Holding the Dream Read Online Free Page B

direction.
    â€œAre you just going to sit there all afternoon while the rest of us work?”
    Margo stretched luxuriously on her rock, her sexpot body draped in what, for Margo Sullivan Templeton, was casual wear of red leggings and a matching shirt. “We’re a little tired today,” she claimed and patted her flat belly.
    Kate snorted. “Ever since you found out you’re pregnant you’ve been finding excuses to sit on your butt.”
    Margo flashed a smile and tossed her long blond hair behind her shoulders. “Josh doesn’t want me to overdo.”
    â€œYou’re playing that one for all it’s worth,” Kate grumbled.
    â€œDamn right I am.” Delighted with life in general, Margo crossed her long, gorgeous legs. “He’s so sweet and attentive and thrilled. Jesus, Kate, we’ve made ourselves a baby.”
    Maybe the idea of two of her favorite people being blindly in love, starting their own family, did bring Kate a warm glow. But she was bound by tradition to snipe at Margo whenever possible. “At least you could look haggard, throw up every morning, faint now and again.”
    â€œI’ve never felt better in my life.” Because it was true, Margo rose and took the metal detector. “Even giving up smoking hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would. I neverimagined I wanted to be a mother. Now it’s all I can think about.”
    â€œYou’re going to be a fabulous mother,” Kate murmured. “Just fabulous.”
    â€œYes, I am.” Margo studied Laura, who was giggling and digging at a patch of scrubby earth with her two little girls. “I’ve got an awfully good role model right there. This past year’s been hell for her, but she’s never wavered.”
    â€œNeglect, adultery, divorce,” Kate said quietly, not wanting the fitful breeze to carry her words. “Not a lot of fun and games. The girls have helped keep her centered. And the shop.”
    â€œYeah. And speaking of the shop—” Margo turned the detector off, leaned on it. “If these past couple of weeks are any indication, we may have to hire some help. I’m not going to be able to give Pretenses ten and twelve hours a day after the baby comes.”
    Always thinking of budget, Kate frowned. The upscale secondhand boutique they had opened on Cannery Row was primarily Margo’s and Laura’s domain. But as the third partner in the fledgling enterprise, Kate crunched numbers for it when she could squeeze out the time.
    â€œYou’ve got over six months left. That hits holiday shopping time. We could think about hiring seasonal help then.”
    Sighing, Margo handed the metal detector back to Kate. “The business is doing better than any of us anticipated. Don’t you think it’s time to loosen up?”
    â€œNo.” Kate switched the machine back on. “We haven’t been open a full year yet. You start taking on outside help, you’ve got social security, withholding, unemployment.”
    â€œWell, yes, but—”
    â€œI can start helping out on Saturdays if necessary, and I’ve got my vacation time coming up.” Work, she thought again. Work and don’t think. “I can give Pretenses a couple of weeks full time.”
    â€œKate, a vacation means white-sand beaches, Europe, a sordid affair—not clerking in a shop.”
    Kate merely raised an eyebrow.
    â€œI forgot who I was talking to,” Margo muttered. “The original all-work-and-no-play girl.”
    â€œThat was always to balance you, the quintessential all-play girl. Anyway, I’m a one-third owner of Pretenses. I believe in protecting my investments.” She scowled at the ground, kicked it. “Hell, there’s not even a bottle cap to give us a little beep and thrill here.”
    â€œAre you feeling all right?” Margo’s eyes narrowed, looked closer. “You look a little