Free Heart on Fire by Brandy L Rivers Page B

realizes the schoolmarm image only draws more. By the way, I watched her turn Brad down flat the other day. She didn’t even bat an eye at his pickup lines.”
    Kyle never liked Brad. He was another teacher at the school. “Serves that jackass right,” Kyle grumbled.
    “Look, if she was anyone else, or there were different circumstances, I would doubt her sincerity. I don’t think that’s it. Play along and she’ll come around.”
    “Yeah well, your sister didn’t think I was worth much until she lost me, now did she?”
    “That was different. I tried to warn you about Rene, but you didn’t want to hear it.”
    “Don’t remind me. I screwed up, that was all me. I should have known better, but damn, I wanted to believe. She’s your sister, and I hoped she’d changed.” Kyle sighed and went back to mixing the Coolwhip into the fruit salad.
    “She tried to convince me to invite her to the barbeque. I told her no, but don’t be surprised if she tries to crash the party. You did change your locks, right?”
    “Did that the day I left her. She’s always been manipulative, but I’m not stupid.”
     
    * * * *
     
    There was a knock as Mila pulled the pie out of the oven. Cherish charged for the door, and squealed, “It’s Jenny and her mom, can I open it?”
    “Give me a second, honey.” She set the pie down and started toward the door. “Go ahead.”
    Cherish answered it with a big smile.
    Jenny had similar features to her mother, but her coloring matched Gavin’s reddish brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her mother’s amber eyes twinkled as she swept her baby fine blond hair behind her ear and held out her hand.
    “Hi, I’m Cadence. This is Jenny.”
    “Hey, I’m Mila, come on in. Cherish, why don’t you show Jenny your room?”
    Cherish grabbed Jenny’s hand and they charged up the stairs chattering away.
    Cadence stepped in and shut the door with a laugh.
    “Cherish tells me she already knows you.”
    “Yes, I volunteer in their class.” She paused to close her eyes and breathe in. “That smells wonderful, by the way.” Cadence grinned. “You have a lovely daughter. Such a sweetheart, and so smart.”
    “Thank you. One question though, and I’m simply curious. Did I hear the wrong time for tonight? Or are you early?” Mila hoped it was the latter.
    “Early,” Cadence admitted, sheepishly lifting a single shoulder. “Jenny wants me to invite Cherish over, and I figured you would want to get to know us before committing. I would. I have a feeling we’re going to get along fine though, but feel free to hold off on an opinion until later.”
    Smiling, Mila nodded. “I already like you.”
    “Perfect. Then to make it official, we would love to have Cherish stay the night, if you’re comfortable with the arrangement. We’re a few doors down.”
    “Most likely. I’ve met Gavin a few times already, and I’ve only heard positive things about you. Right now, I’m fairly certain I’ll tell Cherish yes. In fact, she mentioned it this morning, and I let her pack her backpack, sleeping bag, and pillow, but explained we were playing it by ear.”
    Cadence grinned. “My kind of mom. Shall we bring the pie over now? Or did you want to change? You have Cherish-sized handprints on your shirt.”
    Looking down, Mila laughed. “She always gets me. You would think I would learn not to wear black when baking. I’ll be right back, literally like a minute. I’m not one of those girly-girls, but I would like to be clean.”
    Mila hurried up the stairs, feeling relieved. They were on a similar wave length where their girls were concerned. Thirty seconds later she came back down.
    One pale brow arched in amusement as Cadence took in Mila’s appearance. She was wearing jeans, a fresh t-shirt, and no trace of cosmetics. “Gavin mentioned you were low maintenance. I like you even better now.”
    “It’s a barbeque, right? I’m not trying to impress anyone.”
    “Ah, I think you may be my long lost