Free Lakeside Sweetheart by Lenora Worth

“Well, that didn’t last very long.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” Vanessa said. “I shouldn’t have interfered.”
    But she was glad she had.
    The girl brushed past her with more than a dollop of swagger. “I was gonna break up with him anyway.”
    Vanessa wanted to say something else when she looked up to find Rory standing outside the gathering hall doors, a surprised grin on his handsome face.
    â€œHow much of that did you hear?” Vanessa asked Rory after Kandi whirled past him with her gaze on her boots.
    â€œEnough,” he said, wondering why Vanessa and Kandi had been talking in the first place. “Did she say something smart-alecky to you?”
    â€œNo. We were beginning to have a conversation when some sort of Goth James Dean tried to entice her to go away with him.”
    Rory took in Vanessa’s pretty outfit and the white boxes marked with Marla’s trademark dessert label. “So...you stopped Kandi from making a really bad mistake?”
    â€œI suggested we should go inside, yes.”
    â€œGood move. Wanda, her foster mother, told me Kandi has been hanging out with a boy who might not be suitable. So where is Mr. Wonderful?”
    â€œHe got mad and swooped away after Kandi basically told him to get some manners.”
    â€œGood for her.” Rory took the pastry boxes. “You brought goodies.”
    â€œI wasn’t sure what to bring,” Vanessa said, looking as if she’d like to run back home. “I wasn’t sure if I’d even come.”
    â€œI know.” He leaned close. “You can leave at any time. We have several exit doors.”
    She gave him one of her half smiles. “Thanks.” Then she glanced toward the door to the building. “So that girl, Kandi, is in the foster program?”
    â€œYes. She just turned sixteen. Lost her mother when she was ten and never knew her father. The Peppermons have had her for about six months now. She’s a handful but she’s been through a lot. She’s been better lately, but her mom’s birthday is this week. She would have been thirty-two if she’d lived.”
    Shock registered on Vanessa’s face. “She died?”
    â€œIn a car wreck. She was drinking and driving. She had Kandi when she was sixteen, so I’m sure the whole thing is weighing on the girl.”
    The shock changed to understanding. “Oh. That’s horrible.”
    Rory wondered if Vanessa was thinking of her own mother. “Yep. Kandi’s acting out because she misses her mother. She has no grandparents who live near. Her mother’s parents live in California and don’t really want anything to do with her since she gave them so much trouble when they did try to raise her.”
    They strolled into the long building behind the church. “I can’t imagine that,” Vanessa said. “Even on our worst days, my mother and I still tried to communicate. Obviously, we never succeeded but still...”
    â€œMaybe you two were closer than you realized.”
    She glanced around the room full of teens of various sizes and ages. “Maybe so. I guess we’ll never know now, will we?”
    Then she took the pastry boxes from him and marched toward the food table.
    Rory decided Kandi wasn’t the only female around here with attitude. But Vanessa had pushed aside her issues to come tonight. It was a start. He followed her and began introducing her to various people.
    â€œI think you met Kandi Jordan outside,” he said to Vanessa when they walked by the girl. “Kandi, this is my friend Vanessa Donovan. She lives across the street, but she’s only here for a few weeks. She came back to clean out her house and sell it.”
    Kandi shot Vanessa a sullen glance. “Why are you selling your house?”
    Vanessa’s eyes grew wide with concern. “My mother died a few weeks ago. I don’t want to live here so I have to sell