Read Groom in Training for Free Online

for the zipper.
    “Let me help you.” Steph turned her around, hoping the zipper would bring an end to the conversation.
    But Molly twisted her neck and spoke over her shoulder. “Have you been on a date with him?”
    A date? Steph was glad Molly couldn’t see her face. “If you call walking the dogs a date, yes.”
    Molly slipped her arms from the gown. “Does he like you?”
    “Yes, as a friend, but that’s fine. I’m not ready for anything serious.” Her mind flooded with dark thoughts. “First I have to learn to be more attentive to—”
    “Stop blaming yourself, Steph.” The gown slipped from Molly’s body and pooled on the white cloth beneath her feet as she spun to face her. “Suicide is a selfish act. It leaves people asking themselves forever what they did wrong and what they might have done to make it better. Doug wanted to die for his own reason. You didn’t. You want to live, and it’s about time you did.”
     
    Steph pressed the phone against her ear. Her fingers knotted around the receiver, and she forced her voice to sound normal, but tension had risen like a tsunami. “Why are you still living with Dad anyway, Hal? You two never got along.”
    “That was before. We’ve been getting along until recently.”
    She heard something in her brother’s voice that didn’t connect. Hal and her dad had a different set of ethics and values. They never were compatible. “What’s happened now?”
    He didn’t respond.
    “Are you working?” Steph pursed her lips, waiting to see how he’d wiggle out of that question.
    “Why does everything revolve around that?”
    A deep breath rattled through her lungs. “Answer me. Are you living off Dad again?”
    “I don’t like your attitude, Steph. We haven’t talked in a long time. You’re my sister. I just called to see how you’re doing. I miss you.”
    Since when? “I’m okay.”
    “I thought maybe I’d come your way. You know, give Dad a few days’ break. Maybe then we’ll see eye to eye when I get back.”
    She doubted that. Forget seeing eye to eye; her father probably preferred to see Hal’s hand with a paycheck. “Hal, I think before you visit anyone, you should spend time looking for work.”
    “You don’t sound very—”
    She lost the end of his sentence when the doorbell rang. Fred let out a yip as he scrambled to the door, flipping a scatter rug across the kitchen floor. “Hal, someone’s at the door. Hang on.”
    Steph set the phone on the counter, wishing she’d said she was hanging up. As she approached the door, Fred tripped her, and she shot across the entry, one foot splaying on the hardwood and the other lifting in the air like a hornpiper’s jig. She whacked against the door, cringed and flung it open.
    Nick’s mouth gaped. “Are you okay?”
    She tried to grin, but she was sure it was a grimace. She beckoned him in. “My brother’s on the phone.” She headed back to the kitchen, keeping her eye out for Fred, with no need. She could hear him prancing around Nick’s legs near the door.
    “Sorry, Hal. A neighbor dropped by.”
    His deep sigh cut through the line. Steph listened to the silence, waiting.
    “I’d better let you go. You have company.”
    Her chest filled with air and she released it in one long stream. “All right, Hal, and good luck finding a job.” Her frustration had to be evident.
    When she pulled the telephone from her ear, his last words struck her before she disconnected.
    “I’ll see you soon.”
    See her soon? She couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t heard a word she’d said. When she turned, Nick stood in the kitchen doorway.
    “Bad news?”
    She forced her mouth into a pleasant expression. Nick looked great. The May sun had deepened his skin tone to a bronze tan, making his chiseled features even more attractive. “My brother called. He wants to come for a visit, but I know he wants a handout. That’s the only reason he’d come here.”
    “If you’re having company, I can leave