Read Online Lakeside Romance by Lisa Jordan - Free Book Online

up the remote off the small side table next to the worn recliner and turned down the volume.
    Uncle Emmett stirred, a frown pinching his eyebrows together. “I was watching that.”
    â€œYou still can, but I’d like to keep my eardrums intact.”
    â€œWhat’d you say?” His gravelly voice lifted.
    â€œKathy called and said you fired her again.”
    â€œI don’t need a nurse.” Uncle Emmett pulled his glasses off his face and cleaned them with his white handkerchief. Despite having been retired for over a decade, Emmett continued to dress as if he were heading for the classroom in his white dress shirt and favored bow tie.
    â€œThat’s what you said the other two times.”
    â€œShe has cold hands.”
    â€œI heard you the first time.” Alec kept his tone neutral. Losing his cool wouldn’t benefit either of them. Why did his uncle have to be so stubborn?
    â€œApparently I’m not the one with a hearing problem because you keep sending her back.” Uncle Emmett lowered the footrest on his chair and started to stand without reaching for his cane. His legs wobbled, and he would’ve pitched forward if Alec hadn’t reached out to steady him.
    Alec guided him back onto the chair. “That’s because you need someone to look after you.”
    The older man shook off Alec’s arm and glared at him. With a shaky hand, he rubbed perspiration off his forehead. “I’m doing just fine on my own, thank you.”
    â€œNo, you aren’t. And you know it. Once you stop fighting me on it, then things will go a lot smoother.”
    â€œHmmph. Smoother?” Uncle Emmett’s gray, bushy eyebrows puckered. “What’s so smooth about a man being kicked out of his own home?”
    Not this again.
    Alec sighed. “No one kicked you out of your house. You’re no longer able to live by yourself. Doctor’s orders. Living here allows you to keep your independence, and this way someone will be able to help you when you need it.”
    â€œI’ll get married again.” The petulant tone reminded Alec of the defiant toddler in his office this morning with the angry sellers.
    Alec adjusted the window blinds and allowed sunshine to spill across the beige carpet. “You’d have to leave your apartment to meet someone, don’t you think?”
    â€œI’ll join one of those online dating sites I’ve seen advertised on TV.”
    â€œYou refuse to use a computer. Besides, marriage isn’t the answer to your problem, Emmett.”
    Emmett dropped his chin to his chest and rubbed the dulled gold band on his left hand. “That house was the only thing I had left of my Elsie.”
    The old man’s sadness softened Alec’s attitude. He understood his pain. He patted Uncle Emmett’s chest near his heart. “Weren’t you the one who told me everything was right here?”
    â€œFine.” He leaned back and closed his eyes. A moment later, he opened them and pointed at Sarah. “Who’s that?”
    Alec had forgotten she was there. She hadn’t said a word since they came, and he had gotten caught up with Emmett. “She’s my friend—the one’s who’s helping me organize your house.”
    He glared at Sarah. “You’re the one pawing through my things.”
    She flashed Emmett a smile Alec had seen her use more than once this past week with the teens—usually when they were about to challenge her and she wouldn’t back down. “You have an impressive book collection.”
    â€œNot anymore. Now that I’ve been kicked out of my house, those books will be in boxes and forgotten in some storage unit.” He leaned back in his worn recliner once again and closed his eyes.
    Sarah crossed the room and sat on the floor by Emmett’s chair, drawing her knees to her chest. “Stinks, doesn’t it? Leaving your home and everything you