Read Online Slow Dancing on Price's Pier by Lisa Dale - Free Book Online Page A

it cheating really. It was more of an emotional affair. And they may have fooled around a little bit . . .”
    â€œHow did you find out?”
    â€œHe felt so terrible about it he confessed everything. He bought me a new car that I left sitting in the garage for six months. I thought my life was ending, and if it wasn’t for the boys holding us together, we might have come apart.”
    â€œBut you didn’t.”
    â€œNo, we didn’t.” Sue looked out the window, where the sun was spraying the water with gold. “We toughed it out. And now that I can look back on it, all I see is a moment that made us stronger—that brought us together. We got through that. I think we could get through anything.”
    Thea sat back in her seat, moved by the thought that Sue’s perfect-looking marriage wasn’t always so perfect, and she wondered again how much Sue really knew. Sue’s resilience in the face of pain was meant to be encouraging, but instead, Thea had the sense that her own marriage to Jonathan was nothing like the relationship that Ken and Sue shared. And when Thea found out that Jonathan had cheated, she hadn’t felt angry so much as resigned, as if the inevitable had finally arrived.
    Since her friends had asked her whether or not she’d been happy, she’d been thinking about the circumstances of her marriage. She’d assumed that because she wasn’t unhappy she must have been happy. And yet now she was beginning to see that there was a third state—one she’d never considered before—and it felt an awful lot like happiness but wasn’t quite it.
    The waiter brought their salads, loaded with nuts and fruit, but Thea didn’t pick up her fork. “And what about us? I mean, you and me.”
    â€œWe’ve been through worse than this. You know that.”
    â€œSo you’re saying this won’t be a big deal. That we can stay friends.”
    â€œOf course we’ll stay friends! But if it starts to get too messy . . . Oh never mind. I can’t imagine this getting messy—you and Jonathan are both such well-meaning people. As long as Jonathan is okay with it, I see no reason we can’t keep having our harmless little lunches from time to time.”
    Thea picked up her fork. It wasn’t quite the declaration she’d hoped for—not a pledge of undying loyalty—but she felt comforted nonetheless.
    â€œSo tell me,” Sue said, stabbing at her salad. “What are your plans for the week?”
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    On days when school was closed and the snow went whipping down the narrow streets, Jonathan, Garret, and Thea bundled up in hats, sweaters, mittens, and scarves, and then headed outside. The snow piled here and there, blanketing cars and frosting windows, and the whole city was thrown into a familiar and intimate silence—one it had once known so well, four hundred years ago.
    Much as Jonathan loved days off from school, Garret was always especially reckless in the snow—so much that it made Jonathan nervous for them both. And when Thea wasn’t around, Garret’s foolishness knew no restraints. He was so much more likely to do dumb things if she wasn’t there to stop him—like jump off the roof of the bakery into a snowdrift or decide to go sledding down the middle of the street. Jonathan tried to keep his little brother from being irresponsible, but Garret always ended the argument with the word that never failed to sock Jonathan in the gut: coward .
    Unfortunately, Garret’s antics were just the first half of Jonathan’s torment; the other half he owed to his parents. After Garret had been grounded or sent to his room, Jonathan could never shake the sense that his parents secretly admired Garret for his outrageousness and daring. Family friends would ask, “What’s Garret grounded for this time?” and always Sue and Ken would answer with an amused twinkle in their