Lucky Charm Read Online Free Page A

about me spending money, I can afford these. I promise.” Derek wasn’t broke.
    He’d just lost a lot in the stock market and had given up most of his assets in the divorce, wanting to spare his daughter the pain of more fighting.
    If he’d split his money with his ex, he might never have given the curse a second thought. But he’d willingly given her more than she deserved because he felt responsible for things not working out. Then he’d invested a chunk of his money in a company that was supposed to be a sure thing. Instead, he’d lost nearly everything, depleted the bulk of his assets and decided then and there that the curse was in full force. Even if he hadn’t married Holly’s mother for love.
    He’d married Marlene for the little blond reason standing in front of him now. He’d gotten his ex-wife pregnant their second year in college. Like father, like son, Hank had told him, lecturing him over not learning from the past. His father had a point. He’d been careless. But Derek thought it would go differently. His father had been desperately in love with Derek’s mother. Derek didn’t feel that way about Marlene.
    It hadn’t mattered. Marlene didn’t believe in abortion, not that he’d have asked it of her. So Derek had stepped up and done the right thing. His father had tried to do the same thing with Vivian, Derek’s mother, but her family had intervened. They’d sent her to a home for unwed mothers, intending to make her give the baby up for adoption. Hank and his brothers had confronted them, paid them a hefty amount of money and taken Derek home. Vivian’s family moved away and to this day, Derek’s mother refused to acknowledge him as her son.
    He could never do that to his child. So he’d married Marlene. It made sense, he’d thought at the time. They had fun together and he cared for her. Once he realized she carried his child, he came to see logic in their union. In Marlene, he saw a way to circumvent the curse. They could share a life, a family and a future without risk, because he wasn’t head over heels in love with her.
    Their disaster of a marriage and wrenching divorce had proved Derek wrong. It seemed that just being a male Corwin was enough to set the curse in motion.
    â€œDad?” Holly tugged on his arm.
    â€œSorry, I was thinking about something.” He cleared his throat. “Why don’t you go find where they have these set up?”
    She nodded and began to dart through the short stations and finally waved to him. “Found them!”
    â€œComing!” His life was different these days, he mused, watching his daughter practically hop up and down in excitement, waiting for him to join her.
    He had less money but more time on his hands, which worked well since Holly would be staying with him for the summer.
    He kept enough in savings to feel comfortable, but like the other men in his family, he now stopped short of building up wealth that could easily be lost. Life seemed simpler that way even if he did miss the adrenaline rush of taking risks and watching them pay off.
    â€œLook for a package that says queen size,” he told Holly. “And then the pillow cases will probably say king or regular. We want regular.”
    â€œI can’t believe you’re getting me these. I really can’t,” she said as she knelt down and began sorting through the sealed sheet sets.
    A sharp pain sliced through his chest. “Hey, Holly? Why wouldn’t I want to buy these for you?”
    She glanced up at him. “Promise you won’t be mad?”
    He nodded. He couldn’t remember ever being truly angry at her. Then again, he’d worked so many hours a week, he hadn’t been home enough to get mad about anything. And during the past two years, he hadn’t had Holly for more than a short weekend or two, if he was lucky. He’d threatened to fight his ex over