Free Sympathy Pains by Sharon Sala Page A

went off, she set the cup down and turned toward Marilee, blessing her with her most brilliant smile.
    â€œMy dear, I want to apologize for yesterday. I hope you’ll chalk it up to surprise and forgive me.” Then she waved a hand toward Gavin, as well. “For that matter, forgive both of us for our thoughtlessness.”
    â€œYou’re forgiven,” Marilee said, although she didn’t buy a word of the apology.
    â€œWonderful,” Judith said. “Now that we’ve settled that bit of business, I want you to accompany me into Lubbock today for some shopping. We’ll buy you some new clothes and whatever else we can find that we can’t live without. What do you say?”
    Justin tensed. He didn’t trust his mother, and the last thing he wanted was for her to get Marileealone. But he needn’t have worried. Marilee wasn’t interested.
    â€œNo, thanks,” Marilee said. “I’m still tired from traveling and, truthfully, I don’t need a thing, so there’s no need for me to go.”
    Gavin stared, unable to believe what he’d heard. There sat a woman who had not only refused a trip to go shopping, but had admitted she didn’t need anything. Something told him that he was going to have to readjust his opinion of his new daughter-in-law even more.
    Judith frowned. This wasn’t going the way she’d planned. “Are you sure?” she asked.
    â€œYes, but thank you,” Marilee said, and inhaled with delight as Maria came back in the room with her food and set it in front of her. “Oooh, that looks wonderful, Maria. Thank you so much.”
    â€œYou are welcome,” Maria said, then set Justin’s plate in front of him, as well.
    â€œSeñor Gavin...Señora Judith...may I fix your breakfast now?”
    Judith wrinkled her nose in disgust. “No, no, I’ll just have a roll and some more coffee,” she said.
    But Gavin was eyeing Marilee’s plate with interest. “Those look good. What are they?”
    Marilee pushed her plate toward Justin’s father. “Spanish eggs. Would you like a bite?”
    Gavin hesitated. He hadn’t eaten off anybody’s plate in his entire life. He glanced at Marilee and then picked up his fork. “If you’re sure you don’t mind?”
    She smiled. “How will you know unless you try them?”
    He took a small bite and then rolled his eyes with pleasure.
    â€œWow. Those are damned good. Maria, fix me some of those, will you?”
    Marilee hid a smile as she pulled her plate back in front of her. It figured. The way to a man’s heart—any man—was quite often through his stomach. Then she glanced at Justin and grinned. If she didn’t know better, she would think he was jealous.
    â€œDo you want to taste them, too?” she asked.
    He grinned. “Read my mind, didn’t you?” and took a small bite, careful not to eat too much of the food she needed to be eating.
    â€œDang, Dad! You’re right. These are really good!” Then he leaned over and kissed Marilee on the cheek. “Thanks for sharing, darlin’. Now eat up. You need that a whole lot worse than we do.”
    Judith was disgusted by the show of affection and kept trying to catch Gavin’s eye, but it wasn’t working. Gavin had already seen the proverbial writing on the wall. He wasn’t about to lose the affection of his only son because his wife was in a snit. And as for the woman Justin had married, Gavin was starting to see her in a different light. Maybe—just maybe—she wasn’t a gold digger, after all.
    The meal passed in relative calm, but the underlying tension was giving Marilee a headache. As soon as the meal was over, she excused herself. Justin left with her, then followed her into their bathroom. When she shook a couple of painkillers from the bottle, he held out his hand.
    â€œGive me two of those, too, will you? My