Read Iron & Bone (Lock & Key #3) for Free Online

doctor and rehab appointments. I genuinely liked Tania; I would miss her. She was the older sister I’d never had, and she and Becca had fallen in love with each other.
    “I just don’t want her to have regrets,” said Rae. “Ending your marriage is serious business. They’ve been married for just over ten years now. It’s a shame. I mean, now they’ve figured out that they don’t get along?”
    “You get comfortable, even when you’re unhappy, don’t you think? Sometimes, it’s really hard to take charge of your own unhappiness.” I picked up Becca’s jumbo Lego blocks from the floor and put them back in their plastic jar. “Better now than much later on, right? At least there aren’t any children in the mix.”
    Rae’s lined face etched into a tight frown that was more like a carefully constructed dam holding back an overflowing reservoir of frustration and disappointment. “They just kept putting it off. See how time flies away with you? I know, it’s her life. But that’s my headstrong daughter for you, barreling ahead, not much thought to the future.”
    I scooped up Becca in my arms. “I’m looking forward to having her back with us soon.”
    Rae sighed. “So am I. She’ll be back before we know it.”
     
    My phone pinged a text notification. I knew it.
    Can’t make it today. Will call u
    Typical.
    This was the third time Catch was blowing off visiting his daughter. But now those visits included his mom, and Rae hadn’t seen her son in years. She didn’t talk about him much to me, which was just as well, but on occasion I’d hear her telling Becca stories about her dad as a boy. She was his mother, for Pete’s sake.
    “Rae? I don’t think Catch will be able to come today.”
    Rae’s neck stiffened. “Oh? That’s too bad.” She adjusted the small pillow she kept at her lower back.
    I bit my lip. “He got sent out of town at the last minute. Can’t say no to the boss.”
    “I suppose not.” She busied herself with the television remote control. The news flashed by, a soap-opera, a talk show.
    I put my phone down on the coffee table. “I’m going to change Snow White’s diaper and put her down for a nap. Would you like me to make you another cup of tea first?”
    “No honey, you go ahead and take care of our princess. I’ll survive.”
    I headed into my bedroom with Becca. I needed to call Tania and let her know her brother wouldn’t be coming. She’d be disappointed too, but was better at hiding it than her mom. And I’d have to find a way to explain it to our daughter, too. Catch really knew how to make the women in his life happy.

“ BONER, TAKE A PICTURE OF US, would you?” Grace handed me her cell phone and rushed back to stand with Tania at the front door of the office of Eagle Wings. Tania had come over to say goodbye before she took off for Wisconsin.
    I dropped my phone on Grace’s desk.
    “Have you not heard of the selfie concept?” Tania asked her, brushing her black hair from her face.
    “I want the real deal photo right now,” Grace shot back. “I’m going to miss you.”
    “I’m only going back there to pack up my stuff and hire a lawyer. I’ll be back before you know it—a month or two, tops.”
    Tania and Grace threw their arms around each other and laughed. You would’ve thought they were teenagers again.
    I aimed Grace’s phone and got the two of them in focus.
    Whir-click. Whir-click. Whir-click.
    “Wait!” Grace held up her hand. “Jill, get in here with us.”
    Jill glanced up at me and joined Grace and Tania, going between them. The three of them smiled huge, and I tapped on the screen.
    Whir-click. Whir-click.
    “Got it,” I said, putting Grace’s phone on her desk and grabbing mine.
    The three of them yakked and hugged some more. Tania opened the front door of the office, and light streamed in, diffusing its gold through Jill’s tumble of wavy strawberry-blonde hair.
    I stood stock-still, taking her in: a curvy body in