Love Potion #9 Read Online Free PDF Page A

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    â€œHey!” Mitch straightened and glared.
    Andrea fell silent, although it was clear she had plenty more to say.
    Mitch glanced pointedly at the kids, noticing that Jen was stretching one finger toward the icing. “We agreed not to talk about that,” he said.
    Andrea sighed, grimaced, then served up massive portions of cake. The kids virtually dove in and soon were wearing more icing than Mitch thought they had eaten. Cooley circled, inhaling crumbs, his nose on full throttle.
    Mitch watched his kids for a long moment and decided they hadn’t understood Andrea’s comment. Fortunately, they were still too young to pay a lot of attention to adult innuendo.
    That would change.
    Mitch was dreading the day he wouldn’t be able to protect them from everything nasty in the world, or make everything come right with a hug and a Band-Aid.
    â€œYou can’t ignore the truth forever,” Andrea said, taking a bite of cake.
    â€œI can sure as hell try,” Mitch growled. He dug determinedly for the coffeemaker. “And where does it say that your interpretation of events is the truth?”
    Andrea rolled her eyes. “Let’s just agree to disagree on the subject of Janice, shall we?” Mitch said nothing – he thought they’d already agreed to that. She moved a box to the floor and perched on a kitchen chair. “I like this place,” she said, then ran a finger across the counter and grimaced. “Although it could use a good cleaning.”
    â€œThere’s a sponge in the sink and cleanser in that box,” Mitch said.
    Andrea laughed. ‘I don’t do windows.”
    â€œNana makes cake,” Jen confided around a mouthful of chocolate.
    â€œNana buys cake,” Jason corrected.
    Andrea leaned forward, eyes shining and Mitch sensed trouble. “Have you met your neighbors?” she asked, to his surprise.
    Mitch grinned and gestured to the chaos around himself. “You missed the big social tea this afternoon. I was up all night making watercress sandwiches. Cutting off those crusts was really a pain.”
    Andrea playfully threw a wad of packing paper at him. “I never know when to believe you,” she complained, then pointed to the house with the cat and the garden. “You have a fortune teller for a neighbor.”
    â€œGo on. Here I thought this was a good neighborhood.”
    â€œIt’s quirky, dear. She has the most darling little neon sign out front.”
    â€œ Eenie meenie jelly beanie, the spirits are about to speak.” Mitch wiggled his eyebrows and the kids giggled, recognizing the line from the classic cartoons they all watched together.
    â€œBut are they friendly?” Jason asked.
    â€œJust listen!” the kids crowed together.
    Andrea rolled her eyes and shook her head.
    Jen took a chocolate hit on her chest and pulled up her bathing suit to lick it off. Cooley sniffed with disappointment, and she dropped her spoon for him. She went after the rest of her cake with both hands.
    Mitch didn’t have it in him to argue with her. Too bad they didn’t’ make a spin cycle just for kids.
    â€œ Lilith’s Lovematches is what it says,” Andrea said. “Isn’t that lovely? So romantic!”
    â€œVisa and Mastercard accepted,’ Mitch said. The coffeemaker wasn’t in the box he’d just emptied so he opened another. He was going to need it in the morning. Might as well find it now and make life easier.
    â€œDon’t be silly,” Andrea chided. “I’m sure it’s not really like that.”
    Mitch didn’t bother to hide his skepticism. “You mean she does it for free?”
    â€œOf course not!”
    Mitch shook his head and dug beneath spatulas.
    â€œDo you think she’d do a reading for me?” Andrea asked.
    â€œAndrea!” Mitch spun to face his stepmother, wishing yet again that she wasn’t so trusting. “How many times