Read Online Jessie Belle: The Women of Merryton - Book One by Jennifer Peel - Free Book Online

you.”
    He
drew me into him and I let him. For a moment I felt safe and warm.
    “I
promise,” he whispered in my ear before kissing my head and letting me go.
    I
watched him walk toward the door. There he stopped. “I’ll call you when I get
there.”
    I
nodded and he turned to leave. “Blake,” I called out.
    He
immediately turned my way.
    “Do
you ever think about moving?”
    “I
want to be wherever you are.”

Chapter
Seven
     
    “How
do you feel about Blake meeting his daughter?” my mom asked as we prepared
Sunday dinner together.
    “That’s
a loaded question if I ever heard one.”
    My
mom looked up from the roast beef she was slicing and grinned.
    I
finished seasoning the mashed potatoes. I was in need of some serious comfort
food. My mother was a saint. “I suppose I’m happy for him. Does that make any
sense? But on the other hand I feel like I want to strangle him. Like he
betrayed me somehow.”
    “You
can’t make this all about you.”
    “Yes,
Mother, I know.”
    She
set down the carving knife and gave me her I’m-still-your-mother look. “I’m on
your side.”
    “I
know that, too,” I replied with less attitude.
    “When
are you going to meet her?”
    “Blake
mentioned something about us planning a trip there next month.”
    “You
two are working it out then?” My mom asked relieved.
    “We’re
trying, but it’s like walking on eggs.”
    “Don’t
you mean egg shells?”
    “No,
I mean eggs. We are easy to break and it’s messy.”
    My
mom laughed. “Well at least you’re keeping a sense of humor about it.”
    “Not
really.”
    My
mom scooted closer to me and wrapped her arms around me. “I’m proud of you,
Jessie Belle.”
    “I
don’t know why.”
    “Honey,
look around you. The café is doing better than ever because of you, you’ve been
to the brink and back but you’re still trying, and the teenagers at church
worship the ground you walk on.”
    “That’s
the cinnamon rolls.”
    “And
who gets up early every Sunday morning to make those?”
    I
smiled in response.
    “You
are an amazing woman. You have so much to give and you do so even when you feel
like you have nothing to offer. I know this new twist in the plot is hard for
you, but don’t let the act of how Madeline got here get in the way of loving
her. From the sound of it, she needs a woman like you in her life. And so does
Blake.”
    “So
how often have you been talking to my husband?”
    She
squeezed me tighter. “As much as he needs it.”
    I
arched my eyebrow at her, but she didn’t elaborate. That was okay. I was glad
Blake felt like he could talk to my mom. She probably forced him into it at
first, but he wouldn’t have talked at all unless he really wanted to. Blake was
not one to be pushed into anything.
    I
thought about what my mom had said as I set the table. Could I love Madeline?
Would she like me? Would I like her? What was she like? I prayed she wasn’t
like her mom—I’d have to hope she got more of Blake’s genes.
    I
also wondered how Blake’s meeting with her was going. He sounded nervous when
he called me this morning from the Salt Lake City airport. I probably should
have been more supportive on the phone. I wasn’t trying to be unsupportive—I
was only trying to mask the hurt and confusion. How did this become my life? I thought.
    My
parents and I sat down together at the table on the patio. I still looked to my
right at the empty chair next to me. Blake hadn’t come to Sunday dinner in
forever. I knew he wasn’t coming tonight, but for the first time in a long
time, I missed him. I took it as a good sign.
    My
dad said grace and served my mom and then me. I always thought it was such a
sweet gesture. It was no wonder I grew up with fairytale ideals about what love
and marriage were supposed to be like. According to my mom, my dad had been a
real cad at the beginning of their relationship, but she set him straight. I
couldn’t believe it because my whole life he had worshipped