Larkspur Road Read Online Free PDF

delicate white lace curtains opened onto the quiet, tree-lined street. Brittany’s sandals were on the floor, upside down under the table, her bare feet curled beneath her. Samson lay snuggled on her lap on the pretty peach-cushioned chair.
    Sitting at the opposite end of the table, Mia thought back to the little girl who’d dragged a lavender blanket everywhere she went, until the blanket had faded to a dull shade of gray by the time she entered first grade. That little girl had endlessly drawn pictures of rainbows and castles and had loved the Sleeping Beauty storybook Mia had given her for her birthday more than any other book—until she discovered
The Black Stallion
and
Little Women
, and then Harry Potter and Twilight had come along.
    What had happened to that child?
The young woman at her table had grown into a subdued young beauty—her long tawny blond curls tumbling down her back, shadows under her eyes the same color as the blanket she’d once carried everywhere.
    “I
hate
going to my dad’s house,” she said miserably.
    “Since when? I thought you were crazy about your new little stepbrother.”
    “Tate’s…a brat.” Brittany looked away as she said the words, and somehow Mia didn’t believe them. “You should see how Gwen and my dad cater to him. He gets everything he wants. It’s…lame there. I don’t want to stay in that house for three days, much less three weeks.”
    “But all of your friends are in Butte,” Mia pointed out. “Don’t you—”
    “I’m sick of Butte. I’m sick of everyone. I just want a break.”
    Tears filled the girl’s eyes. And that was the most alarming thing of all. Britt didn’t cry easily. She was an athlete—a soccer player and track star—and she had tons of friends, both boys and girls.
    Why does she want to get away from everyone?
    “Did you argue with one of your friends? With Laura?” Mia chose her words carefully. “Are you upset about breaking up with that guy you were dating—what was his name… Wade?”
    Britt’s mouth opened, closed. She swallowed. And shook her head.
    “I just want to be here. With you.” Her voice was so low Mia could barely catch the words. Rubbing her eyes, she looked exactly as she had when she was a little girl, exhausted and ready for a nap. “Why does everyone need to make a federal case out of it?” she burst out suddenly. “I’ll get a job for the summer. Pay my own way. So what’s the big deal?”
    This is going nowhere,
Mia thought. Whatever was upwith Britt, it might be better to discuss it after she’d had a few hours of sleep.
    “You look wiped, honey.”
    “I woke up really early today.”
    Five o’clock in the morning, according to Laura.
    Mia pushed to her feet, held out a hand. “Come on then. You can take a nap in the guest room. You’ll feel better when you wake up.”
    Leading the way down the hall, she glanced back over her shoulder to see Samson trotting after them. “But you’ll need to talk to your mom when you wake up,” she warned.
    “Can’t you talk to her for me?” Brittany stumbled toward the double bed with its white wrought-iron headboard and wasted no time in pitching herself facedown on the rose and blue quilt. “If you tell Mom it’s okay with you, she’ll let me stay. She always listens to you.”
    Mia refrained from pointing out that nothing could be further from the truth. She and Samantha definitely had their differences, though they were nowhere near as drastic as whatever sisterly drama had forever separated Gram and Aunt Winny all those years ago. She and Sam loved each other and despite their widely differing temperaments—and Sam being eight years older—they’d always been close.
    “I should scold you, I suppose.” When Britt eyed her warily, she grinned and carefully smoothed the girl’s tangled hair back from her face. “But I won’t. Not right now.”
    Something in her niece’s eyes pierced her heart. Brittany wasn’t just being moody. She was