Read Online Redemption Road (Jackson Falls #5) by Laurie Breton - Free Book Online Page A

feel defensive, when they were true?  “Didn’t
we already have this conversation?” she said. “There’s not much here for me.”
    He leaned back, swiveled his chair. “I guess that depends on what
you’re looking for.”
    “A roof over my head, three square meals a day, and a paycheck big
enough to allow me to put some money away.” She raised her chin and met his
eyes. “So I can move on in the spring.”
    He nodded, crossed one bony knee over the other. Leaned to fiddle
with a sneaker string. “It’s a shame,” he said, untying and retying the string,
“that you can’t see how much she loves you.” He glanced back at her, his eyes shuttered
and unreadable. Planting his foot back on the floor, he said, “The job is
pretty much a jack-of-all-trades kind of thing. I’m not the most organized guy
on the planet. It’ll take you about five seconds to figure that out. I’m
looking for somebody who’s part executive secretary, part sounding board, part Rottweiler,
and part Wonder Woman. My wife says you’re smart and quick and efficient. That
sounds good enough to me. You can start Monday morning.”
    She blinked a couple of times. “That’s it?”
    “The other thing you’ll learn about me is that I don’t stand on
ceremony. I’m a loosey-goosey kind of guy. What can I say? I’m a musician. It
comes with the territory.”
    She let out a hard breath. It was the oddest and briefest job
interview she’d ever had. “Thank you,” she said.
    “Don’t thank me until you see how much work it is trying to keep
track of me.”
    “Right. Got it.”
    He leaned back and clasped his hands over his midsection, his
long, slender fingers threaded together. “There’s one more thing I have to say
before we seal the deal, and I’m only saying it once, so pay attention. There’s
a lot of tension between you and Casey. She was all wound up when the two of
you came back from shopping. I don’t really know what your deal is, or why you
have so much trouble getting along, because my wife usually gets along with
everyone. But that’s not the point. The point is, I don’t want to see you
fighting with her. I don’t want her upset. If the two of you can’t get along…if
I catch you winding her up…I’ll toss you out on your ass. As long as you don’t
step over that line, we’ll be just fine.”
    She should have been insulted. Should have told him to take the
job—and the apartment—and shove it. Instead, she said, “Why are you so
protective of her?”
    “My house, my rules. That woman is my life. I don’t think I could
breathe without her. She takes care of everybody but herself. Somebody has to take
care of her. I elected myself Somebody.”
    There was something in his eyes, something he wasn’t saying. Suddenly
frightened, she said, “Casey’s not sick, is she? I thought she looked pale this
afternoon, but she brushed me off and said it was nothing.”
    He sighed and shook his head. “She didn’t tell you, did she?”
    Colleen clutched the arms of her chair. “Tell me what?”
    “She’ll probably kill me for blabbing. We were planning to wait a
little longer before we spread the word. But if you’ll be living here and working
with us, you should know. She’s pregnant.”
    Relief, sudden and shockingly welcome, arrowed through her,
leaving a tremor in her voice. “Is that all?  You had me scared for a minute.”
    “I didn’t mean to scare you. She’s exhausted and cranky. That’s
how she was during her first trimester with Emma. She’s having bouts of morning
sickness at all hours of the day and night, and she’s trying to wean Emma
because in a few months, there’ll be a new baby to be breastfed. And her blood pressure’s
running too high. The doctor’s not worried, but she is monitoring it pretty
closely. This whole thing has me nervous. I think it’s too soon for another
baby. Emma’s only eight months old. But my vote didn’t count. Casey was
determined not to wait, and