When Bobbie Sang the Blues Read Online Free PDF

kind and vulnerable preacher’s kid.
    Atticus trotted up with the ball in his mouth and looked at her with soulful brown eyes.
    “Thanks.” She leaned down to hug him. “You’re a sweetie.”
    “Guess you have to be a dog to get a hug around here,” Seth remarked.
    Christy laughed and walked over to hug her tall, slim brother, who towered over her at six feet. His pale brown hair rolled over his collar, shining and smelling of something exotic. He sported his uniform: faded T-shirt and jeans worn soft as butter. Christy smiled at him, studying the boyish face, the freckled nose, the soft brown eyes, the sensitive smile.
    “I love you,” she said, making him start with surprise.
    “Could have fooled me with your warm hello, mate.” The word
mate
kept cropping up in his vocabulary, along with a few others Christy had never heard.
    Her gaze dropped to his Birkenstocks, covered in teeth marks. She grinned, glancing across the yard, where Atticus was in a standoff with a cardinal. The bird flew away, and Atticus ambled toward them with innocent confidence.
    Christy bent to scratch behind the hound’s ears and looked up at Seth. “I’m thinking about taking a drive over to Shipwreck Island for a jog. Would you two like to come along? Is he car trained?”
    Seth laughed. “The chewing is the problem. Maybe we’ll just follow you over.”
    Christy laughed again, guessing the inside of his old red El Camino must bear a hundred teeth marks on the seat covers.
    They had run the length of the beach when Seth laid a hand on her arm. “Hold up,” he said. “We’re not in a contest here.”
    “You need to get back in shape. All your late-night partying is turning you into a couch potato,” Christy said through gasps. But she stopped running and placed her hands on her knees, lowering her head to catch her breath. She turned her head to study her brother, then grimaced. “The fumes from last night’s party are pouring out, little brother.”
    Ignoring her comment, Seth plopped down on the warm sand, looking around. “Remember when we used to picnic here? You and I spent hours back there,” he said, indicating the woods behind them, “certain we’d find buried treasure from that old Spanish ship that got demolished in a hurricane.”
    She nodded, glancing over her shoulder. “I did find buried treasure in a different way, writing about pirate ships and gold.”
    “And you’re good at it.” He studied her from a sideways glance, his hair draping half of his face. “So are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
    She looked away, fighting tears. Denying her feelings to Seth would be a waste of time for both of them. “It’s Dan,” she said. “I just ran into him coming out of Miz B’s, and my heart started doing somersaults. I hate myself for it.”
    “You hate being human?”
    “I hate being vulnerable.”
    “I thought you walked out on him.”
    “After he started backing up.”
    Seth tugged on her hand, pulling her down to the sand next to him. “Listen,” he said. “I know I’m the last guy that should be giving relationship advice, but every time I’ve seen you and Dan together, I just feel you two are right for each other. You’re both intelligent, ambitious, enjoy the same things, have similar views, and yet are different enough to make it interesting.”
    Christy sighed. “I thought so too.”
    “The way he looks at you, the way you look at him.” He swore under his breath. “Maybe if a girl I liked looked at me that way, I’d change for her. But Dan’s a serious guy. When he’s ready, he’ll commit. Are you willing to wait? You know, slowing down is not a bad thing, Christy.”
    “Yeah…” Her voice trailed off as her mind moved to the woman Dan had mentioned. “Did you meet Donna at the Blues Club when you and Aunt Bobbie were there?”
    He chuckled. “Is that what’s got you riled? Well, relax.
Miz
Donna’s a pretty woman, but I don’t think Dan’s interested.” He