Read Online Loving Jessie by Dallas Schulze - Free Book Online Page A

two frosty glasses.
    “Gabe’s a lemonade snob, so several lemons gave their lives for this,” he said, handing her a glass.
    She grinned as she took the glass from him. “A man after my own heart. The powdered stuff just isn’t the same.”
    “Spending time in a fancy French cooking school probably corrupted your palate. Powdered lemonade is an American tradition.” Matt sank down on the other side of the step and leaned back against the railing.
    “Right next to mom and apple pie?”
    “I was thinking more along the lines of those quintessential American foods, chop suey and pizza.”
    Jessie grinned, sipped her lemonade and tried not to notice how hard it was to keep her eyes off Matt’s broad chest.
    “Where is Gabe?” Since his battered black pickup was parked next to Matt’s Jeep, she assumed he was home.
    “He’s writing.”
    “The new Sassafras book?”
    Matt laughed at Jessie’s look of bright interest. “I take it you’re a fan?”
    “I have signed copies of every book,” she admitted. “I know they’re supposed to be for children, but when the last one came out, I sat up all night reading it. He’s really captured the magic of being a child.”
    “Yeah, he has.” Matt had often wondered how his brother had come by that ability. It would have been difficult to find anything less magical than their own childhood.
    The silence stretched between them, but there was nothing awkward about it. Matt settled more comfortably against the rail, remembering that this was one of the things he’d always liked about Jessie—the way she could sit quietly without feeling compelled to fill every silence with empty chatter. He hadn’t seen her since that first day at Ernie’s. Before that, it had been five years ago at Reilly’s wedding, and going back further still, it had been years since they’d spent much time together, but neither of them felt the need for the usual so-what’s-been-happening-in-your-life chitchat.
    Idly, he wondered if she’d had a reason for making the drive up here. If so, he was in no hurry to find out what it was. The temperature was hovering somewhere in the upper nineties, the air so still it almost seemed to have a pulse beat all its own. When he tilted his head back against the rail, he could see a red-tailed hawk drifting in lazy circles across a clear blue sky. He closed his eyes and let an unaccustomed sense of peace ease through him.
    “It’s so peaceful here,” Jessie said softly, her thoughts following his.
    “Yeah. The house is a wreck, the only way the driveway could be worse is if it were mined, and most of the land is vertical, but I can really see why Gabe bought the place.”
    “I imagine the two of you will be able to put the house back together.” Matt didn’t need to open his eyes to know that she was smiling. He could hear it in her voice, and his own mouth curved irresistibly in response. Jessie continued in the same prosaic tone. “From what I remember of your brother, I don’t think he’s going to mind too much if the driveway discourages visitors, and, unless he decides to take up farming, I suppose vertical is as good a direction for land to go as any.”
    “You always were an optimist,” he said, opening his eyes and looking at her. “Reilly used to tease you about always seeing the bright side of things.”
    Her smile flickered, and her eyes shifted away for a moment. “Reilly liked to tease. If I’d been a cynic, he would have teased me about that.”
    “Probably,” Matt admitted, grinning a little. He picked up his glass and took a long swallow of lemonade. “You coming to this shindig he and his wife are having Saturday night?”
    Jessie nodded. “I’m not only an invited guest, I’m also making the desserts.”
    “Oh yeah?” He gave her a bright, interested look that made her grin.
    “You always did have a terrible sweet tooth.”
    “My palate is simply finely attuned to the subtle nuances of sucrose-enhanced foods,”