The One & Only: A Novel Read Online Free PDF

material.”
    “Who said anything about getting married?” I said, reminding everyone that I was in no hurry for all of that, unlike most of my friends and acquaintances, who had married in their twenties, many straight out of college. It was something I wanted eventually, probably, although I wasn’t sure about children, which took a lot of pressure off the quest. Still, I had to admit that the thought of marrying Miller had crossed my mind recently. He wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but Coach was right, he
was
a good guy—and I honestly wasn’t sure that I could do much better in the shrinking pool of eligible men.
    “You’re wasting precious time with him,” Lucy said as my phone buzzed again. This time I couldn’t resist checking it.
    Sure enough, it was a text from Miller.
Left my jacket. U still there? Will swing by.
    Before I could text back that I’d deliver it to him, there was a knock at the door and I had no choice but to fess up. “I think it’s Miller,” I said. “He forgot his jacket.”
    “ ’Course he did. This will be amusing,” Lucy said, perking up. She stood and headed for the foyer.
    “Don’t you dare,” I called after her, but I knew there was nothing that could stop Lucy once she had an idea in her head.
    She returned with a crumpled Miller, in dire need of Visine. “Look who it is!” she announced. Then she issued a quick apology for her earlier rant and said, “Sit. Sit. Join us.”
    I gave him a look of warning and shook my head. For once, he took the hint. “Thanks, Lucy, but I can’t stay.”
    “Why? What do you have to do tonight?”
    I answered for him. “Some of the out-of-town guys are crashing at his place. Robert Siler and Myles Savage.”
    “Yeah. And … I just came to get my jacket.”
    “Your jacket or Shea?” Lucy asked.
    Miller smiled and said, “Well, both. If she’s ready.”
    “Sure,” I said, standing and hoping to make a getaway. It was better than sticking around for more abuse, or getting a ride and an additional lecture from my mother about how I really needed to seize my thirties lest I end up “forty and alone.” Like Lucy, she believed she only had my best interests at heart, but she couldn’t help making everything about herself. What
she
wanted for me. Namely, for me to be a pampered stay-at-home mother married to a doctor or lawyer or, in her exact words, “even a vet or a dentist.”
    “No. Stay. I insist,” Lucy said, guiding Miller into the chair across from her. “We were actually just talking about you. And your relationship. With Shea.”
    “Lucy,” I said in my harshest tone.
    This time, Miller took the bait. “Right on,” he said, grinning.
    “So, Miller, do you think you and Shea are compatible?” Lucy asked.
    “Hot seat, bro,” Lawton said. “Look out!”
    Miller reached for my hand, and I reluctantly gave it to him. “Yeah,” he said. “We go perfect together.”
    “Perfect
ly
,” I said under my breath.
    “Perfect, huh?” Lucy said. “And why do you say that?”
    “Well, for one, we both love football,” Miller said. “Right, Coach?”
    Coach Carr raised one fist in the air.
    Lucy crossed her arms. “Well, that means Shea would be good with just about any man in the state of Texas. Except Neil, who isn’t totally obsessed.”
    I had always maintained that it was one of the things Lucy liked most about her husband. He wasn’t the type to spend his days in front of the television watching games. Still, the comment seemed vaguely emasculating, at least in the company of his coaching legend father-in-law, and Neil said, “Hey, now. I like football. I
love
football.”
    “It’s more than football,” Miller said. “She’s good for me. She makes me better.”
    “And what do you do for her?” Lucy asked, unmoved.
    My mother was literally on the edge of her seat, waiting.
    “Well. I make her laugh.”
    I let out a nervous giggle, and Miller pointed at me and said, “See?”
    “It’s