Read Online Bound to You by Vanessa Holland - Free Book Online Page A

“Get out.”
    “ Mom and Dad’s forty-fifth is coming up. They did it. Why can’t we?”
    He’d told Jenna he would have taken her to Texas with him if she’d wanted to go, but he wasn’t sure that was the truth. He also wasn’t sure her dad had really convinced him of anything. He probably would have left her anyway. Her dad had only given him a good excuse. But now there was a child involved. He couldn’t keep messing things up.
    Jack sat up, scowling. “If I marry Angie will you leave me the hell alone and let me sleep?”
    “ No. I’m this close to getting in my truck and running for my life. Answer me.”
    Jack stared at him for a long moment, blinking, still trying to wake up. “Listen to me, you little freak. Your problem is you’re a spoiled rotten little brat. If I knew what was wrong with me I’d fix it. Go talk to somebody who isn’t screwed up. Now get out!”
    He fell back to the pillow and jerked the covers up over his head.
    Sam did, and wandered downstairs to the living room. He took out his cell phone and almost called Jenna, thinking he might just tell her the truth and try to talk it out with her, but then realized it was the middle of the night. She was a mother and needed her sleep.
    The mother of his child.
    The mother of his child.
    He couldn’t pretend it had never happened, but he could get in his truck and go home. He could go home and start sending her checks every month. He wanted to do that, more than anything. He also wanted to stay, and pursue Jenna, and see his new son again – more than anything.
    “ Dammit,” he whispered to himself. “This isn’t good.”
    He sat perfectly still, knowing if he moved an inch, he’d throw up.
    ***
    Sunday morning Jenna dragged through her routine feeling dazed, dizzy, and a little nauseous. She’d barely slept at all and aside from fatigue, Ethan was rambunctious and demanding. Brianna was like a junior reporter, following Jenna wherever she went. ‘What was he like?’ ‘What’d he say?’ ‘Was he mad?’ ‘What’s gonna happen now?’
    Finally, Jenna had to flee on a mission to get the mail she’d forgotten to pick up yesterday. Even that didn’t work. She hadn’t taken five steps from the porch when the front door opened and Ethan came running out to join her. Brianna stood there holding open the door and shrugged apologetically.
    “ Mama! Mommy!” Ethan called as if she were leaving him forever.
    Maybe she didn’t really want to be alone, she decided, smiling as she watched her son take the steps down and jog to catch up.
    She held his hand and slowed to match his pace. It was a leisurely walk down the long driveway, made pleasant by the company. Often Ethan wanted to stop and look at something and she more or less followed him, enjoying the brief moments when he wanted to walk with her and hold her hand.
    “ This is what we needed,” she told him in one of those moments, loving the way he turned his curious eyes up to her as she spoke. “A nice little walk in the fresh air.”
    In fact, being out in the breeze helped clear her mind. She felt awake for the first time in a long while. “It’s a fine day.”
    “ Fine day,” Ethan repeated, grinning up at her.
    “ That’s right,” she told him with a smile. “Every day with you is a fine day.”
    Uninterested, he broke away and ran screaming nonsensically down the paved drive. Woods lined the drive and he spotted a bird and stopped suddenly, moving again slowly to stalk the goldfinch perched on a fallen tree branch. Of course, he didn’t make it. The bright yellow bird was far too alert. Ethan turned around and trotted back with his head down.
    She wondered what was going on in his mind. She couldn’t remember being his age. Probably just moment by moment wonder. A wonderful way to live. No expectations. Disappointments fleeting.
    She hunched forward and tiptoed toward him, dropping her voice. “I’m gonna git ya,” she teased. Ethan squealed and ran,