Crazy Ever After Read Online Free PDF Page B

“You know what he was like.”
    “I can see him not wanting tea and dainties in the church basement after the service,” Travis said. “More like a few bottles of Lagavulin and some dirty jokes.”
    Dayna’s lips curved into a reluctant smile. “True.”
    “But...” Samara hesitated. “Okay, fine. Obviously, it has to be what he would have wanted.”
    Dayna nodded. “We can have the party here. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I called the funeral home. The woman I spoke to was very nice.”
    “The funeral director is a woman?”
    “Yes.”
    “Is it Gia?”
    Dayna’s eyes widened. “Why, yes. Gia Stephenson. How did you know?”
    Samara smiled wryly. “That’s Gia Rizzuto. She married Brent Stephenson. I knew they owned a funeral home.”
    “Oh, I remember Gia. You two were such good friends.”
    “A long time ago.”
    “Well. It will be nice for you to see her again, even if not under the best circumstances.”
    Travis watched as their eyes met and connected, but Samara looked quickly away, blinking.
    Travis licked his lips, flicking his eyes to Samara and back to Dayna. Why wouldn’t Samara just give in and let her mother comfort her, let them comfort each other? Ah hell, Parker. You weren’t supposed to do this. Pain lanced through him at the thought that Parker was really gone.
    After dinner, they had coffee and dessert on the patio, but again he was the only one who even tried to eat the huge piece of strawberry shortcake. The late spring day was cooling off as the sun sank low in the sky. The trees of the woods were vivid shades of green and richly textured in the late evening sun. A squirrel sat high in a nearby tree, chattering agitatedly at something they couldn’t see. The fresh scent of cedar and pine drifted on the evening breeze.
    It was like being in the country here. So unlike Los Angeles, his home for the last seven years. He lived near the beach, which was great for him with his love of surfing and sailing, but L.A. was a big city with pollution, crowded freeways and lots of concrete. This was quiet and serene, almost pastoral.
    “You must be tired, sweetie,” Dayna said to Samara. “You should go up to bed. Ava has gotten your room ready.”
    Samara nodded slowly and rose to her feet. “I am tired. I still can’t believe...” She looked at Travis. “I guess I’ll see you at the funeral...”
    He shook his head. “Oh, I’ll likely see you in the morning.”
    “Travis is staying here too,” Dayna put in.
    Samara looked at him, then at her mother. “How nice,” she said, her voice flat. “Well, good night then.” She gave them her back and stalked inside, closing the French door with a bang.
    What the hell was her problem?

Chapter Four
     
     
    He was staying there? In her parents’ house?
    Samara hurried up the stairs to the privacy of her bedroom. She’d said she was tired and she was, but even so, once in bed she lay wide awake in the darkness. Her body was tired but her mind remained active, churning over everything that had happened that day, starting with that phone call from Travis.
    Seeing him again. All those memories flooding back, the ones she’d locked away in the very back of her mind. She turned her face into the pillow, her chest aching, remembering all those intense teenage feelings she’d had for him. Remembering that night just after her high school graduation, the night she’d done the stupidest thing in her life, and how wounded she’d been.
    She’d had a crush on Travis for so long. Every boy she dated was just that...a boy. She’d compared everyone to Travis—his athletic body, lean and muscled from the surfing, sailing, and climbing he did on weekends, his maturity, his willingness to get into deep discussions about things like fair trade and conditions in developing countries and how to take market share away from Starbucks. The magnetic attraction his easy smile and sparkling blue eyes held for her. Nobody even came close to appealing to