Magic & Memory Read Online Free PDF

mad at me. And maybe, I don’t know….”
    “What? We’d just pick up where we left off before my aunt got sick, like nothing ever happened?”
    “Well, no. I knew it wouldn’t be that simple. But we were best friends long before we ever started dating. So I thought maybe we could start by being friends again and, I don’t know, just like hang out or something.”
     “Yeah, because I’ve really been wanting to hang out with the guy who dumped me. ” Lu’s voice rose sharply.
    “Is that all I am now? Just some guy who dumped you?”
    Lu just shrugged, too upset to answer.
    Ted shifted the shovel from one hand to the other and blurted out, “Look, Lulu--”
    But she cut him off. “Stop calling me Lulu! You don’t get to call me that anymore.”
    “Fine, Lu .” He took a deep breath. “Look, I know I hurt you. I know I totally bailed. You think I’m proud of that? I’m not, ok? But it was just too much, you know? I couldn’t handle any of it, your aunt being so sick, you being so angry….”
     Lu stared at her ex for a long moment before saying, “I never meant to vent my frustration at you. I apologize for that.”
    He looked at the ground, his voice full of remorse. “I know you weren’t doing it on purpose. And I know I was a total ass for bailing like that. I’m so sorry. You don’t even know how ashamed I am for doing that to you.” He pressed his eyes shut and said quietly, “But it was just so awful. Watching Aunt Claire dying, watching you try to deal with everything on your own, feeling so useless because you never let me help you….”
    “I know, Teddy.”
    He looked up at her then, hope in his eyes. But abruptly his expression darkened. “But you never did need me, did you?” Ted’s voice shook with anger. “And obviously you still don’t.” He threw the shovel on the ground and stormed back to the truck, gunned the engine, and barreled back toward town.
    For a moment Lu was dumbfounded.
    Then she heard Alastair clear his throat somewhere behind her on the covered porch. “I apologize,” he said. “I should have stayed in the house. I just got concerned when you both started yelling, so I came out to see if you required assistance.”
    She turned to look at her houseguest. He was still dressed only in the pajama pants, which rode a bit low on his narrow hips. His bare upper body was all smooth skin and strong, lean muscle, his hair tousled like he’d just rolled out of bed (though it always looked like that). He was absolutely beautiful. And it could not have been clearer that this hot guy had spent the night here with her.
    No wonder Ted had gone speeding off.
    Lu sighed and went back into the house as Alastair trailed behind her and said, “I’m sorry about your aunt.”
    “Thanks.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
    “Was that your boyfriend?”
    “ Ex boyfriend.” Lu kicked her boots off at the door before wandering over to the fireplace. She leaned forward with one hand on the mantel and stared into the flames as she said, “And since you heard all of that, now you know what’s been happening in my life over the last several months. I didn’t think I could talk about it, but apparently I can stand outside and yell about it.” Lu shook her head and continued to stare at the fire for a long moment. Her voice was almost a whisper when she said, “Aunt Claire was my family, all I had. She raised me from the time I was twelve, here in this house. I loved her so much. I still can’t believe she’s gone.”
    She was quiet for a while before saying softly, “Losing Ted was really hard too. I mean, it doesn’t compare with losing my aunt, but it still hurt. He was a big part of my life for such a long time. He was my best friend, long before he was my boyfriend. It used to be that we couldn’t go twenty minutes without calling, texting….” Lu pressed her eyes shut. “It was a lot, losing both my aunt and my best friend. Too much for one year. I was