Autumn Leaves Read Online Free PDF

she’d ever think David would... Stop it , she told herself. Betty sometimes had a way of making her paranoid.
    “I know all of this only because my brother Sean won’t stop talking about it whenever he visits me. I think it’s the way men communicate.”
    “Isn’t that a sexist way to look at things?” David teased. “You know, I can cook. I must admit, though, that tonight, I didn’t.”
    “Now that is something that’s clearly beyond me.” Callie laughed. “Really, Rebecca, that was wonderful. I forget to eat half of the time, and when I do, the meals mostly come from a microwave. You easily put a five-star restaurant to shame...I can say that, because I’ve eaten in one.” Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkling.
    Rebecca felt the wine and the exaggerated praise go to her head, too, or maybe it just was really warm in the room. She had to admit she had aimed to impress with the five-course meal, the dining room table set with a theme of red and white. She had not missed the way Callie’s eyes had lit up when she’d taken a first look, a welcome validation.
    “No way.”
    “Way,” Callie insisted. “You sure you don’t have a spare room for, let’s say a pretend daughter? I even do the dishes once in a while.”
    The rather misplaced joke made Rebecca sober up instantly. Callie Bryan was this young, hip big-city writer, granted, but Rebecca didn’t feel that old. She didn’t like that at this moment, Callie had made her. No one had picked up on her shift in mood.
    “Isn’t that tempting?” she returned with barely veiled sarcasm.
    David and Charles were talking about another meeting David had coming up. Betty was listening to their conversation but fiddling with her rings as she always did when she was bored.
    “I’m sorry.” Callie had understood, and she sounded sincere, but the damage was done. Rebecca knew she shouldn’t be so sensitive about a spur of the moment joke, made under the influence. Besides, Betty and Charles would never praise Rebecca’s cooking skills like that. A homemade dinner wasn’t much of a deal for them, or anybody around the table except Callie. What did she want Callie to see in her anyway?
    “You will be when I make you do the dishes for real.”
    Everybody laughed, back in on the conversation, but Callie still seemed worried.
    “I could,” she offered.
    “Oh no,” Betty chimed in. “One thing you have to understand is that when in cooking or cleaning mode, Rebecca won’t let anybody into her kitchen.”
    One thing you have to understand is that now, I’m really craving a stiff drink. Rebecca gave her friend a strained smile. All of a sudden, she couldn’t wait for the instant when everyone would leave. However, when good-byes were said and David offered to walk Charles and Betty home, Callie stayed behind.
    “God, I’m such an idiot,” she claimed once it was only the two of them.
    “No, you’re not. You’re just drunk. After one glass of wine.” Rebecca couldn’t quite suppress the smile.
    “Still, you’re letting me into your kitchen.”
    “Yes. You’ve got to practice for that pretend daughter gig.”
    “I’ll never gonna live that down, right? I’m sorry. See? I told you people say I talk too much.”
    Callie was so dismayed by her faux pas it even made her look younger, and much more forgivable. She had all but begged Rebecca to let her help with dishes, and Rebecca had found it impossible to stay mad at her for much longer.
    “Although,” Callie said, critically eyeing the pile of plates and pans, “I have to say you should invest in a dishwasher.”
    “It’s a good thing I really like you,” Rebecca remarked.
    Dish towel in one hand, wine glass in the other, Callie turned to her, giving her an intent look from under long lashes. “You do?”
    Betty’s suspicions aside, Callie Bryan really was a very attractive woman, and aware of it. Rebecca was aware of it, too, and she found it rather unsettling.
    “’Course,”