Free Midnight Promises by Sherryl Woods Page A

Adelia insisted again. “When are you and Karen going to have a child of your own?”
It was a question she, their sisters and their mother had been asking regularly practically since he and Karen had said, “I do.”
“When the time is right for us,” he said as he always did. Telling her simply to mind her own business was useless.
At least this answer seemed to silence her, though not for long, he realized, when she asked, “And when will that be?”
“Adelia, as my oldest sister, you will be among the first to know,” he assured her. “Right after Mama.”
“I want to be first,” she teased. “Who taught you everything you know about girls? Who else protected you from the bullies at school?”
“Not you, for sure,” he said, laughing. “You were all talk, and almost got me in more trouble than I could handle with that sassy mouth of yours.”
She laughed, the first genuinely carefree sound he’d heard since the conversation began. “It made you strong, didn’t it? And you were a huge hit with all the girls because I told you what women like.”
“I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. See you soon.”
“Te amo, mi hermano.”
“I love you, too.”
Even though his sisters had the ability to drive him crazy in less than a heartbeat, he couldn’t imagine his life without them. He wanted Karen to benefit from being surrounded by all that love, as well, but it had been slow going so far. Though their open hostility toward her had faded, his sisters’ caution was still firmly in place. One of these days he’d have to find a way to bridge that gap.
Karen had her share of friends, counted on them as she would family, but he knew from a lifetime of experience that the support of love and family made all life’s problems just a little easier.

5
     
E lliott walked into the gym at school with Daisy on his arm. Karen had piled her daughter’s light brown hair on top of her head in an arrangement of curls. The dress they’d chosen together was pastel pink satin that seemed to bring out the color in her cheeks and made her eyes sparkle. Or perhaps that was the excitement of attending her first real dance.
She stood in the doorway, looking around with an awed expression at the tiny white lights that decorated potted trees, the disco ball hanging from the ceiling that sent out shafts of color as it spun, and the usual colorful streamers that turned a big empty space into something special.
“It’s beautiful,” she said softly, turning to him with delight shining in her eyes.
“You’re beautiful,” Elliott told her sincerely. “You look very grown up. I think you may be the prettiest girl in the room.”
“Not really,” she said, though she looked pleased. “Are Selena and Ernesto here yet?”
“I don’t see them,” he said, scanning the room, which was already crowded with young girls and their fathers. The excitement was at a fever pitch, as was the noise level.
When the disc jockey began to play a slow song, Elliott looked down into Daisy’s hopeful face. “Would you care to dance?”
“Really?” she asked, sounding breathless with anticipation.
“That’s why we’re here, is it not? I imagine I can still make it around the floor a time or two without stepping on your toes.”
He showed her where to put her hands, then counted for her as she awkwardly tried to follow his lead. At the end of the song, she took a deep breath. “I’m glad it’s you and not a boy,” she said, her expression filled with frustration. “I’m no good at this. I’ll never have a date.”
“You’ll get the hang of it long before you’re old enough to go on your first date,” he promised just as he spotted Ernesto and Selena coming their way. His brother-in-law looked oddly out of sorts.
“How’d Daisy talk you into being here?” Ernesto asked, his tone sour. “You wouldn’t catch me near this place if Adelia hadn’t raised a fuss.”
Elliott caught the shadow that passed over Selena’s face at