Second Chance for Romance полностью

“I’ll wrap up,” I told her. “Gimme five minutes.”

She nodded and smiled. “Tell Sara I’m sorry. Oh, and tell her to let us know about the show. Okay?”

“Will do.”

She smiled again and pulled the door closed.

“The little princess needs to call the queen,” I told Sara.

“Huh?”

“Christy needs to call her mother.”

“Oh, right! Sorry. I speak in visual metaphors.”

“Ha! You do. Speaking of which… Christy wants you to let us know

about the show.”

“She’s just nice, isn’t she? I mean, like, honest-to-God nice.”

“Yeah, she is. Well, except when I’m a jerk to her.”

“Then don’t be a jerk to her. Jesus. How hard is that?”

I laughed. “Harder than you think!”

“I have faith in you. Now, let her call her mother.”

“Right.”

“And…”

I could almost hear her gathering her courage.

“Thanks for trusting me about that stuff, earlier.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Makes me feel better about trusting you.”

“You can always trust me.”

“I’m starting to realize that.”

I smiled. “Take care, Sara. Talk to you soon. And let us know about the show. We’re excited for you.”

She laughed, much to my surprise. “Did you just say ‘we’? Like you’re a couple?”

“Oh my God… I did!”

“Wedding bells,” she teased with a laugh. Then, “Take care yourself.

Talk to you soon.”

We said goodbye and hung up. I held the phone to my chest for a moment longer. I smiled as I replayed the last few minutes of conversation in my head.

“You’re pretty nice yourself, Sara Gilman,” I said to the ether. “You just save it for special people.”

I came home after judo on Thursday and checked the mail. I had a letter from Gina. I opened the envelope as I climbed the stairs. Then I checked my watch. Trip and the girls wouldn’t be home for twenty or thirty minutes. I locked my bedroom door, tossed my bag in the corner, and stripped off my clothes. I flopped on the bed and started reading.

Dear Paul, I finally climbed out of the bath. I was thinking of you andhad to take care of things. Again. Now I’m one big wrinkle! Are yousure you can’t fly out to LA? I’ll make it worth your while. Ha ha!

Just kidding. I know you can’t. Maybe I can come visit you inKnoxville. I just don’t know when. I’m busy with class, the sorority,the clinic, you name it. Too many things going on, I guess. And I haveto keep studying for the MCAT. I should be doing that now instead ofwriting to you. But the test is so far away and you feel so much closer.

I felt a surge of affection and paused to imagine her writing that. The little head interrupted my romantic fantasy.

Impatient organ.

When I started reading again, I scanned ahead and realized the letter wasn’t as steamy as I’d hoped. I left my penis to its own devices and kept reading.

Regan hadn’t come home yet when Gina started her letter. That was a good sign, she said, since the non-Greek guy was good for her. A lot of frat guys felt they could do anything they wanted, especially with “little sisters.”

So Gina thought it was good for Regan to date someone who treated her like a real person instead of an easy lay.

She also wrote about her work at the clinic and how she enjoyed making women’s lives better. Most of their patients were from poor families who’d come to America looking for a better life. Many had never seen a doctor before.

Oh, Paul, sometimes it breaks my heart! Some of these girls areyounger than me and they’re already pregnant with their second orthird child. They’ll come in with a baby on their hip and another childin tow. One girl last week was sixteen. Sixteen, Paul! When I wassixteen I barely knew what sex was. Can you imagine what would’vehappened if I’d gotten pregnant? How much our lives would havechanged? Yet these girls—no, these women—just bear it all and geton with their lives. They’re so inspiring!

And I’ll tell you, my Spanish has improved a thousand percent.