Pretend Mom Read Online Free PDF Page A

the coverings.
Water still dripped from her hair, making a small puddle on the
floor. Silence invaded the old house. This was not how it was
supposed to happen. She merely wanted to talk to Kevin, alone,
without her friends and family around. This wasn't even seductive,
it was just embarrassing.
    But there he stood, staring, his mouth
hanging open. Kevin was unable to act or react to the situation.
The look on his face was not one of a lover, but rather the look of
a man stricken. He said and did nothing. It was Mike who
acted.
    Mike strode straight to her side, and
gently pulled the robe around her. Without so much as a word, he
drove her home. How he managed to get her inside her house without
anyone finding out, she never knew.
    Maybe it was his warning that had stuck
with her, haunted her. "If I were you, I wouldn't set my cap for
Kevin."
     
    ***
     
    The next morning, Dixie glanced at her
bed in dismay. It was drenched. Emily was there, offering to wash
the sheets. "Perhaps I should call the doctor. You must have had a
fever through the night. You look so weak."
    Dixie squirmed uncomfortably. "I'm glad
you didn't. I'm fine, really. You're a doll, Mom, to worry so
much."
    Dixie watched as Emily fussed with the
bedding. Emily was still a very nice looking woman. Her brown hair
was gently fading to gray, but it managed to bring out the glorious
blue of her eyes. She was small and delicate looking, but Dixie
knew her spirit was that of a tiger.
    Will and Tom peeked through the open
doorway. Two red-heads with freckles and big smiles on their faces.
On their way to summer school, they were in a hurry.
    It was Tom who broke the silence
between the three of them as they stared at her. "We've missed you.
We hope you'll stay around for a while. We don't want to sound
mushy or anything, but we kinda like having you around."
    Dixie smiled. "I kinda like being
around. I nearly forgot what wonderful brothers I have."
    Will came to stand just in front of
her. "Mike told us you probably wouldn't be staying long and not to
get too attached to having you here. Is that right?"
    "Mike?" Again?
    "He just didn't want us getting our
hopes up too much. He's been like a big brother to us since you've
been gone. And Mandy has sorta adopted us. They stop by all the
time. He helps Mom any time she needs him. I guess we've sorta come
to depend on him a lot. Anyway, we go frog giggin' together," Will
said quietly as his mother hastened him out of the room.
    A brother! Mike?
    Alone once more, Dixie contemplated
this new bit of information. It sounded as though Mike had become a
permanent fixture around the place.
    She let the cool morning breeze filter
through the sheer nylon curtains and smiled as she listened
contentedly to a mockingbird perched on a tree limb by her window.
She had forgotten how peaceful it was here.
    Her room seemed untouched after all
this time. Everything in its rightful place, just waiting for her
to come back to it. The maple bedroom set was two or three
generations old and well preserved. The thick quilted bedspread
with the hand embroidered spring flowers was draped across the foot
of her bed. Some of her very own handiwork.
    Coming home had already accomplished
one thing; it brought Dixie back to earth and closer to her
family.
    "There's a long distance call from an
Ed, dear. I'll bring the phone in to you. You stay put," Emily
called from the hallway.
    Feeling pampered and enjoying it, Dixie
leaned back on the pillows and watched her dote. "Thanks, Mom."
Sitting up in the bed she eagerly took the phone.
    "Hello love," the familiar English
voice on the other end of the phone had Dixie on the alert. She
wished Ed wouldn't call her names like that, but he was English.
"Are you all right? I rang through last night, but they said you
were ill. Naturally, I've been out of my mind worrying about
you."
    Dixie tried to stifle her laughter,
noting the huskiness in her own voice that rattled just a little.
"Well, you can stop