Relative Happiness Read Online Free

top, to press into an ink pad?”
    He nodded.
    â€œAll I ever wanted to do was to use that pencil.”
    He gave her a grin.
    She laughed. “But guess what? Now you swipe a card on the computer. We hardly use it at all.”
    â€œWhat a horrible shame.”
    She could tell he was trying to keep a straight face. “Hey you. Stop it.”
    â€œI came home after I graduated and moved in here.” She gestured around the kitchen with her free hand. “I work at—you guessed it—the library. Not a great place to meet guys, unless you happen to like ten-year-olds. I go to drama a few nights a week and do arts and crafts to keep from going insane during long winter evenings. There. Does that sound pathetic enough for you? Are you asleep yet?”
    He crossed his arms and leaned on the table top. “Of course not. You’ve managed something I haven’t. You have a home and a steady job and you take care of yourself.” He looked toward the dark window above the sink. “I roam. Endlessly, according for my father. I’m not sure what I want, or where I should go.”
    â€œI imagine working with refugees is exhausting. How long were you there?”
    He looked back and sighed, “Two years.”
    â€œOh, Adrian. You’re just burnt out. That’s understandable.”
    He slumped in his chair. He looked done in. She suddenly noticed the dark shadows under his eyes, and the almost gaunt hollows below his cheekbones.
    â€œWhy don’t you stay here?” It came right out of the blue. She didn’t even know she was going to say it.
    He shook his head and gave her a small smile. “Oh, no thanks, Lexie. You’ve been so kind already. I don’t want to wear out my welcome.”
    â€œLook, I have an extra bedroom upstairs. It’s not much to look at, but it’s clean, or will be, once I drag a couple of garbage bags of art supplies out of there. And quite frankly I could use the rent. I’m always gasping for money. Stay for a week, stay for a month, however long it takes to sort yourself out. At least until the snow melts.”
    She looked into his beautiful sad eyes, and thought she saw tears well up for a moment.
    Then he said quietly. “You’re brilliant. Thank you.”

Chapter Two
    They certainly made an odd couple—Lexie as round as an apple, Adrian a long drink of water. No one knew what to make of it. Lexie’s mother was flabbergasted. Lexie stopped in to see if she had a couple of extra pillows she could borrow for Adrian. Her mother, in a pair of linen slacks and a cashmere top, was housecleaning. The only concession she made to domesticity was a silk scarf wrapped around her newly done hair.
    She threw her sponge mop into a bucket of hot, soapy water. “You invited a man to live with you four hours after you met? How positively horrifying.”
    Lexie rolled her eyes.
    â€œIs he single?”
    â€œObviously.”
    â€œPlease tell me he’s not over forty, because if he is, he’s a mama’s boy and you’ll have a hard time getting rid of him. Unmarried men are very needy at that age.”
    â€œWhere do you come up with this stuff?”
    â€œIt’s a proven fact.”
    Lexie sighed. “Well, he’s twenty-six if you must know.”
    Her mother peeled off her rubber gloves. “Oh. Well, don’t get your hopes up dearest. He’s much too young for you. I don’t understand why you don’t join a dating service. They screen potential nut cases and God knows what else. It’s safer.”
    Lexie kept her mouth shut and waited because she knew the lecture wasn’t over.
    Her mom picked up a mister and started to spray her plants. “Lord knows, I want you to get married, but not to the first vagabond who roams into town.” She shook her head and pumped away. Lexie followed her around because she wouldn’t stay still.
    â€œI didn’t say I’d