Free His First and Last (Ardent Springs #1) by Terri Osburn Page B

that went by the look on her face, but he asked anyway. “No luck?”
    A heavy sigh served as her answer.
    “Did you try anyplace else?” he asked as he settled onto the swing beside her.
    “I considered the other restaurants in town, since waiting tables is my only marketable skill, but doubted I’d have better luck.” Running a hand through her hair, Lorelei sat back. “Then I tried that Snow’s Curiosity Shop, thinking maybe someone who doesn’t know my history would give me a chance.”
    Seemed like a good idea. One he should have thought of for her. “No luck there either?”
    She gave a noncommittal shrug, her eyes yet to meet his. “I didn’t exactly get a no. She’s willing to let me work the week of the Main Street Festival.”
    As Lorelei lost interest in Champ, the dog nudged his owner’s hand, looking for more attention. Spencer obliged with a scratch under his chin.
    “That’s something. Maybe you’ll do so well, she’ll keep you on.”
    “She also suggested I bring in something she can sell, but we both know I don’t have a crafty bone in my body.”
    Spencer turned in his seat to play with a lock of Lorelei’s hair. “Depends on what you mean by crafty.”
    If looks could kill, he’d be choking for air. “Forgive me if I’m not in the mood to laugh. This is my life, Spencer. My screwed-up-beyond-saving life. Whoever said you
can’t
go home again knew what he was talking about.”
    “Ah, Thomas Wolfe.”
    Now he had her attention. “You know who said that?”
    “I suppose someone else might have said it before, but it’s the title of a Thomas Wolfe book.” He
was
a reader. She didn’t have to look so surprised.
    “What did you ever see in me?” she asked, taking him by surprise.
    “Uh . . . What?” Several answers came to mind, but few he figured she’d believe. And most he wasn’t willing to admit since he still saw them in her today. Though tarnished and dimmed in places, the Lorelei he loved was still in there. Whether she believed it or not.
    “You’re a genius compared to me.” Lorelei pushed off the swing, sending it into motion so that Spencer was forced to put his boot down to keep the seat from taking off Champ’s head. “Your background is as screwed up as mine, if not worse, and yet you have your life together. You have a job and you’re going to school and people respect you. Maybe that’s the one thing I did right,” she added, storming off toward the front door.
    Spencer caught her before her hand reached the screen. “What did you do right?”
    “I took myself out of your life,” she answered, rare tears dancing at the edge of her lashes. “If I’ve screwed up my own life this bad, imagine what I would have done to yours.”
    “Lorelei, you haven’t screwed up your life.” Out of instinct, he tried to pull her close, but Lorelei bolted away.
    “You look at me and you see what you want to see, Spencer. You always did.” She shook her head. “Open your eyes, because the woman standing before you is a mess. I have nothing to show for my life but the clothes in my broken suitcases. I’m thirty years old and I’m no better off than a child.”
    He wasn’t about to encourage her pity party. “You’re the one who needs to open your eyes. You have a grandmother who loves you and would do anything for you. You have two good legs and a strong back, and there’s nothing wrong with that brain of yours except this delusion that life owes you something.” Spencer took off his hat to run a hand through his hair, then slammed it back on. “You get what you give, Lorelei. You work hard and you earn the life you want.”
    “You think I didn’t work hard in LA?” she asked. “I worked my butt off. I took classes and worked endless night shifts so I could run around auditioning all day, only to be told that I wasn’t pretty enough or tall enough or short enough or stacked enough. Do you know what that’s like? Do you?” she drilled. “No, you