Small Change Read Online Free Page B

other side. She lay flopped on the bed, facedown, iPod plugged in.
    â€œKnock, knock,” called Rachel.
    â€œI don't want to talk.”
    Actually, Rachel didn't either. She wanted to fill the tub with bubbles and stay there for a million years. But first, she was going to talk and hope her daughter listened. “Just for a minute, ’kay? I have something to show you.” Claire reluctantly rolled over onto her sideand Rachel sat down next to her. “I know you don't want braces and I don't blame you, but it's better to get them done now. Then you won't have to wear them in high school.” At least she hoped not. Please, God, let that be true.
    Claire's face crumpled and she began to cry. “I'm so ugly.”
    Rachel took her daughter into her arms. “No, really, you're not. You are going to be so beautiful it's not even funny.”
    â€œNo, I'm not,” Claire sobbed.
    â€œYes, you are. And the really good news is, you're already beautiful on the inside, and that's the hardest kind of beauty to find.”
    â€œYou have to say that. You're my mom.”
    â€œYou think so? Look.” Rachel began to lay the pictures of supermodels she'd printed from the Internet out on the bed. There was Gisele Bündchen, Julia Polacsek, Lieke Smets, and Erin O'Connor, who looked like a grownup version of Claire. They all appeared glamorous, exotic, and unique. “Do you know who these women are?”
    â€œNo,” Claire said grumpily.
    â€œThey're international supermodels. Do you notice anything they have in common?”
    Claire bit her lip, refusing to state the obvious.
    â€œHere's one more. Recognize her?”
    â€œThat's the woman on What Not to Wear. ” Claire's and Rachel's favorite Friday night show. On the weekends Claire was home they always watched it together, even when Claire's best friend, Bethany, was sleeping over.
    â€œYep. Stacy London.”
    â€œBut she's pretty,” Claire said in a small voice.
    â€œThey're all pretty. But they don't all look alike. It's okay to look different. Sometimes different is better.”
    Claire rolled her eyes.
    Rachel gathered the papers into a stack. “Just think about that,” she said, and leaned over and kissed her daughter's forehead.
    Claire didn't say anything but she nodded.
    â€œAnd next time we're watching What Not to Wear check out Stacy London's nose,” Rachel added as she slipped off the bed. She was to the door when her daughter said, “Mom?”
    â€œYeah?”
    Claire managed a tiny smile. “Thanks.”
    Rachel suddenly felt better than she had all day. She smiled back. “You're welcome,” she said, and shut the door feeling pretty pleased with herself.
    Until she remembered that in the course of one afternoon she had lost a job and gained a new debt. And somewhere, a little gremlin was laughing.

• 3 •
    I n her forty-four years on the planet, Jessica Sharp had learned several important truths: chocolate is good medicine, housework is highly overrated, girlfriends make the best shrinks, and—her latest lesson—job security is an oxymoron, especially if you happened to work for a bank, which her husband did.
    â€œI still have a job,” Michael informed her when he came home from work.
    Jess was in the kitchen, dumping the chicken salad she'd picked up at Safeway into a bowl. She'd had a bottle of wine standing ready in case they needed to console themselves. Now they'd use it to celebrate. “Thank God,” she said with a sigh of relief. They could take their wine out on the deck and enjoy the early June evening and congratulate themselves on how they'd dodged the bullet.
    Or not. Michael was not looking thankful.
    â€œThere's one small catch,” he said. “It's in Ohio.”
    â€œO-what?”
    â€œThat's where the corporate offices are.”
    Jess felt suddenly sick. “Open that wine quick.” She plopped down on a