Sing Me Back Home Read Online Free PDF Page B

with a client when Amy brought Carmen back from her house. Carmen ran off immediately.
    “Hi to you too,” Maya muttered, watching her daughter go. “What’s up with that?” she asked, turning to her sister.
    Amy and Maya looked nothing alike. Whereas Maya was tall and nicely curved, with long dark brown hair, gray eyes and a creamy complexion, Amy was short and voluptuous with short, light brown hair, blue eyes, and to her disgust, freckles. She always complained that she shouldn’t be saddled with lack of height, overly generous curves and freckles to boot, especially since freckles were out of place with her body.
    Amy had been a concert pianist with the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra for several years shortly after graduating college. Everyone, including Maya, was surprised when Amy abruptly left the orchestra, returned to Marietta and began teaching piano lessons out of her home. Amy rarely spoke of her time with the orchestra, although once after several margaritas she’d admitted to Maya that she’d left because of a failed love affair. But that was all Maya had gotten out of her.
    Amy snorted. “Men. Or, in this case, boys. We saw Carmen’s heartthrob at the movies. He pretended he didn’t know her. Needless to say, she’s heartbroken and furious and the hours she spent talking to me and on the phone and texting last night to her friends were not nearly enough to thoroughly dissect the issue. I imagine she’s going to call one of her friends. Again.”
    “Poor baby.” Nothing was worse than being humiliated by a boy you liked. “He’s the one she was talking to when she went into anaphylactic shock at the potluck. He used some pretty fancy moves to get away as fast as he could. Turkey,” she added.
    “I heard that.” Amy smiled ruefully. “About forty-seven times. I wouldn’t be a teenager again for anything.”
    “Me neither,” Maya said. “Want some coffee? I just made a fresh pot.”
    “Sure.” Amy followed her into the kitchen, accepted a cup of coffee, added milk and a couple of packets of artificial sweetener, and sat at the table. “So, Maya, spill. Inquiring minds want to know.”
    “You mean about my date?”
    “No, about the dry cleaners. Yes, the date. What else?”
    “There’s nothing to spill. I had a date with Jack last night. We had a nice time. No big deal.”
    “Your nose is growing,” Amy observed dryly. “Come on, Maya. Out with it. Was the old zing still there?”
    Maya laughed. She had never been able to hide anything from her sister, even though they were ten years apart in age. “Yes.” She patted her heart. “And then some.”
    “I knew it! Did you sleep with him?”
    “Amy!”
    “What? Carmen isn’t anywhere near. It’s a reasonable question. Did you?”
    “No.” Remembering the kiss, she flushed. “We hadn’t seen each other in twenty years. At least, we haven’t been close enough to speak before the potluck and then later at the hospital.”
    “If nothing happened, then why are you blushing?”
    Maya eyed her sister, then sighed. “I didn’t say nothing happened. I said I didn’t sleep with him.” But she’d sure been tempted. “We kissed,” she added.
    “All that blushing for a kiss?”
    “It was a hell of a kiss.” Before Amy could probe further, Maya’s cell rang. She had a feeling it was Jack, even though his name didn’t come up on the screen. “Hello.”
    “Maya, it’s Jack.”
    “Hi,” she said, aware her voice sounded as goofily happy as she felt.
    “Do you have plans tonight?” he asked.
    “Other than taking Carmen to a party, no.”
    “Gina’s going to a party too. I imagine it’s the same one. Do you want to have some dinner?”
    “I’d love to. I’m taking Carmen and her friend Mattie to the party, so it will have to be after that.”
    “Sounds good. I’ll pick you up around eight.”
    Maya put her phone in her pocket and found Amy staring at her. “Oh, sister, you’ve got it bad.”
    “Don’t be