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My Perfectly Imperfect Life [Secure eReader]
eBook by Jennifer Archer
eBook Category: Mainstream
eBook Description: Surprise! If she needed a reminder of how different life was from her mother's favorite happily-ever-after movies, Dinah Dewberry got one on her fortieth birthday. That's when she found the black 42-double-D bra in her husband's pants pocket. Dinah was barely a B. And as Dinah raged about the other woman, her estranged sister, Dottie, arrived on her doorstep. Dottie was pregnant, and had a favor to ask--would Dinah raise the child? Craving a baby--and a shoulder to cry on--Dinah opened up to her long-lost, hard-living sister. And Dottie's unconventional life came in handy tracking down the mystery lingerie's owner--to a drag club! But by then, Dinah and Dottie had made the most important discovery of all--sisterhood is powerful.
eBook Publisher: Harlequin/Next
Fictionwise Release Date: March 2006
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CHAPTER 1 Amarillo, Texas
Summer 2006 Dinah June in the landlocked Texas Panhandle feels like a sauna. Dry heat. Not a drop of water in sight to cool off in. No ocean. No raging river. No babbling brook. I'm the only one doing those things. Brooding, raging and babbling, that is. I sit in my backyard at the patio table wearing only my slip. My old black Labrador retriever, Saxon, lies at my feet, panting steadily. "I guess we better go back inside to the air-conditioning," I murmur to him. "My makeup is melting." When I glance at his grizzled face, Saxon's tail thumps the patio's concrete floor. "Just one more minute." I listen for the sound of Stan's truck in the alley. We're the only house on the block with a rear-entry garage. Saxon whines. "He'll be here." The dog whines again, and I swear I see pity in his eyes. "He'll be here," I repeat, but I can't blame him for doubting. Saxon has been through too many other nights with me that started out like this one. The two of us alone. Waiting in the darkness for Stan to come home from his job as a cop. He always shows up. Sometimes later than others. During those minutes or hours, or even days, when he should be home but isn't, I feel as though I'm holding my breath, and the same old worries bombard me. Is he in danger? Hurt again? Then Stan walks through the door in one piece, and I exhale. That's what will happen tonight, I assure myself. He couldn't get away from work, that's all. But it's my birthday, for crying out loud. Forty years. Can't he at least be on time this once? Not that I really feel like celebrating, but we have reservations at Piper's. Stan knows that; it was his idea. But that was this morning. Who knows what's gone on in his life since then? Not me, that's for damn sure. I take deep breaths to steady my nerves. Now I understand why the woman Stan almost married, years before we met, broke off their engagement. He said she was unreasonable about his work. Unreasonable? She probably couldn't handle all the worry and loneliness, and I don't blame her. If I could've seen into the future and known the reality of being a cop's wife, maybe I would have backed out of the marriage, too. Laughter drifts from the house across the alley, and I hear a baby's delighted squeal. Despair wraps strong arms around me and squeezes, bringing tears to my eyes. The home pregnancy test was negative again this morning. Oh, I figured it would be, but it still hurts to see the evidence of another failure. Each time my period is even a day late, I tell myself not to get excited, not to expect anything. But an ember of hope still smolders somewhere deep inside me. It flickers a bit then flares as one late day turns into another, then another until, finally, I perform the same ritual that I've perfected over the past five years. Copyright © 2006 by Jennifer Archer
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