The Last Time I Saw Paris Read Online Free

store, snatched it from the rack, and marched into the dressing room. She sighed as she looked at her reflection. She was too curvy for it, too plump. Maybe too old. But it was exactly right for a forty-five-year-old who needed some encouragement. Recklessly, she bought it—a present for herself.
    Cheered, she drove back home. Dexter, the old golden retriever, met her at the door with his blue baby blanket. He had carried it everywhere with him since he was a pup, and nothing she could do could break him of the habit. He offered it to her now, and she patted him, ruffling his soft fur, making a fuss over him.
    â€œYou’re a good old boy, Dex, aren’t you?” At least with Dex there, the house didn’t have that awful echoing emptiness.
    The dog followed her into the kitchen, where she filled his bowl with Alpo, then fixed some coffee. She leaned against the cold granite counter, arms crossed over her chest, waiting for it to brew. Ten empty days stretched ahead of her. She had her volunteer work two mornings a week at the local seniors’ home, where she organized entertainment and lunches and get-togethers for the mostly over-eighty residents. Then she had the fund-raising committee on Wednesday afternoons, and her tennis games with Susie at the club. And that was it.
    The phone shrilled suddenly. It was her son. Josh was twenty-three and at medical school in Boston. He was an exact replica of Bill when she had first met him, with the same idealistic approach to his chosen profession. Josh wanted to be a healer like his father and she had no doubt he would succeed.
    â€œJust wanted to say happy birthday, Mom,” he said,and she thanked him for his card and his gift, a pretty scarf that she guessed a girlfriend had helped him pick out.
    They chatted for a while about how busy he was, how tough the courses were, how rotten the Boston weather, and then he asked what she was going to do that evening.
    Lara’s heart sank as she thought about it stretching in front of her, an empty series of long, lonely hours. “I know what, I’ll take Dex and go out to the beach house,” she decided. “I always feel better there.”
Less lonely
was what she really meant.
    â€œHave fun. I miss you, Mom. Love you. Talk to you soon,” Josh said. And then he was gone.
    Minnie’s call came two minutes later and Lara wondered if Josh had called to remind his sister that it was her birthday. Minnie was just twenty-one, pretty and bubbly, living in L.A. and hoping to become a movie star.
    â€œHappy birthday, dear Mommy,” she caroled over the phone. “I’m not going to ask how old you are because I know it’s rude when a woman reaches ‘a certain age.’ I guess by now you would rather people forgot, anyway.”
    She was laughing as she said it and Lara smiled. “You know perfectly well how old I am, because I was twenty-four when I had you.”
    â€œSorry I forgot the card and present, Mommy,” Minnie said repentently. “I’m dashing out this very second to buy you something gorgeous and sexy.”
    Lara thought that was the second time today someone had suggested she needed something sexy.
    â€œWhat did Dad get you?”
    Lara told her about the diamond necklace, holdingthe phone away from her ear as Minnie’s astonished whistle shrieked down the line.
    â€œWow, Mom, I’m impressed. Usually it’s a bunch of roses and the latest novel. What’s he got, a guilty conscience or something?”
    Lara’s heart skipped a beat, then she heard her daughter laughing. Of course Minnie didn’t know. How could she …?
    â€œWhen are you coming home for a visit?” she asked, wishing she didn’t sound so wistful.
    â€œSoon as I can shake free, Mom. I’ll try, I promise.”
    They said good-bye and Lara put down the phone. She switched off the coffee machine and poured out the coffee, which she no longer