Chasing Julia (Rhode Island Romance #2) Read Free Page B

she’d asked him too many times
before to use a glass. He was a senior in high school, full of testosterone and
feelings of male invincibility.
    “Tony,” she asked
quietly. “Please use a glass. And close the door. You’re letting all the cold
air out.”
    He took a few more
gulps before closing the lid on the carton and putting it back on the top shelf
of the refrigerator. His movements were slow and deliberate as he closed the
door and turned to face her. “What does it matter to you? You’re not the one
paying the bills.”
    “And neither are
you. It’s Joe who’s working his ass off to keep the lights on around here.”
    Something washed
across his features that looked like shame. But it vanished as quickly as it
appeared. His mouth twisted. He took a step closer to her. “I’ve got a job. I
help out where I can. When are you going to get a real job, princess?
When are you going to stop playing house with us and go out into the real
world?”
    She straightened
her shoulders, forcing herself to stand firm and to not reveal how much his
words hurt. He was a few inches taller than she. She was suddenly aware, as
she’d never been before, of how much his body had filled out in the last year
or two. His shoulders were broader, his arms more muscular. The planes and
angles of his face were more chiseled. He was becoming a man. But he was
behaving like a boy.
    “I have a
real job.”
    “Yeah. Working for
your mom and dad. The interview process for that must have been real grueling. Why aren’t you at your job now? I’m eighteen. I can take care of
Sylvie. We don’t need you here playing mother anymore.”
    She put her hands
on her hips. As much as she tried to keep an even keel, she couldn’t prevent
her voice from raising a couple of decibels.  “You may be eighteen. But you
still act like you’re twelve. And you can gripe all you want about what I’m
doing here. I’m not leaving. I am your brother’s girlfriend. I have a
right to be here.”
    His face reddened.
His eyes narrowed in a look of resentment. “You’re just a convenience. Joe doesn’t
have time to find a real girlfriend.”
    Her mouth fell
open. Her heart constricted with pain. It was the most hurtful thing Tony had
ever said to her. In the past, she’d been able to brush aside his antagonism,
maintaining sympathy for the fact that he’d lost both of his parents in a
tragic fire when he was only twelve years old. His antipathy towards her was
normal and understandable. He had put up boundaries a few weeks after the
funeral, making it very clear to Julia that she was not and never would be a
replacement for his mother.
    And she’d respected
those boundaries. She’d been able to work around the bad times with him because
there had been some good times, too. Like the time when he was fourteen, and they’d
all gone to Narragansett Beach, and he’d tried to teach her how to surf. He’d
been very patient with her awkward attempts to stay upright on the board;
there’d been a lot of teasing and laughter that day. Or the time when he was
sixteen and going on his first real date. He’d asked her for advice on what to
wear and how to behave like a proper gentleman. Or that hot August Saturday
afternoon, just before he turned eighteen, when the two of them had been
waiting for Joe while he met with a client in South Kingstown. They’d had a few
hours to kill, and Tony decided to take her crabbing. They’d stopped at a local
market to buy a pack of chicken wings and some twine and then drove to one of
Tony’s secret fishing spots along Point Judith Pond, a place that his father
had taken him and Joe to fish when they were boys.
    He’d parked the car
in the shade at the end of a bumpy, unpaved, densely tree-lined road, retrieved
their purchased items from the trunk along with a fishing net and a bucket and
led her down an almost invisible path to the water’s edge. There hadn’t been
anyone else around. The day had been hot and humid.