s idea of a sick joke, Nick wasn’t laughing.
    He stared down at his salad. Christ. He wasn’t old enough for this. Damn it, he was only thirty-five. Other men his age were still changing diapers and coaching Little League. But Nick had been a horny, seventeen-year-old idiot when he’d gotten Cindy pregnant. Which was not a comforting thought, given Leigh’s horny, seventeen-year-old idiot boyfriend. Your father will never agree…. Nick didn’t know what Leigh’s latest plea involved, but he was dead certain he wasn’t going to like it.
    Nonna presented Nick with a plate. “This chicken shoulda been eat a half hour ago. Don’t blame me if it’s ruined.”
    “I’m sure it’s delicious, Nonna,” Nick said, forking meat onto his plate. “You couldn’t cook a bad meal if you tried.”
    A smile cracked Nonna’s face. “You’re a good boy, Nicky.” She sank into her chair and bowed her head while he muttered grace.
    “Amen.” He took a piece of garlic bread and offered the basket to his mother.
    Rita shook her head. “I’m on the Flat Belly diet. You know that, Nicky.”
    He eyed her enormous salad, sprinkled with sunflower seeds and topped with a naked chicken breast. “Don’t you think you’ve lost enough weight, Ma? How much is it, now?”
    “Thirty pounds. I’ve got another