The Look of Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

face. “Ma, you made the dress for yourself. Why didn’t you make it the right size?”
    Her eyes widened as she glared at him. “I did make it the right size. I can’t help it if the materials shrank when I sewed it.”
    He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “Right. The materials shrank.”
    “You know nothing about making clothes, not like your brother, Thane. He had a gift.”
    “A gift? Yeah, like dodging me. I’ve been trying to call him since yesterday and he’s not answering.” Gunnar wanted to call his baby brother a brat, but that was rule number two with his mother. No name-calling.
    “Leave him alone. He’s busy. He’ll be starting spring training soon.” Elizabeth turned to Eboni. “Baseball. America’s favorite pastime.”
    Eboni nodded. “I’ve seen him play. He’s very talented.”
    Gunnar glared at Eboni. A pang of jealousy punched him in the gut. It shouldn’t have. Gunnar had no plans of getting back together with Eboni. Two stubborn people together never worked.
    “Gideon has time to answer his phone, and he’s about to play in the Super Bowl.” Gunnar smiled at his brother’s accomplishment.
    “I’m glad you’re here.” Elizabeth nodded.
    “I’m happy to be with you, too, Ma. Now you have one of your sons and your daughter here.” He nodded toward Eboni. “Did I miss a reunion somewhere?”
    “You and your brothers weren’t here. Eboni has been like a daughter to me. She could have been a real daughter- in-law had someone done the right thing.”
    Gunnar groaned and leaned his head back. “Not now.” Arguing about past mistakes topped his list of things to avoid after he hopped a red-eye flight from Vegas to Virginia.
    “I’ve taken great care of Queen Elizabeth since you, um, left.” Eboni kept her stare on Gunnar almost in a challenging way, like she wanted him to defend his actions. “I’ve worked side by side with her at the salon.”
    “Thank you. I appreciate it.” Gunnar meant that. With him, Gideon, and Thane being gone, it comforted him to know someone trustworthy watched out for his mother.
    “I don’t need anyone watching out for me. I’m fine.” Elizabeth patted Gunnar and Eboni’s hands.
    As she said that, her hospital room door opened and a petite Indian woman in a white doctor’s coat walked into the room.
    “How are you feeling today, Ms. Sommerville?” she asked as she looked through a file.
    “I feel as good as I look, Dr. Patel.” Gunnar’s mother pursed her lips. “Hand me my clothes and shoes and let me go home to my family.” She sat up taller.
    “You’ll go home eventually, but not right now.” The doctor’s face became somber. “You have a ninety-percent blockage in your left artery. Because of it, you weren’t getting enough oxygen, which is why you fainted.”
    Gunnar felt blood rush from his head. He kept his legs locked to keep standing. “What’s going to happen now? Medication?”
    “We’re going to install a stent in the artery to open it up and see if that corrects the problem. She has a second artery that has a fifty-percent blockage, but that’s not as bad as the other, so we’re not going to do anything with that one yet. We’ll watch it and see how it goes. One thing that should make you happy is you have a very strong heart.”
    Gunnar glanced at his mother, who now remained quiet. The joy dropped from her face. She chewed her lower lip, ruining her lipstick and staining her teeth. For the first time in his life, Queen Elizabeth Sommerville looked scared. Seeing her fear both worried him and pissed him off.
    He held his mother’s hand and kept his grip tight. “When will you do the procedure?”
    “Tomorrow morning. After we install the stent, she’ll stay in the hospital for a few days so that we can watch her, and then we’ll let her go home.” The doctor walked closer to Elizabeth. “No working at all. You rest and relax, understand?”
    Elizabeth nodded.
    Her silence worried