With Strings Attached Read Online Free Page A

hard it was for Amanda not to blame her brother, how hard it was to understand that someone who was ill like that couldn’t help it. And Amanda was so soft-hearted, though she tried to put on a tough exterior, Corey had a feeling she was going to get hurt a lot in life. Those were hard lessons to learn.
    When Amanda returned a few moments later, her eyes and nose were pink but she’d composed herself.
    “I want to try something new today,” Corey told her. “What do you think about wasabi and chocolate?”
    Amanda gaped at her and Corey laughed.
    “That sounds disgusting,” Amanda said. “You’re joking, right?”
    “No, seriously. Let’s try it.”
    “Okay.” Skepticism tinged Amanda’s voice, but Corey’d distracted her and they worked together creating a new confection.
     
     
    “I have to go over to my mom’s place,” Matt told Dylan Saturday morning. “She’s got some problem with her toilet, it keeps running after she flushes it or something. So I’m going to check it out and see if I can fix it for her. You wanna come or hang out here?”
    Dylan looked up from the couch where he was sprawled playing Xbox. “I guess I’ll hang out here. I don’t know much about plumbing.”
    “Neither do I.” Matt grinned. “But I know more than my mom, that’s for damn sure.”
    “How long will you be?”
    “Not sure. Should be a quick fix. But I’ll probably stop by my sister’s place too. Her husband’s away right now and there’s probably a bunch of things she needs done around the house. With two little kids, she’s pretty busy.”
    “Her husband’s in the Navy, right?”
    “Yeah, that’s right. He’s been gone for the last month. She starts to get kind of stressed after that long on her own, so I go over and see what I can do. Sometimes take the kids out for a while to give her a break.”
    “You’re such a sweet guy like that.”
    Matt rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.” But he did feel an obligation to help his mom and sisters as much as he could. On the other hand his motives weren’t completely unselfish—he loved his niece and nephew and enjoyed spending time with them.
    His dad had died when he was fourteen, leaving his mom with three kids. Matt’s sister Jenna had been sixteen, and Neve only eleven, and for Matt there’d never been any question that he had to step up and look after all the girls, including his mom. She wasn’t old, but she wasn’t exactly a strong independent woman, and although Matt had suggested many times she should move out of the family home now that she was on her own, and into a condo or something, she kept refusing. She loved her house, and in a way he didn’t blame her for not wanting to give it up. But man, there was always something that needed fixing or installing and she had no clue about home repairs.
    He drove to his mom’s house a little farther down the coast, and parked in her driveway. She was so close to the beach here that there was sand on the street, and he took a big deep breath of fresh morning sea air as he climbed out of his Jeep and bounded up the stairs to her front door.
    He still had a key, of course, so finding the door locked, he let himself in. The spacious house was cool and quiet and smelled faintly of the peach potpourri his mom liked. He called out, “Hey, Mom. It’s me.”
    He walked into her kitchen, expecting her to be there, expecting a pot of coffee that he could help himself to, but the kitchen was empty. Huh. He glanced at the clock on the wall. Nearly eleven. He hadn’t exactly gotten an early start that morning after a late night sitting around shooting the shit with Dylan, and it was surprising Mom wasn’t around either. He heard a noise upstairs, a bedroom door opening, and then closing, another door opening and closing.
    He made a face. She must just be getting up. Probably be down in a minute. He grabbed a muffin from a plate sitting on the counter and took a bite. Damn. His mom had always liked to bake