Vanessa's Match Read Online Free Page B

them affecting Lindy.
    He was worried about meeting Lindy, all grown up. He figured she hated him, and he didn’t for a moment think Vanessa Shaw would try very hard to change Lindy’s feelings about him. Vanessa herself hadn’t shown him any approval.
    However, he didn’t have much doubt about Vanessa being good to Lindy. She was young to beso protective of his sister, but maybe it was past time for someone to be kind to Lindy.
    Still feeling guilty, he rang the doorbell at the Greenfield home, hoping the dinner would go smoothly.
    An older man, one he hadn’t met, opened the door.
    Rick nodded to him. “I’m Rick Austin.”
    “Come in, Mr. Austin. I’m Peter, Betty’s husband. Uh, I’m supposed to give you this and wait for you to read it.”
    Rick frowned as he took the note and read the flowing writing. Vanessa wanted him to know that his sister was wearing a new dress this evening and that he should compliment her on it.
    He crumpled the note in his hand, leaving Peter watching him with a nervous expression.
    “Thank you, Peter,” Rick said, hoping to ease the man’s apprehension. He resented the note because he knew how to behave. His own mother insisted on good manners. But maybe Miss Shaw—he corrected himself, Vanessa—had a point. He had seen his sister only once since she was six—today when she’d fainted at the sight of him. Maybe a pleasant compliment would enable things to proceed smoothly.
    “Where am I to go, Peter?”
    “This way, please.” He turned and started down the hall, and Rick followed.
    When Peter opened a door across from the library, Rick drew a deep breath. Then, pasting a smile on his face, he entered the room.
    Vivian immediately rose to greet him. Once again he was struck by the petite woman’s beauty. In her forties, she had strawberry blond hair with but a few strands of gray. She welcomed him and introduced him to Jeff Jacobs, his wife Rebecca, their children Joey and Jamie, as well as Jeff’s partner, Bill Wallace, and his wife, Chelsea, who was obviously pregnant.
    Will invited him to sit down, and Rick did so. But he didn’t see Vanessa or Lindy.
    Just as he was making conversation with the others, the door opened again. Vanessa, looking stunning in a chic black dress, entered the room, followed by a beautiful younger woman.
    Rick stood and stared at the two women. He remembered the note he’d received. Of course, praise was due both for their appearance, but he couldn’t help seeing his stepmother when he looked at Lindy. Her blond hair and slender figure looked so much like Anita’s.
    He crossed the room to greet them. “Hello, Vanessa. You look beautiful tonight.”
    “Thank you,” she said coolly, and stepped aside for him to face his sister.
    “You look very nice, Lindy. Like your mother,” he couldn’t help adding.
    Lindy appeared stricken, and she let out a gasp.
    Vanessa wrapped an arm around the child. “It’s all right, Lindy. He didn’t mean that.”
    “What do you mean?” Rick demanded. “She does look like her mother.”
    “The woman you hated? Does that mean you hate Lindy, too?”
    “No, of course not—I mean—I don’t know her!”
    “Exactly. Let me assure you, she may look like her mother, but that’s where the resemblance ends!” Vanessa exclaimed.
    “Dear,” Vivian said, “aren’t you asking a little too much of Rick to react as if he knows his sister? He’s scarcely seen her in nine years.”
    “And whose fault is that?” Vanessa demanded.
    Jeff stood and joined Rick. “Maybe you should cut him some slack, Vanessa. He may have been careless, but he had no choice about leaving her with her mother, unless he knew of any abuse. Any court would agree with that.”
    Vanessa wasn’t satisfied with legal obligations. “That still doesn’t—”
    At that moment Betty stepped into the room. “Dinner is served.”
    And that ended their conversation…for the time being.

Chapter Three
    Vanessa had asked her mother to