Free The Summer House by Susan Mallery

perfect social hostess, housekeeper and mistress. I was twenty and didn’t know anything about being married.”
    He straightened. “You know, I’ve yet to find that perfect combination. I wonder why that is.”
    “It doesn’t exist.” She sucked in a breath. Some of the pain inside her eased a little. “Maybe you should try inventing a robot.”
    “That was my first plan. Instead I’ve been trying to change my requirements to something more realistic. I think I would be happier with an imperfect flesh-and-blood partner rather than a perfect machine. Besides, I’m hardly Mr. Wonderful.”
    “You have your moments,” she said, even though her chest felt as if a thousand pounds were pressing in on it.
    What was wrong with her? She should be happy that Rick had reached the place in his life where he was ready to be in a serious relationship. Didn’t she want him to get married again?
    She told herself she did, that she wasn’t envious of the woman who would be lucky enough to claim him. She, Mandy, had already had her shot and she’d blown it. Besides, it wasn’t as if she had feelings for him. Not after all this time.
    She cleared her throat. “So what are your current requirements?”
    “The usual. A wife. Kids. Maybe a couple of dogs. My work can be difficult. It’s generally challenging. I want to have something more to come home to than an empty house. More balance.”
    “We’ve been using the ‘b’ word a lot today,” she told him.
    “You’re right. Has it just been today?” He shook his head. “Feels like a lot longer to me.”
    To her, too, but it had just been the one day.
    “How long until Cassie joins you?” he asked.
    “A couple of weeks.”
    “Until then are you open to spending time together? I’ll need to head into the office for a day or so to get things in order. Then I’ll take some time off. Maybe we can learn to be friends.”
    The pressure on her chest eased a little. “I’d like that.” She managed a smile. Friends. That was what they should be, she told herself, even as she had a fleeting thought that there was a lot of potential for more.
    “We’ll work on the past,” she said as he rose to his feet. “Figure out this closure thing and get on with our lives.”
    “Exactly.”
    She stood and he smiled at her. “How about if I come by day after tomorrow,” he said. “About ten in the morning?”
    “Sounds good.”
    Better than good, she thought as he waved and left. Then she stopped herself in mid mental-sentence. No way. She and Rick had a very specific purpose. Apparently they hadn’t finished up with each other as much as they should have. If she could tie up all the loose ends with him, she could move on with her life. That’s what she wanted. Not a slow walk down memory lane. Been there, done that. It hadn’t worked the first time and there was no reason to think it would work this time.
    Right?
    Oddly enough, there was no answer.

Chapter Six
    M andy stretched out in the chair, her feet resting on the railing around the deck. It was an amazing day—warm, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. She had a perfect view of the ocean, a cold lemonade in her hand. She could get used to life like this.
    In the background she could hear Rick’s voice. He was arguing with someone, but she refused to pay attention. When he got off the phone, he would tell her all about it…probably with a lot of passion in his voice. In the past few days she had discovered Rick was passionate about a lot of things. His work, the house, his hobbies.
    Her?
    Don’t go there, she told herself. Dangerous, dangerous territory. One fabulous afternoon in bed did not a relationship make. She and Rick were lookingfor an ending, not a beginning. Still, a girl could dream.
    She had discovered he was the kind of man who made dreaming easy. They’d spent much of the past seven days in each other’s company. Going to lunch, the movies. They’d taken an all-day sail, had cooked out on the beach,