Leave Tomorrow Behind (Stella Crown Series) Read Online Free

actually a teenage boy disguised as a nicely-rounded thirty-something veterinarian.
“Bryan with you?” Carla’s boyfriend.
“Nope, has to work today. Sorry to disappoint you. I know how you love him.”
“Hey, it’s been better, hasn’t it?”
She grinned. “Sure. You’ve been very gentle with him. But you do realize he’s still afraid of you.”
Bryan and I had gotten off to a rough start. I hadn’t known about him at all until Carla was in an accident and he and I met up at the hospital. He was a complete stranger to me, and I’d made the mistake of accusing him of murdering several women earlier that summer. Not my proudest moment, but I loved Carla, and I didn’t want her hurt. So sue me.
“That’s okay,” Nick said. “I’m scared of her, too.”
I kicked him under the table, reminding myself of my still tender foot.
He grabbed his leg, making an exaggerated face of pain. “See what I have to put up with?”
Carla laughed. “Oh, you two, you are just so—” Her phone rang, and she sighed, putting it up to her ear. “Dr. Beaumont. Yes. Oh, is that so? I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll be over to check just as soon as…” She glanced at her hamburger. “As soon as I’m finished with this cow. All right?” She hung up.
“Really?” I said. “You still consider that burger a cow?”
“I didn’t say the cow I was with was still living.” She took her time eating it, and the three of us chatted, talking about the fair food and events we were looking forward to.
“There’s the man of the hour,” Carla said.
Zach had entered the food tent with Randy, Bobby, and Claire. The three boys sauntered up front, laughing at something. Claire followed quietly, her eyes scanning the menu posted above the counter.
“Quite the crowd,” Carla said, shaking her head. “Hate to see what all they’ll get up to this week.”
I took a sip of Pepsi. “They’re all right. Besides, if Zach does something stupid, I’ll kill him.”
“Good to know. In case he shows up dead.”
She crumpled her napkin and tossed it onto her tray. “Guess I’d better go soothe the crazed parents before they contact the fair board. Because you know the one time I dismiss a complaint will be the exact moment a cow dies of a highly communicable disease, and I’ll be drummed out of Pennsylvania to become a lowly milkmaid.” She brightened. “But then, I love milk. And ice cream. And cheese. Maybe that would turn out just fine.” She winked at Nick, and left, going by way of Zach and his buddies, who took a moment off from laughing to say hello. She bumped Zach with her ample hip, and was gone.
“What are you grinning about?” I said to Nick.
“Her. She’s something.”
No argument from me.
“These seats saved?” Zach plopped down beside me and took a huge bite of a donut.
“Nice lunch for a growing boy.”
“Tastes good. Besides, I have these.” Cheese fries. Much better.
The rest of the kids filled out the table, Claire ending up on the far corner, catty-cornered from Zach. She kept her eyes on her plate.
“How’s Barnabas?” I asked.
“Perfect.” He spoke around the pastry. “He made friends with Austin’s calf by peeing so close to the side of the stall it splashed into his.”
Randy and Bobby laughed. Claire didn’t. I was fairly certain Austin hadn’t, either, but then, excrement was one of the by-products of having 4-H animals, so to speak.
“Hello, everybody.”
The laughter stopped, but the boys’ mouths stayed open. I think my jaw dropped, too. Nick was the only one who didn’t respond, because she was standing directly behind him. “She” being a teenage girl who, well, wasn’t exactly what our teenage boys were used to seeing. Her bleached blonde hair was piled on top of her head in a messy knot, her teeth were whiter than a snowstorm, and her boobs were so large they were almost knocking into Nick’s head—or maybe they were, from the look he was giving me. If he so much as turned an inch