Montana Skies (You, Me and the Kids) (Harlequin Superromance, No 1395) Read Online Free PDF Page A

She didn’t stand right, didn’t walk right, always looked weird because she stood out. The only redhead in her class and smart, too.
    Sniffling, she pulled her ponytail over her shoulder and looked at the frizzy split ends. Why couldn’t she have been pretty like her mom? Like Mandy or the other girls in school?
    She swung her feet off the bed and padded over to her computer desk, wishing she’d win a trip to one of those makeover shows. Now that would be an awesome birthday present. She bit her lip and found her mouse, clicking on the box to maximize the screen, and going back to what she’d been reading online before her dad had come in. She told herself to forget about it, but she had to know what they said about her. Every day.
    Inhaling deeply to get rid of the lump in her chest, she read to the bottom of the chat-room posts, and this time she couldn’t hold back the stupid tears no matterhow hard she tried. Caroline slumped in the chair and hugged her knees up to her chest.
    Her mom definitely hadn’t left because of her dad, she’d left because of her . Because of how embarrassed she was to have such an ugly loser for a daughter.
    Everybody thought so.
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    â€œD ON’T YOU walk away from me!”
    â€œHe’s a moron!”
    â€œHe’s your principal,” Rissa countered, “and he says you’ve got to get your act together or—”
    â€œWhat? He’ll expel me? I hope you told him to go for it,” Skylar taunted gleefully.
    Rissa strove for calm, for patience, knowing without a doubt Skylar would like nothing better than to be expelled from school. Permanently. “What about your future? What happened to becoming a lawyer?”
    â€œLawyers suck.”
    â€œLawyers are our only chance at winning this lawsuit, Sky. They play an important role in the world—just like your principal and your teachers and you. Regardless of what you do when you grow up, you can’t survive unless you’re able to support yourself. Why are you throwing your education away?”
    â€œBecause it’s not important! What’s it all matter if you get nailed in a car crash or—or get a disease? What good is it then?”
    â€œThat’s just an excuse to live your life in fear. Skylar, the last thing your dad would want is for you to blame yourself for what happened or throw your life away!”
    Skylar rolled her eyes and whirled around. She stomped out of the small living area into the even smaller kitchen, her boots thudding every step of the way.
    Rissa watched her for a moment before she tossed her purse—found in the passenger seat of her car exactly where she’d left it—and keys onto a table, wishing she could sling them across the room into a wall. But to do so wouldn’t quite portray the calm, patient example she needed to set.
    â€œCan we please talk about what happened today without it turning into a shouting match?”
    â€œBut we do it so well.” Skylar’s lip-curling sneer was back in place once more.
    It took two deep inhalations and a count to ten, but Rissa managed to ignore the expression. “You punched a girl and now have detention. Why?”
    â€œShe deserved it.”
    â€œ Why? What happened?” Skylar didn’t respond. “Sky, I need you to hear me—to talk to me. Tell me what’s going on so I can try to help you.”
    Her daughter glanced over her shoulder, her black gaze flat. “ Help me? You just want to control me! That’s why you moved us to the middle of nowhere.”
    â€œYou need control in your life, and if you washed your face and wore your regular clothes, you’d be more readily accepted and you know it.”
    â€œWhy should I change? I like me this way! It’s not my fault you don’t.”
    â€œI love you no matter what, but you can’t blame me or the school officials for not understanding why you’ve changed so