I Wish... Read Online Free

needed, but his hands were smooth enough that I figured he probably never had. His springy chestnut curls were striking against his deeply tanned skin and his dark eyes were surrounded by laugh lines.

    The man nodded at Shep in that baffling way that men have that's really more like pointing their chins at each other. I'm pretty sure I didn't roll my eyes when Shep nodded back, but I wouldn't have been surprised if they started pounding their chests and circling each other.

    Once the man-greetings were finished, the man gave the rest of us his attention. "Ramona. Good to see you home again."

    "Jack. Hello, dear. I hope Marla has been treating you well." Marla glared at her mother. I could have told her that her efforts were wasted, Ramona couldn’t be intimidated, but I didn't think she would have appreciated my input very much.

    His laughter surprised me a little at first. I wasn't used to hearing people laugh so easily. Especially not when Ramona was around. She always seemed to make people tense up even when she wasn't in a foul mood.

    "Marla is the best wife a man can ask for. I'm lucky she'll have me." It seemed to me like maybe he was stretching the truth a bit since I didn't get the impression that she much cared for him.

    He smiled at my mom, but it was distinctly cooler. "Vanna, you look good."

    "You too, Jack." Her voice was toneless. It mortified me sometimes to watch her interact with people. I hope he didn't take it personally.

    "And you must be Jane."

    I was so busy trying to look everywhere but his direction due to my embarrassment of my mother’s inability to fake normalacy, that I didn't even realize he was talking to me. But then Ramona chuckled in a "Isn't it adorable how stupid kids are?" kind of way and I realized that he was staring at me intensely. It was practically like he was trying to drink in every detail about me.

    I did a quick mental inventory of my appearance that day. I was wearing my long hair loose and I knew it was probably a mess by now. I would have run a comb through it, but I totally forgot in my excitement. My outfit wasn't very fashion forward, an adorable pair of maroon sneakers with cream accents, a t shirt screen printed with a panda I drew myself (one of a series of shirts I had printed at my own expense), and a pair of jeans with the knees torn out. I remembered that I had doodled on one of my knees with a marker earlier. Sure enough, although standing with my hands shoved in my back pockets and my leg bent may have made me look like a girl who doesn't care what you think, choosing the leg with the inked unicorn to thrust defiantly definitely crushed any credibility I might have had otherwise.

    By now everyone was looking expectantly at me. Oh yeah, social etiquette probably required some sort of response. I wasn't sure what to say in response to this potential revelation of my birth name. I decided noncommittal grunting would be the safest course of action.

    "Yes, this is Jane. She's grown up a little since you've seen her last." Ramona wrapped her arm around me in what had to be the least affectionate hug to have ever been inflicted on a person and muttered for my ears only, "Grown up very little."

    I knew better than to argue, but I would have loved to know what the appropriate response is supposed to be when some creeper checks you out and calls you by a name you don't recognize.

    Ramona released me from her icebox grip and started across the lawn to the porch. "Where are the girls?"

    "Darcy is in the house and Krista went to a cheerleading workshop for the weekend. She won't be home until tonight." Marla slipped away from Jack's hold and stood in front of the screen door, almost like she was guarding it.

    "I'm going to re-introduce Jane to Mother. Send Darcy up to say hello." Ramona looked like she might actually run Marla over, but Marla yielded at the last moment. Ramona let herself into the house, calling for me over her shoulder.

    Jane. I followed her