Read From the Heart for Free Online Page A

experimentally rolling the word around on her tongue.
    “You know, old jeans, something with a hole in it, a chocolate stain.”
    “No. I don’t think—”
    “Never mind.” Kasey grinned at her and set the book aside. “With all the clothes you have, one outfit shouldn’t be missed. Come on.” Rising, she took Alison’s hand and pulled her to the patio door.
    “Where are we going?”
    Kasey glanced down at Alison. “We’re going to borrow the gardener’s hose and make mud sculptures. I want to see if you can get dirty.” They stepped outside.
    “Mud sculptures?” Alison repeated as they wound their way around to the garden.
    “Think about it as an art project,” Kasey suggested. “An educational experiment.”
    “I don’t know if Haverson will let you have a hose,” Alison warned.
    “Oh, yeah?” Kasey grinned in anticipation as they approached the gardener. “We’ll see.”
    “Good day, miss.” Haverson tipped the brim of his cap and paused in his pruning.
    “Hello, Mr. Haverson.” Kasey gave him a flash of a smile. “I wanted to tell you how much I admire your garden. Particularly the azaleas. This.” She touched a funnel-shaped blossom. “Tell me, do you use oak leaves as mulch?”
    Fifteen minutes later Kasey had her hose and was busily manufacturing mud behind a clump of rhododendron bushes.
    “How did you know all of that?” Alison asked her.
    “All of what?”
    “How did you know so much about the flowers? You’re an anthropologist.”
    “Do you think a plumber only knows about pipes and grouting sinks?” She smiled over at Alison, amused by the concentration on the child’s face. “Education is marvelous, Alison. There’s nothing you can’t know if you want to.” She turned off the hose and crouched down. “What would you like to make?”
    Gingerly Alison sat beside her and poked at the mud with a fingertip. “I don’t know how.”
    Kasey laughed. “It’s not acid, love.” She plunged in, wrist deep. “Who’s to say Michelangelo didn’t get his start this way? I think I’ll do a bust of Jordan.” She sighed, wishing he hadn’t popped into her head. “He’s got a fascinating face, don’t you think?”
    “I suppose so. But he’s rather old.” Alison, still cautious, began to work the mud into a pile.
    “Oh.” Kasey wrinkled her nose. “He’s only a few years older than I am, and I’m barely out of adolescence.”
    “You’re not old, Kasey.” Alison looked up again. Her eyes were suddenly intense. “You’re not old enough to be my mother, are you?”
    Kasey fell in love. Her heart was lost, and there was no turning back. She was needed. “No, Alison, I’m not old enough to be your mother.” Her voice was soft, understanding. When the girl dropped her eyes, Kasey lifted her chin with a fingertip. “But I’m old enough to be your friend. I could use one, too.”
    “Really?”
    The child was crying out to be loved, to be touched. Kasey felt a wave of anger for Jordan as she cupped Alison’s face inher hands. “Really.” She watched the smile start slowly until it bloomed over the child’s face.
    “Will you show me how to make a dog?” Alison demanded and stuck her hands into mud.
    When they walked back to the house an hour later, they were giggling. Each carried a pair of mud-caked shoes. Kasey’s mind was clearer than it had been for days. I need her as much as she needs me, she thought and glanced down at Alison. She laughed and stopped to lift the child’s streaked face.
    “You’re beautiful,” Kasey told her. Bending, she kissed her nose. “However, your grandmother might disagree, so you’d better get upstairs and into a tub.”
    “She’s at a committee meeting,” Alison commented and giggled again, seeing the mud on Kasey’s cheek. “She’s always at meetings.”
    “Then we won’t have to bother her, will we?” Kasey took Alison’s hand and began to walk again. “Of course, you’re not to lie to her. If your