A Mom for Callie Read Online Free Page B

onto a woman you don’t even know. That is bitter. And unfair.”
    He opened his mouth to fight back then shut it without uttering a single word. Was Tom right? Was he really bitter?
    â€œMaybe if you’d just get out there again…find a nice woman instead of just an occasional one-nighter. I mean, c’mon, man, my life is a million times better with Ang in it.”
    â€œAng is different. She gets your passion for the job…she’s loyal, she’s grounded and she’s real.” And she was. He just needed someone softer. More vulnerable. Funny. Sweet. Pretty…
    Like the woman in the park.
    Betsy?
    He bolted upright in his seat.
    â€œSomething wrong?” Tom cast a glance in his direction, a strange look playing behind his eyes. “You look like you just got slapped upside the head.”
    Should he tell him? And if he did, what would he say? There really wasn’t anything to tell. Other than he’d struck up a conversation with a beautiful woman in the park that morning—a woman who seemed both vulnerable and strong all at the same time. A woman who made him laugh. And flirt. And think dirty thoughts.
    Until he’d been raised by dispatch and her whole demeanor had changed…
    Nah, there wasn’t anything to tell. The last thing he needed was to put his heart on the line again.
    To Tom, he just shook his head. “I’m okay. Just tired. Maybe a little cranky. That perp from the bank had a real mouth on him.” He raked his hand through his hair as he continued. “And did you see the way he looked right at the news camera when I carted him out to the car? Most perps shield their eyes, but this guy? He seemed to want the glare.”
    â€œHis one and only fifteen minutes of fame, I guess.”
    He groaned away his pent-up frustration. “What is it about fame that makes people take leave of their senses? Walk away from their own kid?” He turned and stared out the window.
    â€œNot everyone is like Lila, dude.”
    â€œWhatever,” he mumbled under his breath as his partner made the final turn onto Picket Lane. He knew he was being a downer but he couldn’t stop. How was it that a day could start so well, so full of promise, and then suddenly take a nosedive?
    â€œHey…do me a favor, will you?” Tom pulled the car to a stop across from the pale yellow one-story home where Kyle lived with his seven-year-old daughter. “Slap a muzzle on the bitterness long enough to be polite, will you? Do it for Ang if not yourself.”
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” Kyle’s gaze followed the path his partner’s index finger made in the direction of the vacant home next door to his own.
    â€œThe author. She’s looking at the Rileys’ place.”
    â€œAuthor?”
    â€œYeah. The one I just told you about, idiot.” Tom looked out the window once again, his finger finding his target. “Her.”
    Kyle stared out the window at Tom’s wife and the petite brunette with the hot little figure standing in front of the Rileys’ house.
    â€œBetsy?” he whispered.
    â€œYou know her?” Tom asked.
    â€œWell, sort of…a little, I guess. But her name’s Betsy Anderson…not Elizabeth Lynn whatever you said.”
    â€œAnderson.”
    â€œYeah. Ander…” He looked from the brunette to his partner and back again, reality dawning like a slap across the face. “Aw man, I sure can pick ’em, can’t I?”

Chapter Three
    â€œSo, do you like it? I mean really like it?” Angela took Betsy’s arm as they stepped off the small porch and headed down the front walkway. “It’s in really good shape and I can virtually guarantee Jack Riley will be a wonderful landlord.”
    â€œI love it. It’s perfect.” She did and it was. In fact, Betsy couldn’t have dreamed up a better hideaway if she tried. “That little sunroom off