Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You (v1.2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

opened divider that separated her from the Taite chauffeur. “Are you and Susie happy here?”
    “Happy, miss?” Jim Helfrich took a quick look into the rearview mirror, then redirected his attention to the highway. “We’re both happy enough with the work. You and Mr. Taite are very kind.”
    Shelby took off her hated hat, tossed it onto the back bench seat. “That’s good, but that’s not really what I meant. Are you happy here, Jim, in Philadelphia ? Where are you from, originally?”
    “Where are we from?” Jim had an annoying habit of repeating everything that was said to him. He was also probably nervous, as Shelby had never asked him a personal question before today, even though he and his daughter had been in the Taites’ employ for nearly a month. “ East Wapaneken , miss. That’s about sixty-five miles from here, up near Allentown . We’re sort of stuck between Hokendauqua and Catasauqua, just a little bit of a place.” He chanced another look in the rearview mirror. “Um… why do you ask, miss?”
    “No real reason, Jim,” Shelby said carefully, leaning her forearms on the back of the bench seat. More. She wanted to hear more. “It’s a small town, then, East Wapaneken ?”
    “Is it small? So small there’s no West Wapaneken , miss,” Jim said with a chuckle. “I hated to leave, to tell you the truth, but with Susie’s mom gone and the steel plant closing down, I needed to find work where I could watch over my Susie. She’s been accepted at Temple , you know, right downtown. Did her first two years at our local community college, and now she’s ready for the big time.”
    “I didn’t know that,” Shelby admitted, feeling more than a little ashamed. Granted, Susie had only been in her employ for a relatively short time, and only as temporary summer help, but she should have known something about her by now, shouldn’t she? Or was she merely floating through life now, not acting, not even reacting? Just existing. Not to mention feeling sorry for herself. “So you liked living in a small town?”
    “It’s the only place to live, to my mind, miss. Good friends, deep roots. Oh, everybody knows your business, that’s for sure, but everybody cares about you, too. Good people, good friends. That’s important. It’s… it’s real East Wapaneken , miss. Yeah, that’s it. It’s the real world. Once Susie’s got her degree, we’re heading straight back there, no question.”
    “Thanks… um… thank you, Jim,” Shelby said, sitting back against the jump seat, biting at her bottom lip as she thought about all he’d said.
    Real. The real world.
    Shelby smiled, her first real smile in a long, long time.

Chapter Seven
    Shelby looked up from the book she’d been pretending to read ever since dinner, watching as her uncle made his way to the mahogany table holding an assortment of his favorite liquid refreshments.
    She loved her uncle, loved him very much. He was happy, silly, sometimes profane, and totally outrageous. Such a handsome man, with his thick shock of silver hair and neatly trimmed beard, his boozy-red cheeks and nose, his twinkling blue eyes. His devilish smile, his lust for life. Sort of like a trim, dapper Santa Claus on speed. “Uncle Alfred?”
    “Umm? Yes, my pet?”
    She almost lost her courage, then asked her question anyway. “Have you ever wondered what life would be like if we were… normal?”
    Alfred Taite leaned an elbow against the mantel, balanced his brandy snifter in his free hand, and stared at his niece. “Define normal, my darling.”
    Shelby stood up, began to pace. “You know— normal.” She spread her arms to indicate the magnificently furnished Taite drawing room, the entire Tudor mansion, their entire world. “As opposed to this, which is about as abnormal as it gets.”
    “Oh,” Alfred said, taking a sip of brandy. “You mean poor, don’t you? I try not to think about that, actually. I wouldn’t either, Shelby , if I were you. You