Better Than Chocolate Read Online Free PDF Page A

him.”
    “Twelve years is a long time,” Amy said.
    For a moment Charley’s eyes glistened with tears but she lifted
her chin and said, “Too long, and I’m not wasting so much as a minute missing
that man. He can have his new woman and his new restaurant in the city.
Seattle’s loss is my gain. And I have the bed all to
myself now.”
    “I’m jealous,” her sister murmured.
    “I can watch as many episodes of What Not
to Wear as I want,” Charlie continued, “leave the dishes in the sink
and spend my money however I decide. And I bet I’ve lost more weight than anyone
here.”
    “You do look great,” Samantha agreed.
    “You would, too, if you’d lost a hundred and fifty-five pounds
of dead weight,” Charley cracked, “and good riddance.”
    “You know, I never liked him,” Cass said.
    “Me, neither,” Charley’s sister threw in.
    “Why didn’t you guys say something?” Charley demanded. “No,
never mind, don’t answer that. I probably wouldn’t have listened.”
    “Love is blind,” Cass said. “And dumb.”
    As the night went on the women shared memories, collecting
evidence that Richard the defector was indeed nothing but a rat. The wine flowed
and the party got increasingly loud, especially when Charley cranked up the CD
and the women started singing at the top of their lungs to “Before He Cheats,”
“Over It” and “I Can Do Better.”
    Finally a neighbor a couple of houses away hollered, “Shut up
over there,” and everyone giggled.
    The food and drink was consumed and the fire had flickered down
to embers and the women remembered they had to work the following day. Charley
smiled around the circle at all of them. “Thanks for coming, you guys, and for
helping me feel positive about the future.”
    “You’re always positive about the future,” Heidi said. “I’m not
sure I could be if I was in your shoes.”
    Samantha doubted Heidi—with a husband who adored her and an
adorable baby—would ever have to worry about that.
    Charley managed a shrug. “There were a few times this past year
when I didn’t feel very positive at all. But you know what? I’m taking back my
life. I’ve got a lot of years ahead of me and I intend to enjoy every one of
them.”
    “You think you’ll ever get married again?” Heidi asked.
    Charley made a cross with her fingers as if warding off a
vampire. “Bite your tongue.”
    “You might want somebody around to bite yours once in a while.”
Rita laughed. “Or other parts of you.”
    “Men are still good for some things,” Elena put in. “In fact,
they’re good for a lot of things. You shouldn’t give up on all of them just
because you got a bad one.”
    “Yes,” said Lauren, who was dating Joe Coyote, the nicest man
in town.
    “Well, when you find a good one, let me know and I’ll take
him—to the cleaner’s.” Charley’s comment made everyone laugh. “Seriously,” she
added, “love’s a gamble, and I’m done gambling.”
    “Heck, all of life’s a gamble,” Samantha said.
    Charley gave her a one-armed hug. “You’re right. But I’m going
to make sure the deck’s stacked in my favor, so from now on I’ll just keep men
as friends.”
    “Friends with benefits?” Rita teased as they tossed the last of
the paper plates on the embers.
    “Maybe.” Charley shrugged. “Who knows what the future holds.
I’m open to anything but marriage.”
    “But don’t you want kids?” Heidi asked.
    Samantha thought of Elena’s handicapped daughter and the baby
Rita had lost last year. Parenthood could be as risky as marriage.
    “I don’t need a man to have children,” Charley said. “That’s
why there’s adoption. Meanwhile, you’ll share James, right? I’ll be his Aunt
Charley and spoil him rotten.”
    Baby-sharing. It saved a girl from those pesky little
complications, like men. And childbirth. Still, it wasn’t the same as having a
child of your own.
    As Samantha walked home she had plenty to think about. Did