Free Sound Advice (Sensations Collection #1) by L.B. Dunbar

seemed to have a reaction to me. I feel like I need to do something.”
    “We don’t need your pity.” Anger crept through his voice again.
    “I’m not giving you pity. I’m giving you help.”
    “We don’t need your help, either.” Anger definitely left his mouth now.
    “How about hope?”
    He looked at me again and I returned his intense stare. He was a stubborn man, I could tell. He was strong, dependable, and protecting himself and his child. I understood this, but I wanted him to let me in a little. I could be stubborn as well.
    “I could do something. I don’t know? Keep reading to her. Play with her.”
    “Until she is too attached and you return to Chicago for good?” Jess interrupted. “That won’t help her.”
    “Well, I’m not going anywhere for a while. I need to think of Nana.”
    “Another reason we don’t need your help. And you will return to Chicago eventually. It’s in your blood.”
    “What does that mean?” I said, defensively.
    “You hate it here.”
    “What? How would you know how I feel? Besides, I don’t hate it here. I love Nana and her home.”
    “Yes, but we know all about the big city writer and the glorious social life you lead. This is small time for you and you have never hidden your hatred of Up North.” He made quotation marks in the air as he spoke the words “up north.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “I remember you. You look different now, but I remember you with glasses and pigtails. You and your sister always strutting around in your bikini tops and jean shorts thinking you were better than everyone up here.”
    My mouth fell open. “We did not,” I defended, but I knew he might be right. Rosie and I did think we were better than the locals, which is why we never really made friends up here. We played with each other, sometimes with George Carpenter. Mainly, though, I was shocked Jess would remember me. It had to be from other people’s memory. I would not have made an impression on a boy with Jess’ reputation.
    “What do you want me to do, Jess?” I said in exasperation. “Stay away from her…and you?”
    I couldn’t look at him. I knew he was glaring at me, but I kept my eyes diverted toward the road. For some reason, I knew I couldn’t take the intensity of his hard stare that would inevitably tell me to go away. Saving me from further torture, the porch door creaked open and I swiveled on my knees to see Katie shyly standing in the open doorway. She wasn’t looking at me, but at her father. After an awkward moment of silence, Katie must have sensed it was okay to approach him and she ran into his outstretched arms. I turned to watch Jess, now sitting up, hold his daughter in his lap, arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace. A tear ran down his face, but he did not release his girl to wipe it away. It was such an intimate moment in which I could feel the forgiveness between them, and I felt like an intruder peeping into someone’s special drawer of secrets. I pushed myself up off the uncomfortable wooden porch floor and walked into the house, leaving father and daughter alone.
     

When discussing important matters, a lady should be calm and reserved when speaking. Flaring her hands or gesturing in excitement is not appropriate in discussions.
    “Matters of Manners,” 1966
     
    SUE CARPTENTER HAD been a huge help to me and I didn’t know how to repay her. The custom back in Chicago would be a gift certificate for dinner to a famous restaurant, but where did you find a gift certificate up here, I wondered. I needed some exercise and I decided to run to The Inn on the opposite side of the highway, the only fancy restaurant on Elk Lake. I hoped the Carpenters were not sick of the place. My heart was pumping as I ran past the small uptown area and crossed behind the shops to Bridge Street, which ran the length of the harbor. Elk Rapids was located on the shores of Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay, providing for sport and leisure