Sunflower Lane Read Online Free Page A

spoke brightly, but Sophie and Wes exchanged glances, and Wes saw his stepfather frown.
    Damn. Obviously, talking about Annabelle Harper still made his mother uncomfortable and Wes couldn’t blame her for that. His father’s cheating with Annabelle’s aunt Lorelei, the mayor’s ex-wife, had been the final straw in Diana and Hoot’s marriage.
    Hoot had been a terrible husband and a worse father, but Diana had pretty much looked the other way until Hoot’s affair with the mayor’s wife and several other women exploded through the town. Only then had Diana kicked him out. His father had been dead for years now, and his mother was happily remarried, but that didn’t mean any mention of Lorelei or anyone related to her didn’t still sting.
    Maybe he should forget the Harper cabin, after all.
    But the moment his mother vanished into the kitchen, and Doug escorted Gran to a comfortable wing chair in the living room, his sister zoomed back into the dining room and placed a hand on his arm.
    “Don’t mind Mom and Gran,” she said in a low tone. “The two of them are just fussing over you because they’re so glad to see you. They’ll settle down in a week or so.”
    “Great. I’ll be gone by then.”
    “No . . . really? Wes, I was sort of hoping—”
    Her voice trailed off.
    He frowned. “Hoping what?”
    “That you might stay a little longer. You have no idea how down Gran’s been since her fall. But she’s positively cheerful now that you’re here. Look at her—she’s smiling like a young girl. She’ll have to wear that cast for a while, and it’s going to get hot and itchy and will drive her crazy. She still gets a little dizzy sometimes from the concussion and won’t be able to cook or quilt or even dress herself without help for some time. But if you’re here, she might not mind all that so much. You always could twist her around your finger and you know it. You were her favorite.”
    He started to deny this, but she cut him off. “You know it’s true. Nobody can cheer her up like you can. But maybe,” she said slowly, “you have something better to do? Somewhere to be?”
    “Not exactly. But, Soph, that doesn’t mean—”
    “Come on, Wes, promise me you’ll stay through the Fourth of July. Gran would get such a kick out of having you here—showing you off to all of her friends, everyone in town. You used to love that parade and the bake sale and all the food stands when you were a kid.”
    “Yeah, I loved collecting spiders and eating banana popsicles twice a day back then, too, but I can live without them now.”
    She grinned. “It’ll be fun. You’ll see. And by then, Gran’s cast will come off and the worst will be over. Think about it.”
    “I just did. Two weeks, Soph, that’s my limit. Or else I’ll go stir-crazy.”
    She shook her head at him, frowning. “You always were more stubborn even than Dad.”
    “But not half as mean.”
    “No. Not mean at all.” Her frown faded. She squeezed his arm and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “You’re nothing like Hoot. You never were. You’re tougher than him, stronger. You’re fifty times the man he ever was. You were never a bully, always a defender.”
    “How do you know I haven’t changed?”
    Looking down into her eyes, he saw warmth and love deep within them. He felt the same about her. The years and miles couldn’t ever change that.
    “I know,” she said simply. “So think about staying until after the Fourth. By then I’m sure we’ll all be sick of you and more than ready to let you go.”
    “Nice. Very nice, sis.”
    Sophie laughed at him, and disappeared into the kitchen.
    By the time Wes drove back down Daisy Lane that night, he had just about decided to camp out under the stars. Except clouds were already moving in. There’d be rain before morning. And as he turned onto Squirrel Road, he heard thunder rumble in the distance and saw a flash of lightning spark across the cloud-tinged peaks of the