Marry Me Read Online Free

chuckle.
    At the sound, Eric turned his head. “You look tired. Beautiful, but anxious,” he was quick to add.
    â€œYou’re so diplomatic,” Julia said, a grin pulling up the corner of her mouth. “I feel like I spent a week in the car with two bratty kids.”
    Eric’s voice remained gentle, as if he didn’t want to spook her. “Why so anxious?”
    â€œBeing here. It’s hard.”
    â€œWhy?” Again, he was extremely gentle.
    â€œI don’t know. Lots of ghosts.”
    â€œWhat kind of ghosts?”
    â€œThe ghost of stepmothers past,” she said, scowling at him. “I can see why you set out to help troubled kids. You’re pretty good at getting people to spill their guts without them realizing it.”
    He chuckled. “Guilty. I only got the briefest of sketches about your history from Sarah. I can imagine it is unsettling being back in a place where you spent some pretty turbulent years.”
    â€œThe years here were fairly calm. All the other years surrounding them were turbulent.”
    â€œYes, but your emotions weren’t as engaged as they were here, with this family. With Grace and Sarah.”
    Julia folded her arms over her chest. “Nice trick, reading people’s minds. Do you see dead people, too?”
    He laughed again. “No, I’m just observant.”
    Eric’s eyes crinkled up when he laughed. Julia liked him . She was coming to realize Sarah had done well for herself in the husband department, even if he was a terrible financial planner. In fact, she thought Eric was much too good for Sarah, the evil little manipulator.
    â€œI can tell you care about Grace and Sarah,” he said. “Maybe more than you want to, or think you should, but it’s there.”
    Julia looked out the window at the passing trees again. “The first time I met Grace, I remember thinking she was what a mother was supposed to be like. She even smelled like a mother. I spent the whole time here loving her, and hating her.”
    â€œWhat did you love?”
    â€œI loved that she gave me chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven,” Julia said, with a smile. “I loved that she sang while she cooked. I loved that she asked me about my day and actually listened when I told her, and she never let a day go by without giving me a hug, even though I never responded.”
    â€œAnd the hate part?”
    â€œI hated her because she wasn’t my mother, and because by then, I already knew how the story would end. I knew my father would end up leaving her, and then I would lose her, too.”
    â€œIs he why you never came back?”
    She nodded. “Because they’re not mine.”
    Yes, she was whining, but she couldn’t help it.
    Eric’s tone got sharper. “I’ve got news for you, Julia. They most certainly are yours. You may not be related by blood or have been in the same room with them in fifteen years, but you share a connection with them. The sooner you accept it, and embrace it, the happier you’ll be.”
    There was nothing she could say, so they drove the rest of the way in silence. Once at the park, Julia quickly put distance between Eric and herself. Sure, she might have decided she liked him, but he’d come unbearably close to hitting the truth, and she had no desire to deal with more self-awareness on no sleep.
    The park was indeed crowded. There were kids all over the place, as well as adult volunteers, and from the looks of it, a good number of observers. The kids spotted Eric right away, and they swarmed around him like ants to a drop of honey, until they saw Julia. The younger ones looked at her with suspicion, while the older ones took on all the finer characteristics of your average construction workers. The whistles, ‘yeah baby’s’, and outright leers were nothing Julia hadn’t seen or heard since she’d started wearing a bra in the fourth