Read Somebody Like You for Free Online

stood open, and Annelise could smell the right-out-of-the-oven cookies. Great. As hungry as she was, the scent of freshly baked cookies was the last thing she needed.
    Before she could even raise a hand to knock, Dottie Willis called, “Come on in. My door’s never locked.”
    A jolt of surprise ran through Annelise. Because of the constant threat of kidnappers and the like, she’d always been under lock and key. It seemed unfathomable that anyone would leave her house wide open. And all the time?
    She poked her head inside. Pink. Everywhere. The kitchen walls, countertops, curtains. It was like being dropped inside a vat of cotton candy.
    “Getting settled, sweetie?”
    “Yes, ma’am. I had a couple of questions, though.”
    “Imagine you do.” Dottie grinned. “Wouldn’t involve a long-legged cowboy, would they?”
    She fought the nervous twitch in her stomach and smiled back. “No, actually they don’t.”
    “Want a cookie and a glass of milk?”
    Cookies and milk. The memory brought a smile. Frannie, their cook, offered her that for a treat after school. At least, on the days her mother hadn’t scheduled French lessons or horseback riding lessons or ballet lessons. Whatever the class du jour, her mom had seen she took it.
    “I’d love that, Mrs. Willis.”
    “Dottie, please. Have a seat.” She bustled about the small room, pouring two glasses of cold milk and fussing with a delicate porcelain salver of cookies, the chips melted and gooey still.
    When Annelise reached for one, Dottie stopped her by grasping her hand. She turned it over and studied the blisters. “You poor dear. What was Cash thinking? I’m gonna have to turn that boy over my knee. Give me a minute.”
    She left the room.
    Annelise mourned the few seconds Dottie was gone because it meant postponing the cookie tasting. She couldn’t ever remember a banquet as appealing as this simple snack. But then, she couldn’t remember ever being quite this hungry. Manual labor certainly improved the appetite.
    Down the hall, she heard something drop to the floor, followed by a muffled oath. Then Dottie hustled back into the room, scattering her first-aid paraphernalia over the center island.
    “Okay, dear, let’s see those palms again.” She snagged her dangling glasses, set them on her nose, and went to work on Annelise’s ill-used hands. She cleaned each one, then covered them with Neosporin.
    The sting instantly disappeared. Annelise could have kissed her.
    “There,” she said. “That’ll keep the blisters from getting infected and make them feel a bit better.”
    Annelise found herself fighting back unexpected—and unwanted—tears. This woman, a virtual stranger, tended her without expecting anything in return.
    “Thank you.”
    “You’re more than welcome. Now eat your cookies and ask what you came to ask.”
    She blew out a breath, just like that having been put back on an even keel by Dottie. True, she’d found this place on the Internet, but, without being aware of that, Cash had known instinctively this was exactly where she needed to be right now when he’d thought of this as the place for her to stay.
    Fighting to organize her thoughts, she chewed her lower lip, a habit her mother detested. Never show nerves or weakness. In the world according to Georgia, lip-chewing did both.
    “Okay, Dottie, first things first, I guess. I didn’t bring much with me.”
    “On that Harley of yours? I’d guess not,” her landlady replied.
    “Right. Anyway, the clothes I wore to the ranch today stink to high heaven. Where do I get them done?”
    “Done?” She tipped her head. “You mean where do you do your laundry?”
    Annelise swallowed. “Yes. I guess that’s what I mean.”
    Oh, brother. Nobody in town did laundry? Another new experience coming up.
    “’Fraid there’s no washer or dryer upstairs. No room for them. Mabel’s Suds and Dry is on the north corner of Main Street, though, and she runs a nice clean place.” Her