Read Online BIG SKY SECRETS 01: Final Exposure by Roxanne Rustand - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Roxanne Rustand
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he knew he’d regret it when it came time to leave town. Her life was here, and his was almost fifteen hundred miles away. And how did you move on and leave someone like her behind?
When some customers walked into the store, Erin went over to the cash register. Jack glanced at his watch and winced.
“Hey, buddy, time to go home,” he murmured. He lifted the sleepy child into his arms, dropped a ten on the table and took him to the house next door.
With luck the boy would go back to sleep and give Jack some much needed time on the computer.
But as soon as they stepped in the door, Max came fully awake. “Can we go see the pony again?” he asked, wriggling out of Jack’s arms to the floor.
Jack laughed. “Another time, sport. I think she’s pretty tired. Anyway, it’ll be suppertime before long.”
“What about Charlie? Can I go play with him?”
“I think he’s taking a nap. And Erin looks pretty busy right now.”
“What about Go Fish?”
It was a game the child loved, but it could go on and on and on. “Maybe a little later if you find all the cards and put them on the table.”
There would now be an occasional reprieve, but the weight of parenting still settled heavily on Jack’s shoulders. He’d teased Janie, asking how one small child could so fully occupy her days. And now he knew.
Max was a full-time job if a guy did it right. If he made sure the child was clean and fed and entertained and read to and bathed, and properly put to bed at night. No wonder Janie hadn’t gone back into real estate full-time after Max was born. So how did single mothers manage year after year?
The thought exhausted him.
And it made him wish for one last day with his sister, so he could tell her how proud he was of her…and how he’d do his best to raise her son.
After four rounds of Go Fish, a long bath and the usual nightly snack of an apple and string cheese, Max finally went to sleep. The next three or four hours stretching out before Jack were filled with possibilities—all of which had to involve staying at home. With a sigh he walked into the spare bedroomand fired up his laptop, then got to work. But instead of focusing on the stock market and client portfolios, he found his thoughts kept turning back to Erin.
And the kiss he hadn’t taken.
The following week brought cold and rain, dark, threatening skies that turned the brilliant, emerging fall colors into a monochrome panorama in shades of gray.
The weather did give Erin lots of time to clean and organize and polish the little general store until it sparkled.
The downside was that there’d been so much time to do just that—because business was so slow.
She’d even seen less of Jack and Max, because Isabelle had agreed to watch Max several days this week while Jack caught up on his office work.
Her one steady customer proved to be the least likely of all: Ollie, who had developed a fondness for her sweet rolls and who turned up at eight o’clock every morning on his own, his crumpled cowboy hat in his hands and his wide face wreathed in a beatific smile.
Each day he pulled a double handful of pennies, nickels and dimes from his bulging jacket pockets and dumped them on the counter, then laboriously pushed them into tipsy stacks until he had enough for two rolls and a coffee.
Watching him touched her more deeply each day. He could’ve asked for a handout, and she would’vegiven him one. She’d even offered one day, but he’d proudly shaken his head while continuing to count those piles of coins.
By Friday his pockets were nearly empty, and on Saturday he looked forlornly through the front window without stepping inside. And that nearly broke her heart.
Why weren’t people helping him more?
Yet, she was just as guilty. How many times had she dropped money in a collection plate for some cause without ever taking action herself?
“So what do you think, Charlie?” Erin mused aloud. “Do we need some help around here?
When some customers walked into the store, Erin went over to the cash register. Jack glanced at his watch and winced.
“Hey, buddy, time to go home,” he murmured. He lifted the sleepy child into his arms, dropped a ten on the table and took him to the house next door.
With luck the boy would go back to sleep and give Jack some much needed time on the computer.
But as soon as they stepped in the door, Max came fully awake. “Can we go see the pony again?” he asked, wriggling out of Jack’s arms to the floor.
Jack laughed. “Another time, sport. I think she’s pretty tired. Anyway, it’ll be suppertime before long.”
“What about Charlie? Can I go play with him?”
“I think he’s taking a nap. And Erin looks pretty busy right now.”
“What about Go Fish?”
It was a game the child loved, but it could go on and on and on. “Maybe a little later if you find all the cards and put them on the table.”
There would now be an occasional reprieve, but the weight of parenting still settled heavily on Jack’s shoulders. He’d teased Janie, asking how one small child could so fully occupy her days. And now he knew.
Max was a full-time job if a guy did it right. If he made sure the child was clean and fed and entertained and read to and bathed, and properly put to bed at night. No wonder Janie hadn’t gone back into real estate full-time after Max was born. So how did single mothers manage year after year?
The thought exhausted him.
And it made him wish for one last day with his sister, so he could tell her how proud he was of her…and how he’d do his best to raise her son.
After four rounds of Go Fish, a long bath and the usual nightly snack of an apple and string cheese, Max finally went to sleep. The next three or four hours stretching out before Jack were filled with possibilities—all of which had to involve staying at home. With a sigh he walked into the spare bedroomand fired up his laptop, then got to work. But instead of focusing on the stock market and client portfolios, he found his thoughts kept turning back to Erin.
And the kiss he hadn’t taken.
The following week brought cold and rain, dark, threatening skies that turned the brilliant, emerging fall colors into a monochrome panorama in shades of gray.
The weather did give Erin lots of time to clean and organize and polish the little general store until it sparkled.
The downside was that there’d been so much time to do just that—because business was so slow.
She’d even seen less of Jack and Max, because Isabelle had agreed to watch Max several days this week while Jack caught up on his office work.
Her one steady customer proved to be the least likely of all: Ollie, who had developed a fondness for her sweet rolls and who turned up at eight o’clock every morning on his own, his crumpled cowboy hat in his hands and his wide face wreathed in a beatific smile.
Each day he pulled a double handful of pennies, nickels and dimes from his bulging jacket pockets and dumped them on the counter, then laboriously pushed them into tipsy stacks until he had enough for two rolls and a coffee.
Watching him touched her more deeply each day. He could’ve asked for a handout, and she would’vegiven him one. She’d even offered one day, but he’d proudly shaken his head while continuing to count those piles of coins.
By Friday his pockets were nearly empty, and on Saturday he looked forlornly through the front window without stepping inside. And that nearly broke her heart.
Why weren’t people helping him more?
Yet, she was just as guilty. How many times had she dropped money in a collection plate for some cause without ever taking action herself?
“So what do you think, Charlie?” Erin mused aloud. “Do we need some help around here?
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