Read Online All A Heart Needs B&N by Barbara Freethy - Free Book Online Page A

feeling tense at her words. "What kind of noises?"
    "It was nothing, just the house settling, I'm sure. I'll get used to the creaks." She paused and gave a self-deprecating smile. "I think I scared myself a little."
    "How did you do that?"
    "Last night, I took some boxes outside to the recycle bin around midnight, and I heard my next door neighbor talking on the phone to someone."
    "Mrs. Watson?"
    "Yes. Sally had come over and introduced herself to me yesterday afternoon. She was friendly to me then, but when she was on the phone, she was definitely on edge. And she said some weird stuff."
    "Like what?"
    "She was worried that someone new was living in Helen's house, obviously referring to me. She said something about secrets and not sure what might be found in Robert's belongings."
    "That's strange."
    "It is. Right?" she asked, meeting his gaze. "Also, when I spoke to her earlier in the day she offered to help me clear out Helen's stuff. She was very curious as to what might be in the attic. When I put that offer to help with what I overheard later, I have to think that she didn't come over to be neighborly but to see what I was doing."
    "She's lived next door to Helen forever. I'm sure she's been in the house on many occasions."
    "That's true, although she did say she'd offered to help Helen on numerous occasions, but Helen always refused. She wasn't ready to let go of anything."
    "Some people like to hang on to the past," he murmured.
    "It's possible I misunderstood Sally's conversation. It was dark and I was tired. Maybe I imagined her tension."
    He doubted that, but he couldn't come up with a logical reason for why Sally should care that Jessica was clearing out Helen's things.
    "On another note," Jessica continued. "I found some photo albums in the attic. One of them belonged to Stacy. There were pictures of you and her together at kindergarten, soccer games, birthday parties. She was holding a large lizard in one shot."
    He nodded, remembering that lizard all too well. "She named him Henry. She loved to name bugs and animals." He shook his head at the nostalgic sadness that ran through him. "It's funny the stuff I remember. I wonder why Lana left that album behind."
    "It looks to me like she left a lot of things behind. Oh, and Sally isn't the only one interested in my cleanup. I also met Brett Murphy. He lives across the street. He offered to help move boxes, and he told me not to trust Sally with any information I didn't want going around the neighborhood. What do you think about that?"
    "You're certainly drawing a lot of interest," he said, not quite sure what to make of the overly friendly neighbors.
    "I guess I should be happy everyone is being so nice. But for some reason, they both rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know why."
    "You should trust your instincts." He stopping talking as a crowd of people came into the kitchen. Kyle and Brandon and some of the younger kids made a beeline for the kitchen counter where Ryan was setting up an enormous triple layer chocolate cake.
    "I guess it's time for cake," Jessica murmured. "Chocolate is my favorite."
    "Yeah? Vanilla is more my flavor?"
    "That surprises me, because there is nothing vanilla about you," she said with a smile.
    "Well, I do like a tart filling," he admitted.
    More people entered the kitchen, and Sean and Jessica backed toward the wall to make room for everyone. As he inhaled the sweet scent of her perfume or maybe it was her shampoo, his heart began to race. She was too damn close to him. She smelled sexy and pretty, and he wanted to wrap himself up in that scent, wrap himself up in her. It would be so easy to put his arm around her, to pull her up against him, to bury his face in the curve of her neck.
    He began to sweat. He couldn't remember when he'd felt so attracted to a woman. What the hell was wrong with him, and why did it have to be her? Why did Jessica have to be the one to get under his skin and into his head? She was all wrong in so many ways