Romeo Fails Read Free Page A

understand?”
    Sarah’s face was tilted up to look imploringly in Dorsey’s eyes. The soft black leather of her coat brushed Dorsey’s hip. Her hair smelled faintly of apples.
    “Oh,” was all Dorsey could say, finding herself dazzled by Sarah’s sudden closeness, as well as somewhat nonplussed by her confession. Especially since Dorsey had been out to Maggie and everybody else since, well, since forever. And Maggie had always been the best friend a girl could ever wish for.
    But everyone’s situation was different. Dorsey understood that. Who knew what Sarah had been through, that forced her to keep her very identity secret and separate from her own family?
    Maggie was bustling back down the aisle toward them, the grin on her face showing how thrilled she was to see them in close conversation. Sarah shot Dorsey a meaningful and entreating look, eyes wide behind her glasses, then took a step back.
    “I get it,” Dorsey said quietly to her in an undertone. “But… can we talk later?”
    Sarah nodded gratefully. As Maggie rejoined them, Dorsey resumed the paint conversation, acting as if nothing of import had passed between her and Sarah, although she felt like a dog to be playacting in front of Maggie. The three of them walked slowly up to the cash register, chatting about nothing much.
    “You’ll come to brunch with Mother and us tomorrow, right?” Maggie said to Dorsey as she rang up the purchase. A meal with Mrs. Bigelow senior was not normally much of a draw for Dorsey. Sarah, who obviously knew her aunt well, took in Dorsey’s reluctant expression with an arched eyebrow and a small smile.
    Maggie said, “Come on, Dorse, I promise you Mother Bigelow will be on her best behavior. Especially with Sarah here.”
    Sarah suddenly grinned at Dorsey, which brought back that jolt in the stomach feeling and sealed the deal. Maybe with the three of them outnumbering the old bat, it would be a fair fight for once. Mrs. Bigelow disapproved of Dorsey’s “lifestyle” (as the older woman put it), was a general pain in the ass and had done many subtle and not-so-subtle sly things over the years to try and break up the friendship between her daughter and Dorsey, or at least put some distance between them. All her efforts had been futile so far, but she hadn’t given up yet. Vivian Bigelow was no quitter.
    “All right,” Dorsey acquiesced with a shrug and a grin. “Eleven o’clock at the café?”
    “Right,” Maggie said. “Right after church. Unless you want to join us?” She should have known from long experience that Dorsey’s answer would always be no, but couldn’t seem to stop herself from asking anyhow.
    “I’ll meet you at the restaurant,” was Dorsey’s reply. From Sarah’s look, she would have preferred that too, but there was no way Mother Bigelow would let her skip church, not with Sarah staying under her roof. Maggie had moved back in with her parent after her divorce from Dwayne Bergstrom the past year. There were no apartments in Romeo Falls and without the money to buy a house of her own, her options were limited. She had been saving her money steadily, but was still a long way from a down payment. She’d been talking about renting a mobile home in the trailer park just to get out from under her mother’s bossy thumb, but was too scared to break it to her, Dorsey thought. The old battle-ax would probably throw a fit when she heard.
    Gathering up her purchases, Maggie said, “Well, we’re off to Grover for dinner with Cousin Buell and his family. Since this is Sarah’s first visit here, we’re making the rounds. But we’ll see you tomorrow, right, Dorse?”
    Dorsey nodded, taking a seat on the stool behind the counter. To her surprise, Sarah then leaned across and took her hand.
    “It was a real pleasure meeting you for the first time, Dorsey,” she said, the pressure of her fingers and the laugh in her eyes leaving no doubt as to exactly what she meant. A tingle ran right up