Dream a Little Dream (Chicago Stars, #4)(154)

Could you please shut up for a minute so I can enjoy the view? Laura’s breasts strained against the cups of her halter top as she leaned forward to regard her daughter’s artwork. Damn it! He wasn’t meant to be celibate.

He remembered those wild years in his early twenties before he’d gotten the call. The beautiful, busty women; the nights of hot free sex—doing it every way he could think of. Oh, God . . .

Yes? Oprah replied.

He gave up. How could he enjoy Laura’s body with the Greatest Talk-Show Host of them all listening in? As he turned away, he found himself wishing he could counsel teenagers to celibacy and preach on the sacredness of marriage vows without actually living those beliefs himself, but he wasn’t made up that way.

He greeted Tracy Longben and Sarah Curtis, both of whom he’d grown up with, then he commiserated with Austin Longben over his broken wrist and admired Taylor Curtis’s pink sneakers. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Edward Snopes standing off by himself.

Stone, he reminded himself, not Snopes. The boy’s last name had been legally changed. Too bad Rachel hadn’t done something about that first name. Why didn’t she call him Eddie or Ted?

His conscience pinched him. The boy had been at the child-care center for three days, and Ethan hadn’t once sought him out. It wasn’t Edward’s fault that he had dishonest parents, and Ethan had no excuse for ignoring him except misplaced anger.

He remembered the phone call he’d received from Carol Dennis the day before. His anger was nothing compared to hers. She was furious that he’d let Rachel stay in Annie’s cottage, and he’d been too protective of Gabe to tell her it had been his brother’s decision.

He’d tried to reason with her, gently reminding her they needed to be careful about passing judgment, even though he’d passed it long ago, but she wouldn’t listen.

He didn’t like crossing Carol. Although her brand of religion was more restrictive than his, she was a woman of deep faith, and she’d done the town a lot of good.

“If you let her stay in that cottage, Pastor,” she’d said, “it will reflect on you, and I don’t think you want that.”

Even though she was right, her attitude had irritated him. “I guess I’ll have to deal with that when it happens,” he’d replied as mildly as he could manage.

Now he made himself walk over to Edward and smile. “Hey there, buddy. How’d your day go?”

“Okay.”

The child gazed up at him with large brown eyes. He had a sprinkle of pale freckles across his nose. A cute kid. Ethan felt himself warming to him. “You made any friends yet?”

He didn’t respond.

“It might take a while for the other kids to get used to having somebody new around, but sooner or later they’ll warm up.”

Edward looked up at him and blinked. “Do you think Kristy forgot to come and get me?”

“Kristy doesn’t ever forget anything, Edward. She’s the most reliable person you’ll ever know.”

Kristy overheard Ethan’s words as she came up behind them. Reliable. That’s all she meant to Ethan Bonner. Good old reliable Kristy Brown. Kristy’ll do it. Kristy’ll take care of it.

She sighed to herself. What did she expect? Did she think Ethan would look at her the way he’d been looking at Laura Delapino only a moment earlier? Not likely. Laura was flashy and perky, while Kristy was plain and uninteresting. She had her pride, though, and over the years she had learned to hide her painful shyness behind a brutal efficiency. Whatever needed to be done, she could do. Everything except win Ethan Bonner’s heart.

Kristy had known Ethan nearly all her life, and he’d been attracted to flashy, easy women ever since eighth grade when Melodie Orr had gotten her braces off and discovered shrink-wrapped jeans. They used to make out every day after lunch next to the choir room.


“Kristy!”

Edward’s face lit up as he spotted her, and warmth spread through her. She loved children. She could relax with them and be herself. She would have much preferred working in child care to her job as a church secretary, and she’d have quit years ago if she hadn’t so desperately needed to stay close to Ethan Bonner. Since she couldn’t be his lover, she’d settle into the role of his caretaker.

As she knelt down to admire the collage Edward had made that day, she thought about the fact that she’d loved Ethan for more than twenty years. She clearly remembered watching him through the window of her third-grade classroom when he went out for recess with the fourth-graders. He’d been just as dazzling then as he was now, the handsomest boy she’d ever seen. He’d always treated her kindly, but then he’d treated everyone that way. Even when he was a child, Ethan had been different from the others: more sensitive, less inclined to tease.

He hadn’t been a pushover, though; his older brothers had taken care of that. She still remembered the day Ethan had fought D.J. Loebach, the junior high’s worst bully, and given him a bloody nose. Afterward, though, Ethan had felt guilty and gone over to D.J.’s house with a couple of melting grape Popsicles to make peace. D.J. still liked to tell that story at deacons’ meetings.

As she stood and took Edward’s hand, she caught the whiff of a heavy, sensuous perfume. “Hey, Eth.”

“Hi, Laura.”

Laura flashed Kristy a friendly smile, and Kristy felt her heart curdle with envy. How could some women be so confident?