Bidding War Read Online Free

looked up into his eyes, her bright blue eyes rimmed with red and filled to overflowing with tears. “She died never knowing how much I appreciated everything she did for me, for us. She sacrificed so much.”
    Pressing her head into his shoulder because he was too much of a coward to face the anguish in her eyes, he tried to find the right words. He imagined what it was like for her at eighteen, losing her mother, having to deal with her brother’s condition, facing it all alone. “Baby, I have no doubt your mom knew how you felt.” When she didn’t respond, he asked, “Did you have any family to help you through it?”
    Shaking her head, she stroked his back. “No, like I said, my dad wasn’t in the picture. My grandparents disowned my mom when she got pregnant with me at sixteen.”
    His family, both immediate and extended, had always been close. He couldn’t imagine what being totally alone in the world felt like. “No aunts, uncles, cousins?” he asked, praying she’d had someone, anyone, to lean on.
    “No, my mother was an only child.” She sighed. “You know what they say, if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger, right? I’m still not sure I believe that.”
    She’d focused on survival for so long. He couldn’t imagine the last time she’d taken joy in anything or anyone. He pulled back, framing her face with his hands. “How the hell did you survive after your mom died?”
    She reached for one of the napkins he’d brought in, wiping her tears. “We had a little house that I was able to sell, and I got a settlement from the accident.” She sighed. “I’ve set it aside for Tommy’s care. It should last another few years, as long as we don’t have any unforeseen expenses. I’m hoping by that time I’ll be earning enough to handle his expenses on my own.”
    “Where did you live after your mom died?”
    “I got a room in a boarding house not far from the college where I was taking night courses.” She smiled. “My landlady, Mrs. Roberts, was really sweet to me. She insisted I eat dinner with her every night, even though food wasn’t included in my rent. She said she was lonely since her husband died. They never had any children of their own.”
    He brushed his thumb over her cheek, saying a silent prayer of thanks for the kindness that stranger had shown Lacy.
    “She always did things like that, cooking more food than she needed so I could take it to work for lunch the next day. She’d bake big batches of muffins in the morning and she wouldn’t let me leave the house until I’d had one.” She dipped her head as though she was afraid to look him in the eye. “I didn’t like taking charity, but…”
    His heart broke for her. If only he’d known her back then, he would have moved Heaven and Earth to make her life easier. “Honey, everyone needs a little help now and then. Don’t be ashamed of that.”
    She smiled, her bottom lip trembling. “That’s what Mrs. Roberts used to say. She would tell me that she got more pleasure out of giving than receiving.” She looked down, twisting the used napkin in her hands. “She used to ask me to go to church with her on Sunday morning, when I wasn’t working. She said it might help me to come to terms with what happened to my family.”
    “Did it?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m still not sure I understand why it happened, or what I’m supposed to learn from it, but it is what it is, right?”
    Brushing her hair over her shoulder, he said, “One thing’s for certain: it’s made you the strong, independent woman you are today.” The woman he was falling deeper and deeper in love with.
    She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, it’s not like I had a choice.”
    Sensing she needed a little distance now that she’d shared what he hoped was the worst of her heart-wrenching story, he re-claimed his stool, sliding the pizza box toward her. “Eat something. You must be hungry still.”
    Looking at the slice of pizza