In the House On Lakeside Drive Read Free Page A

all right?”
    Josh nodded. Rachel inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. Crisis averted. For now.
    “All set,” Evan said, locking the door behind him. “Who wants what?”
    “Pizza, chicken, sandwich, and a steak,” Rachel rattled off, pulling her opened white parka around her, the blue trim of the collar looking like a necklace around her throat. “What?” she said, responding to the stunned faces of the men in her life. “Dead cow sounds tasty. Medium rare, please.”
    “Okay then. We’ll go to Gio’s. Besides, I’m in the mood for ice cream.”
    “Ice cream? On a day like this?” Josh challenged.
    “Why not?”
    The youngest of the three tenants thought about that a moment. “I guess.”
    “That’s one of the great things about being an adult—you can eat ice cream for dinner if you want. Luckily, I also plan on having some of the house salad—with chicken and French dressing.” He pointed to the minivan. “Last one in has to get the table.”
    The couple stared as three newly minted adults—all old enough to buy lotto tickets but just shy of drinking age—raced for the van, jockeying for seating position. “Sam’s getting really good with that stick of his,” Evan commented drily, watching Sam wield his mobility device like a weapon. “Those lessons of yours are helping.”
    “Eh,” Rachel said. “The fencing lessons in college are coming in handy. Wish my English degree could do the same.”
    “Hey, speak for yourself. I didn’t finish college,” the thirty-year-old man shouted. “Sam, don’t leave marks!”
    “Sorry!” Sam’s even voice called back as he collapsed his cane and tossed it under his seat.
    “Poor kid. He tries, but still he’s the last one in the van,” Rachel said.
    “It’s good practice for him. He needs to learn to speak up for himself, rather than playing peacemaker all the time. Remy and Josh can be overpowering personalities, and I’m just afraid the kid’ll get lost in the shuffle.”
    As the pair got in and started the van, the sounds of voices clamored behind them. “I want oldies!” “No, new stuff!” “No, how ’bout some jazz?”

Chapter 3
    The plates were cleared, the spoons handed out, and a giant hot fudge brownie sundae sat in-between the five occupants of the table. “Wow,” Josh breathed, staring at the frozen concoction that stood before him. “That’s the biggest sundae I’ve ever seen!”
    “They didn’t have anything like this where you come from?” Remy asked between bites of chocolate brownie.
    “Not like this!”
    “Mmm,” Evan said, helping himself to the cherry. “ This was a good idea.
    “Mm-hmm,” Sam agreed, his mouth too full of chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream to elaborate further.
    “My god,” Rachel said, watching the guys eat. She contented herself with a small cannoli. “And they say women and chocolate are a dangerous combination.”
    Just then the restaurant started to fill up. Shouts of “Hello” and “Hi there!” filled the room as friends waited to be seated. The town of Otter Lake was about midsize—about ten thousand residents in all—but being that it was so close to the much larger town of North Kingston, the location of Gio’s Ristorante allowed patrons from both communities to stop in for heaping plates of Italian and local favorites. Already several of Remy and Sam’s friends had stopped by to say hello, and Josh was busy trading good-natured insults with his best friend Walter Longoria. The pair was so loud several patrons had to cut their conversations short. “Guys,” Rachel said, giving her patented stop-now-this instant stare. Within seconds both young men lowered their voices by several octaves. “Sorry,” Walter said, his high voice racing the word out as he followed his family to their table.
    “Place got busy fast for a Thursday night,” Evan said.
    “I’ll say. It’s a wonder there’s a table left.” Rachel scanned the large room from her vantage point of the