The Great Bedroom War Read Online Free PDF Page A

orgasm felt like. It only made sense that, if sex was awful, women would refuse to do it, and there would be no babies in the world.
    She glanced back at Ryan hurrying to catch up with her and Haley, and her heart did a little tap dance.
    Yesss! He’d followed her.
    ~*~
    The front door’s soft click yanked Sam’s attention toward the hallway. “Dani?”
    “Yes, Mother, it’s me,” the child called back in a sarcastic tone, closing the door harder than necessary. “You don’t have to call the cops again.”
    “Don’t be wise.”
    “What’re you doin’ home already?”
    “Casey let me leave work early so I could talk to you. Please come in here.”
    An exaggerated huff echoed from the hall. “I have to go to the bathroom.” Dani stomped up the steps, ignoring Sam’s request. “I’ll be down in ten minutes.”
    No doubt she would. The child had to be starving after leaving for school without her lunch.
    While Sam waited, she whipped a couple of eggs into the mixture of spinach, green onions, fresh dill, and feta cheese leftover from breakfast to make a Greek omelet identical to the one on the sandwich she’d watched her daughter toss into the ditch that morning.
    A few minutes later, Dani tromped down the steep servants’ stairs. As she reached for the cookie jar on the granite counter, Sam shoved it away.
    “Hey! I was gonna eat some.”
    Each week since Dani became sick, Sam baked a batch of all-natural oatmeal/peanut butter cookies with dark chocolate chunks to replace the processed junk food all her child’s friends snacked on.
    “Not until after you eat your breakfast.” Sam slid the plate holding the omelet onto the round, oak kitchen table. “Since you can’t be trusted to eat on the run, you’ll be getting up ten minutes earlier so you’ll have time for me to watch you swallow every bite.”
    Dani flopped into her chair, muttering, “Maybe I should start building an ark.”
    “An ark?” Sam frowned, handing her a fork. “For what?”
    “The next flood.” Dani waved her away. “Forget it. You had to be there.” She stabbed the omelet and shoved a miniscule piece of egg into her mouth, grimacing. “Maybe if you didn’t stuff vegetables into everything, I might eat what you make.”
    “It’s the only way I can get you to eat anything green.”
    “So who’s the bigmouth who squealed on me?”
    “No one.” Sam pulled the pitcher of unsweetened green tea from the fridge and poured two glasses. “Haven’t you learned by now mothers really do have eyes in the back of their heads?” She set their drinks on the table. “So tell me. Where were you first period this morning?”
    “Oh, jeez. Ms. Carlson called you, didn’t she? Like I told her, I was in the bathroom.”
    Oh, God, no. Sam held her palm to her daughter’s forehead. “I knew you’d get sick—”
    “I’m fine.” Dani shoved Sam’s hand away, heaving an irritated huff. “Haley was just havin’ a crisis.”
    Not surprising. Dani’s friend had been through a rough year. Sam sank into the chair across from her daughter. “I appreciate that you wanted to support your friend, but you’re still doing time for this.”
    “Terrific. There goes any chance of me getting parole for last night. Just get it over with and ground me for life.”
    Dani had been isolated at home for too long. The last thing Sam wanted was to take her developing social life away. “Oh, no, sweet pea. Sitting in your room is way too easy. You’re doing hard time for this infraction. When you’re finished eating, you can start by weeding the front flower garden.”
    “I have no idea which plants are weeds.”
    “If it’s less than three inches tall, yank it. After you do that, you’ve got homework to catch up on. And you can leave your cell phone here on the table.” Sam pushed back her chair and stood. “I’ll be upstairs, sewing.”
    “What else is new?” Dani muttered, expressing her patent resentment of Sam’s fledgling