Read My Sunshine for Free Online Page B

I got rid of that horrid bedspread she gave me.”
    â€œThe green one?”
    â€œI called it the Rambo spread. It was supposed to be a floral pattern, but it looked like camouflage.”
    â€œWhat’ll you tell Mom when she comes back for a visit?”
    â€œThat I wore a hole in it having hot sex with all my lovers.”
    Laura gave a horrified laugh. “You are so bad.”
    â€œNot nearly as bad as Marsha thinks I am.” Etta sighed. “If only I were having that much fun. It’s so nice having them down in Florida. She calls me once a week, and we have a nice little chat. She asks questions, I tell her what she wants to hear, and she never gets in a dither.”
    As much as Laura loved her mother, she knew exactly what her grandmother meant. Marsha Townsend was a wonderful woman, but she had a tendency to micromanage other people’s lives. Laura didn’t miss all the hovering, and if she never had to take another brain-enhancement herbal supplement, it would be too soon. Her mom still sent her bottles of pills—all the old standbys and any-thing new that promised to work a miracle—but now Laura could just toss them in the trash.
    The click of Etta’s cigarette lighter came over the line. “So how are you this morning? Still nervous about the job?”
    â€œVery,” Laura confessed. “I’m afraid I’ll mess up.”
    â€œSweetheart, you’re so good with animals. You’re going to be the best kennel keeper they’ve ever had. Trust me on this. Sweet old grannies know about these things.”
    Laura’s sweet old granny slept in lacy teddies, one a mind-boggling hot pink. She’d also dated four different men in the last six months, all of them over a decade younger than she was.
    â€œThere’s going to be a lot for me to learn,” Laura reminded her.
    â€œYou can handle it.”
    â€œI hope so.” Laura tucked the phone under her chin so she could take another sip of coffee. The sun had risen higher in the sky, and the light coming at an angle through the trees dappled the blue-gray highway with splashes of gold and shadow. “It’ll be fun to have a real job again.”
    â€œI’m so happy for you, honey.”
    â€œI’m happy for me, too. I just hope it all works out.”
    â€œIt will. No son of Mary Coulter’s can be any-thing but wonderful. She is such a lovely person. What do you think of Isaiah, by the way? We were so busy talking about the job last night that you never said much about him.”
    An image of Isaiah’s dark, chiseled features flashed in Laura’s mind. On a handsomeness scale of one to ten, he was clear off the chart, one of the most attractive men she had ever seen. “Well, I can say his name. That’s a big plus. ‘Aphasia’ and ‘Isaiah’ are sort of alike.”
    â€œAnd that’s it?” Etta asked incredulously. “You can say his name?”
    â€œHe’s nice,” Laura expounded.
    â€œ Nice? Oh, come on. I’ve seen that young man. Only from a distance, mind you, but even then he packed a wallop. Made me wish I were fifty years younger.”
    â€œHe’s my boss, Gram.”
    â€œMeaning what, exactly?”
    â€œNo drooling allowed.”
    â€œSo you do think he’s cute.”
    Cute was not the word Laura would have chosen to describe Isaiah Coulter. Rumpled sable hair, a devastating grin that was impossible to resist, and sizzling sky-blue eyes that made her skin tingle every time he looked at her. It had been a very long time since she had felt even mildly attracted to a member of the opposite sex—over five years, in fact—and even then her heart hadn’t thudded against her ribs like a hard rubber ball bouncing down ladder rungs.
    â€œHe’s a vet, Gram. He prob’ly makes more money in a month than I do in a year.”
    â€œ Pro-ba-bly, ” Etta corrected.