Days Like This by Laurie Breton

Author:Laurie Breton [Breton, Laurie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 1482501767
Amazon: B00BCSTV6S
Published: 2013-02-07T05:00:00+00:00

***

The house was big and rambling, a little past its prime, and sat on its own postage-stamp-sized lot on a quiet street on the outskirts of Southie. The driveway was full, so Casey parked on the street in front. “Whose house is this?” Paige said.

“This,” Casey said, taking the keys from the ignition, “is Mary and Patrick’s place. Your grandparents. This is the house where your father grew up.”

As they approached the side door, she could hear a small dog making a big racket inside. Casey knocked once, then opened the door and stepped inside the house. “Hello!” she called. “Anybody home?”

A black pug raced into the room, yapping and jumping with excitement. Casey leaned to pat him, and the look of rapture on his face was comical. “Hello, Pugsley,” she said, rubbing his ears. “Where’s your mother?”

The dog rolled his huge eyes, panting and dancing around Casey’s feet. Beside Paige, Leroy whined. The pug approached him, and they sniffed each other warily. Mary MacKenzie came into the room, wearing a flowered apron, her reddish-gray hair a mess, her face aglow.

“Well, well! If it isn’t my favorite daughter-in-law!”

The two women embraced. “Don’t let her kid you,” Casey said to Paige. “I’m one of four, and she says that to every one of us. We all just play along.”

“Oh, you,” Mary said good-naturedly. “And Paige, darling of my heart, it’s so nice to see you. Come give your old Grandma a hug.”

Since there was no way to graciously escape, Paige stepped forward and let the matronly woman wrap her in a bear hug. It wasn’t so awful. Actually, it felt kind of nice. Her grandmother was soft and pillowy, and she smelled like vanilla. It wasn’t Mary’s fault that her son had ruined Paige’s life. Mary released her, reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “You’re a lovely girl,” she said. “Just like your mother was. You certainly didn’t get it from your father. Speaking of which.” She turned back to Casey. “Where is that hard-headed husband of yours?”

“He’s away. On tour.”

Mary raised her eyebrows. “He didn’t tell me he had a tour scheduled.”

“He didn’t. He’s helping out an old friend who was in a bind. It wasn’t planned. You know how he is.”

“Just getting to know his little girl, and already he’s gone off and left her?” She gave Paige another hug. “You poor thing!”

“He’s a musician,” Casey said. “Musicians spend a lot of time on the road. But we’re a family, and he knew Paige and I would be fine together. Right, Paige?”

She shrugged, not knowing what to say, because to side with either of them would seem disloyal to the other. Her grandmother was right; her father shouldn’t have gone off and left her. But Casey had bailed her out of some pretty hot water this morning, and she probably owed the woman something. Paige was starting to warm up to her stepmother, something she never would have imagined when she first arrived in Maine.

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