Bad Girls Finish First Read Online Free

hair, tan skin, muscular build.”
    â€œBut I’m taller, like your side of the family. Thank God for that,” he quipped, hoping to be rewarded with at least a slight smile. Grace’s expression stayed the same.
    When the waiter came, Christopher said, “My mother will have the seafood gumbo.” He leaned toward Grace, “Mom, you still like gumbo, don’t you?” Getting no response, he added, “I hope this is the right place. I remember you always ordering the gumbo.”
    â€œYour father routinely ordered it for me, so I ate it,” Grace said glumly. “I think one of his girlfriends told him this place had the best gumbo in town.” Grace’s response was typical—she rarely said anything that didn’t invoke the bitter memory of Michael Joseph.
    A young couple and two small children were sitting at the table next to them. The children were restless; one was on a mission to touch every item on the table while the other crawled underneath it and refused to budge. The wife tried, but she could not handle more than one child at a time.
    â€œYou see why I don’t like to take you and the kids anywhere? I let you be a stay-at-home mom, and they’re still little animals,” barked the husband. “Jerry’s wife works and does a great job with their kids.” He cut his wife a nasty look. “And she still looks like she did when they were dating.”
    Grace stiffened, and Christopher immediately picked up on the warning signs.
    â€œMom, he probably doesn’t really mean—”
    â€œSure he does,” she said. Her eyes were not dead anymore.
    Grace turned, looked directly at the man, and asked, “What if they were gone?”
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œYour wife and your babies, what if they got killed in a car wreck?”
    â€œLady, please—”
    â€œMy husband used to be an asshole, just like you, until my son and I almost died.” She gestured toward Christopher. “We were in a wreck. A bad one, and I almost died.” Grace’s voice was soft, yet filled with missionary zeal. “It took almost losing me for my husband to realize that I’m the light of his life. Don’t let that happen to you.”
    â€œMom, why do you say things like that, tell people lies about you and Dad?” Christopher whispered to her. “It’s embarrassing.”
    â€œSo? What’s a little embarrassment compared to saving a family?” She shook her finger at Christopher. “A little lie never hurt anyone. That man needed a wake-up call, Chris, treating the mother of his children like trash. How dare he?” Grace eyed the family over her shoulder. The husband, having finished his meal while his wife wrestled with the children, held the smallest child in his lap and talked the other one through getting peas from her plate, onto her spoon, and into her mouth. The wife was able to eat her meal in peace.
    Grace said, “What did I tell you? A little lie never hurt anyone.”
    Before Christopher could reply, a tall, hearty-looking man in his sixties came over to their table. He said, “Little Chris, I’ve heard you sneak in and out of town without calling on your old uncle, but I never believed it!”
    Christopher stood and embraced the man. “Uncle John, it’s good seeing you.”
    â€œYou too, son.” The man turned to Grace. “My Grace,” he said. Grace stood and her eyes welled with tears.
    John Reese and Grace held each other for a long moment. Her whole body relaxed, but not for long. “I’m glad we ran into each other. Be sure to tell Maggie I said hello,” Grace said as she took her seat. She cast her eyes downward, focusing on her gumbo.
    â€œShe’d like it better coming from you,” John said. “Mind if I sit?”
    Grace looked up at him and quickly asked, “Weren’t you on your way out?”
    â€œYes, but when I