Disgruntled Read Online Free Page B

about her parent’s neighborhood. All her
high school friends had been pretty welcome to come and
go as they pleased, along with most of the neighbors. There
was always something going on in someone’s yard, and it
was assumed that the neighbors were always welcome. A
peeping tom or stalker wouldn’t stand a chance in their
crowd. Of course, there were downsides too -- like people
always in your business. Something that had encouraged her
to
get
away.
Plus
whenever
weekend
barbecues
rolled
around, people cooked twice as much food as needed so
then even more were asked along. There was little room for
dieters. These were more like block parties than backyard
barbecues. “Hey, you and Eric want to come with me to the
dinner?”
She put a hand to her mouth as if to draw back the words. It
was a completely involuntary move, asking like that. Still, it
came out as naturally as asking Maria would have. Odd.
“Nice of you to ask but no, thanks. It’s a family thing. We
shouldn’t intrude.”
She
laughed.
“You
don’t
know
my
family.
We
love
intrusions. Besides, this is more like a neighborhood thing.
There will be a crowd there and definitely lots of kids Eric’s
age. It won’t be awkward if that’s what you’re worried about.
No one will make any sort of assumptions about us.” At
least, I hope not.
He met her gaze. “I wasn’t worried.”
Eric ran up to grab his hand. “Can we go, Dad? Please?”
The child really had the puppy-dog eye thing perfected. Reva
could see it wasn’t lost on the man either, which warmed her
heart.
The
wind
blew
a
waft
of
lemon-lime
fragrance
between them.
The exchanged look between the two was
almost comical, a Dad wanting to please his child but caught
in an awkward situation. The boy’s facial expression tugged
an involuntary laugh from Todd and Reva both.
“Don’t
you
think
it’s
impolite
to
invite
ourselves
to
someone’s family get-together?” Todd placed his hands on
hips and fake-frowned.
“If you had invited yourself, that would be the case—but
you didn’t,” Reva corrected. “I wouldn’t have asked if I
thought it an issue. I’m not that nice.” She grinned.
“Could have fooled me,” Todd said, “but I can see I’m
severely outnumbered on this, so we’ll go. You’re sure it
won’t be a problem?” He closed the distance between them,
hands in pockets.
“Not one bit.” Reva nodded and gave a conspiratorial wink
to Eric.
“Hey! It would be nice if someone didn’t fall for his game. I
hate to see what will happen when he’s a teenager. At least
let me have a little bit of control over this situation, please.
What time should I pick you up?” He leaned toward her and
lowered a teasing brow in mock admonishment.
Reva
stared
at
six
feet
plus
of
solid
strength
and
testosterone. The likelihood anyone would be able to push
Todd to do something against his will was non-existent. He
was a softie with the kid, an appealing trait in her eyes, but
he
wasn’t
a
pansy.
The
jovial
attempt
at
intimidation
encouraged a laugh from her and as she let it go, another
strange feeling crept in behind it—warmth that wasn’t suninduced. Although every inclination was to step into the
man, she took a deep breath and backed up. She rattled off a
time and escaped to the comfort of her house.
4 CHAPTER FOUR
    It wasn’t often that Reva’s family showed surprise. When
Maria brought home the short-term boyfriend who spent
evenings and weekends in a theatre troupe, they’d barely
given him a glance in his made-up white face and red lips
straight from a performance. Reactions were a bit more
noticeable when Tim was babysitting his neighbor’s toy
poodle and carried it to the house decked out in its own
shoes and silk bows. He stuffed the tiny dog in his shirt
pocket and calmly took the few jibes he received later in the
evening. His only response – “Cute girl, cute dog.” Ben, the
eldest, made sure his kids fed it lots of jelly beans which left
a trail of colorful stains on