Free Unforgettable: A Loveswept Classic Romance by Linda Cajio Page A

late afternoon sun turn red with someone, although sometimes, too, a person likes to be alone and think. You look like you have things to think about.”
    “I … it’s okay,” Philip said. “You can stay.”
    The boy shared the rest of the carrots with him, and the two of them fed the horses and watched the sun set. James didn’t ask any questions, sensing Philip wanted to say something, but wouldn’t if probed. He realized it must be hard for the boy, with his father on the other side of the country.
    Finally Philip said, “I hate bullies.”
    James considered the comment, then said, “So do I. I used to get picked on a lot when I was a kid.” He grinned. “Now I’m bigger and richer than they are.”
    “I didn’t hear the teacher today,” Philip said, unmollified. “Just ’cause I—”
    The boy stopped, and James knew instantly what was wrong. Suddenly he was whisked back to his own childhood.
    “Because you wear a hearing aid, the kids tease you sometimes,” he said gravely.
    “Just one kid,” Philip said, then added the devastating blow. “But even my friends laughed.”
    “I see.” James was silent for a moment. “Sometimes people laugh without realizing a person’s feelings are being hurt, or they laugh because everyone else is and they’re embarrassed to be different.”
    “Yeah, maybe I should hurt their feelings or make people laugh at them.”
    “You might be hurting yourself in the end,” James warned. “It’s not fair, I know. Sometimes things just aren’t fair.”
    “That’s really stupid,” Philip said, his voice filled with resentment. “You wouldn’t say that if people laughed and called you dummy because you wore a hearing aid.”
    “Yes, I would.” James took a deep breath, amazed that he was about to tell this boy the secret he had kept from so many others for so many years. The secret he had kept from Anne, out of fear. “When I was your age people called me dummy because I couldn’t read. My friends laughed. I was so angry that I hurt them back, and wound up getting more hurt in the end.”
    “You …” Philip stared at him. “You couldn’t read?”
    “I have a learning disability called dyslexia, Philip.” He patted his pockets for something to prove his point, but the only thing readable was the schedule Anne had given him. He removed it from his pocket and looked it over carefully, just to make sure the schedule was nothing but names and dates. He held it out. “I don’t see letters and numbers the way most people do. Here, read the first line or so of this for me.”
    Philip quickly read the first few lines out loud, only stumbling over one of the horses’ names. Constitution’s Preamble would be a tongue twister for most nine-year-olds.
    “When I was your age,” James said, retrieving the schedule, “I couldn’t have even read that. The letters would look all mixed up. I’ve learned how to overcome it pretty well. But even now, when I’m tired or angry or distracted, I’ll make mistakes.”
    “Would you like me to read the rest for you, Mr. Farraday?” Philip offered.
    He smiled and tucked the papers back into his pocket. “Thanks, but I’m okay now. One of the things that helped me with bullies was to laugh at their jokes, too, along with everyone else. It hurt at first, but they didn’t like it that their victim was laughing and joking around with them. After a while they stopped teasing me.”
    “I’ll remember that.” The boy looked away. “Don’t tell my mom I was … they were teasing me. It really upsets her, and she gets mad at my friends and the school.”
    “I respect your privacy, Philip, so I won’t discuss this conversation with anyone.” James could imagine how Anne would react with a mother’s protectiveness, which was the kiss of death to a nine-year-old boy.
    Philip straightened. “I won’t discuss it, Mr. Farraday.”
    “James.”
    Philip smiled. “James.”
    James realized that Philip’s impairment