Read Online Righting a Wrong (A Ripple Effect Romance Novella) by Rachael Anderson - Free Book Online Page A

bike.”
    “I know. I helped! Remember?”
    Jace did remember. Cambri, covered in dirt and sweat, glaring at him from the bottom of the hole. “This is taking forever,” she’d said. “Why don’t we just throw it in front of a semi just to break it down a little? Or better yet—have it cremated?”
    “Is that what you’d want done to you after you die?” he’d countered.
    “No.” She wiped her matted hair away from her face. “I would have wanted you to leave me at the bottom of the pond,” she grumbled. “Which is exactly where that bike should still be.”
    And that was why Jace had insisted on burying the bike. He got to spend the entire day with Cambri because of it. Even though it made him look overly attached to a hunk of metal, it had been worth it.
    “I’ve always wondered if the new owners of our old house ever dug that up,” said Jace. “It’s not like we buried it that deep. All it would take was a good tiller to expose some of those rusted old remains.”
    Cambri shivered. “Don’t say that. I can’t stand the sound of grinding metal or metal scraping anything. It’s almost as bad as fingernails on a chalkboard.”
    “You mean like a shovel grating against rock or the sound of car breaks grinding or—”
    “Stop.” Cambri clamped her hand over his mouth. “I almost forgot how evil you can be.”
    “Almost?” Jace said, his voice muffled by her hand. He’d meant it as a joke, but the humor drained from her face as she met and returned his gaze. Her hand slowly dropped from his mouth, and she looked away.
    Jace would give anything to know what she was thinking.
    She cleared her throat, and her voice took on a forced brightness. “Hey, you don’t, by chance, take on side projects, do you? I was thinking of having my dad’s old shed rebuilt. It’s falling apart, and he could really use a bigger one.” Her eyes met his again, looking anxious. “I’d pay you, of course.”
    Her question was met with silence, mostly because Jace didn’t know how to answer. Once again, his shoe scuffed against the sidewalk, and he watched the concrete crumble. Like the digging of that ridiculous hole for his bike, he wanted to say yes, to spend more time with her. He wanted to remember the old and discover the new, but she was leaving, and Jace had learned long ago that the only thing she wanted from him was friendship. He didn’t think he could go back to that.
    “I’m actually pretty busy right now with this house. But I know a guy who’d be interested if you want his name and number.”
    “Oh, um, yeah … ” Did she sound disappointed? “That’d be great.”
    Jace nodded toward the house. “C’mon in, and I’ll get it for you. I’ll even let you take a look around—in a non-creepy, legal way.”
    “Ha ha,” she said.
    Inside, Jace watched Cambri as she walked slowly around the bare room. She ran her hand up and down the smooth banister, across the white fireplace mantle, and briefly touched the gray semi-gloss paint before turning back to him.
    “It’s beautiful,” she said. “Did you do all this work yourself?”
    He nodded. “I like to stay busy. It keeps me out of trouble.”
    “Since you were always such a troublemaker,” she joked.
    “I was,” said Jace. “Mr. Badboy himself.”
    Cambri laughed at that, and Jace stiffened. He hadn’t heard that laugh since she’d returned. It was her real laugh—the one that used to warm him up from the inside out and make his days happier. The one that brightened the bare, dimly lit room now. The one that would be walking out the door in just a few minutes.
    She wandered into the kitchen and ran her fingers across the ugly orange laminate countertop. Other than the floor, Jace hadn’t done anything to the kitchen yet.
    “What do you plan to do in here?” she asked.
    “Leave it as is,” came his answer. “I’m a sucker for that orange.”
    Cambri laughed again, and the room brightened a little more. Even the countertops