Twilight Read Free Page A

should welcome the opportunity. He grasped the plate and what remained of his nerves.
    The coals had white edges around small black centers. He must have doused them thoroughly to have them ready so quickly, or maybe they were those instant coals that didn’t need fluid. He hadn’t read the bag. With the long-handled fork, he stabbed the first steak and laid it on the grill. A shudder crawled up his spine as flame licked the meat, but he forked over the next, then the last, hearing the sizzle of the marinade as it met the coals. His hands began to sweat. “Oh, man,” he whispered.
    Laurie’s hand on his arm made him jump, and he turned to find her standing with his Coke. “You always creep up like that?”
    “I’m sorry.”
    He felt like pulling her into his arms as he had so many times, but he took the Coke and chugged it, looking away. “So where’s Dad?”
    “We’re not together.”
    He’d expected it by her circumstances and the lack of a ring, but he couldn’t tell by her tone whether it was good or bad. “Are you sorry about that?”
    “Let’s just say it’s a long story.” Now her voice had an edge.
    “I heard you married some major league baseball player.”
    “Minor.”
    “Hmm?”
    “Minor league. In everything but ego.” Her tone was soft, but biting. “He played a season with San Diego, but it was mostly farm club stuff. Anyway, his father had better things for him to do.”
    “The senator.”
    “Ex-senator.” A breath of wind flipped her hair across her cheek.
    Cal eyed the steaks. “So how’d you pick Ray for the job?”
    “First ad in the column.”
    He nodded. “You didn’t know he was my neighbor.”
    “No, Cal, I didn’t know.” With that hope-dasher, she went back inside.
    The yard seemed gray and tired. After a few minutes, he turned the meat and congratulated himself on his steady hand. He could do this … as long as the flames stayed down.
    Carrying the platter as a trophy, he joined Ray and Laurie in the kitchen. Ray had not moved, but Laurie had the table set around him. The swing of her hips as she carried over the salad and bread was unconsciously feminine. He used to follow her down the hall just to watch, but when he’d told her that, she’d gotten so self-conscious she had walked like a stick for weeks.
    That memory surge didn’t help, and he clattered the plate on the table, then sprang for Laurie’s chair when she came over. His hand brushed her back as he eased the chair in, and the ends of her hair were like silk on his skin. His heart started pounding. Was she experiencing the same high-voltage sensations?
    The steak was a little past the bloody stage, but not yet to a sophisticated warm, pink center. No one complained, so he didn’t offer to throw them back on. The meat, the cold, crisp salad, and wheat bread satisfied the rumbling of his stomach, but only time alone with Laurie would fill the rest. Ray absorbed everything edible that came within reach, then stood to go as soon as he finished.
    Good boy. Now keep on moving for the door .
    Ray stopped, patted his pockets, and raised his eyes to Cal. Cal tossed him the keys. “You left them in the ignition.”
    “Thanks.”
    “I tell you what, Ray.” Cal wiped his mouth and dropped the napkin on his plate. “You go ahead, and I’ll find my own way home.” His peripheral vision caught Laurie’s surprise and the frown that followed, but she said nothing as she cleared the plates to the sink. He’d take that as assent. He stood and, with his hand on Ray’s elbow, edged him toward the door.
    Ray shrugged. “Okay. But I’m not coming back for you.”
    “No problem.”
    Cal watched Ray plod to the car, then returned to the kitchen. Laurie’s back was to him as she rubbed the plates in the soapy water, rinsed them under the faucet, then stood them on the drainer. Her twenty-eight years didn’t show. Her waist curved in smoothly beneath the T-shirt, and as she bent, the jeans tightened in only the