Kaleidoscope Eyes Read Free Page A

mean I’m pushy.”
    Annie eyed her sister. “You? Pushy? Why would I ever think you were pushy?”
    “Ha ha. Now come on and eat.”
    Rather than point out how Kyla had just proven her point, Annie followed her sister out of the bedroom and down to her kitchen. At least, she
thought
it was her kitchen. It was hard to tell, what with everything so sparkling and spotless.
    Kyla strikes again. “I take it you’ve eaten already?”
    “Of course.” Kyla poured coffee into a mug and handed it to Annie then grinned. “But I can always have some wedding cake and coffee while you eat dinner.”
    Kyla turned toward the fridge, almost taking a nosedive over Kodi.
“Must
your monster be in the
middle
of the kitchen?”
    As though sensing Kyla was talking about her, Kodi jumped up and leaned against Kyla’s leg, looking up at her with those big puppy-dog eyes. Kodi adored Annie’s older sister.
    Pity Kyla didn’t return the sentiment. She peered down at Kodi. “Listen, beast, I am not your leaning post.”
    Kodi’s thick tail whomped against the kitchen cabinets. Annie took a sip of her coffee. “I keep telling you, Kylie, if you don’t want Kodi lovin’ on you, don’t talk to her. Attention is her favorite treat.”
    Kyla didn’t reply. Just kneed Kodi away and opened the refrigerator to pull out a plate of food. She set it on the table in front of Annie. “Now, what were we talking about?”
    No point trying to avoid it. “My need for a man. Of course, I don’t see
you
waltzing down the wedding aisle, and you’re considerably older than I am. So which of us, me at my tender age, or you at your ripe ooold age—”
    Kyla spun, piercing Annie with a glare.
    “—should be more concerned about finding a man?” Annie delivered a smile so sweet it would choke a honeybee and blinked her wide-eyed innocence.
    Kyla managed to hold the glare for another few seconds, then dissolved into laughter. “Annot, you are incorrigible.”
    “Spell that.” Annie pulled the plastic wrap from around her plate.
    “I-n-c-o … rrigible.”
    “Close enough.” Annie played with her fork. “So how ’bout you give me a break on the ‘go get married already’ speech? Just for today.”
    Kyla opened her mouth, resistance in her features, then clamped her lips together. “I only talk about it because I care.”
    Annie sat back with a sigh. “You know I’d love to get married, but there’s this little detail of finding a man I actually like, let alone love.”
    “It might help if you tried this really fascinating little thing called dating.”
    Annie grimaced. “Fascinating. That’s another word for revolting, right?”
    “Annie.”
    “I
have
tried it.” She lowered a hand to scratch Kodi’s head. “Remember Frank?”
    Kyla had the grace to bite her lip. “That really was a disaster, wasn’t it?”
    “How you could ever think I’d be interested in a man like that?”
    “Frank is a nice man.”
    “He hates animals.” ’Nuff said. But Annie went on anyway
“Especially
big dogs.”
    “But I didn’t know tha—”
    “And then there was Bruce. I believe he was another one of your setups.”
    “What on earth was wrong with Bruce? He loved animals—”
    “Sure, if their heads were mounted on the wall of his den. Besides which, he had no sense of humor, was barely an inch taller than I am, and was just this side of bald—unless you count that oh-so-manly comb-over.” Annie held her hand out to her sister. “Would you care to bless this feast, or shall I?”
    Kyla took Annie’s hand and closed her eyes. “Father, thank You for the blessing of food and shelter and for the blessing offamily: Let our time together please You.”
    “Ame—”
    “And show Annot she’s being far too picky about men. Amen.”
    Annie’s glare went unnoticed as Kyla focused on stirring the perfect amount of cream into her coffee.
    “You know I only hound you because I care about you, Annot.”
    “I know.”
    “I look at you and