The Comeback Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

“When Andi gets back from her doctor’s appointment, Auntie, maybe you and I could take Zach, Sarge and Harley to the park. Would you like that?”
    “No, dear, I’m not feeling too peppy today. Why don’t you take Donnie, instead? I’ll fix a picnic. You two lovebirds deserve a little treat.”
    Kristin chanced a glance at Donnie, whose smile looked bemused, and maybe just a bit wistful. “I wish I could do that, Miss Ida, but I have to run along,” he said. “I have to pick up my son.”
    “What son?” Ida Jane asked, her face contorting in the befuddled look Kristin and her sisters had come to know all too well.
    Ida’s doctors had attributed her declining mental acuity to residual effects of the stroke she’d suffered that spring as well as senile dementia. The diagnosis included the grim prediction that Ida would eventually need hospitalization, but the triplets had vowed to keep their beloved great-aunt at home.
    “Auntie, would you watch the desk for a minute while I walk Donnie out?”
    Andi had warned against leaving Ida Jane unsupervised, but Kristin tried to give their aunt as much independence as possible.
    Donnie held the door for her; as she passed by, he asked softly, “How’s she doing?”
    Kris rushed past. He seemed taller, more substantial than she remembered. And his uniform made her nervous.
    “She’s doing pretty well physically after her stroke. But her mind isn’t as sharp as it once was. But whose is?” she added with a lame chuckle.
    Kris stepped to the railing and took a deep breath. A riot of mums, snapdragons and dahlias filled the flower beds below her. The hummingbird feeder above her head attracted ambitious dive-bombers that buzzed past like souped-up bees.
    “Fortunately, we’ve found a doctor who specializes in geriatric care. He started her on blood thinners and an antidepressant, but we have to watch her like a hawk so she doesn’t help herself to an afternoon toddy.”
    Donnie’s low chuckle made her yearn for something she couldn’t even identify. “The tables have turned, haven’t they?” he said. “I remember when Ida worried about our partying.”
    The irony of his comment wasn’t lost on her. Drinking was partly to blame for her present predicament. Maybe if she hadn’t been hell-bent on getting drunk the night of the party, she wouldn’t have wound up making love with Tyler. But then she wouldn’t have Zach, and she couldn’t imagine a world without her son.
    Almost as if she’d conjured him up, a kid in sloppy jeans and a black T-shirt appeared at the end of the sidewalk—hound at his side. He moved with a graceless shuffle, head down. “There’s Zach.”
    Sarge spotted Kris and let out a warbling bay. Zach looked up and froze. Even from a distance, Kristin could read his expression, which changedfrom curiosity to petulance. “Zach,” she called, trying to sound upbeat for Donnie’s sake. “Come and meet Donnie Grimaldo, an old friend from high school.”
    Zach gave Donnie a brief, castigating glance then cut across the lawn to avoid the porch altogether. Kristin wasn’t surprised—he’d pretty much severed all but the most basic communication with her. But she was embarrassed by such a public display of rudeness. “Zach,” she called.
    Donnie surprised her by brushing her arm in a brief but supportive gesture. “It’s okay.”
    Tears clustered in her eyes. “No, it’s not,” she snapped, stepping away so he wouldn’t see her cry. “He’s an obnoxious brat and he’s punishing me for moving here. And for everything else, too.”
    She heard him take a step closer. “He’s a kid with a chip on his shoulder. Give him space, but let him know you love him unconditionally. He’ll come around.”
    Kristin wished she could believe that. She swiped away the tears with her fingers and turned. “I hope you’re right. Sometimes it feels like I’m talking to a complete stranger, but I do love him. He’s my life. I used to call us the