Read Online The Princess and the Pauper by Nancy Bush - Free Book Online Page A

the center of the parking lot, nose pointed outward. The engine idled quietly. April turned off the air conditioning and pushed a button on the walnut dash board. The sunroof slid backward with a soft hum; the sunlight almost blinded her.
    She sighed. Following Jesse had become an obsession. At first she denied, even to herself, that her trips past the mill were more frequent than before, that her visits to Louie’s, the local burger joint two miles past the mill, had steadily increased. So she’d suddenly developed a craving for fast food. So what?
    But occasionally cruising to the truck stop had been what tipped the scales. She couldn’t lie to herself any longer. She’d gone there for one reason, and one reason only: Jesse.
    Carrie’s feeling about her strange behavior had been painfully clear the last time April had approached her friend about grabbing lunch at Louie’s. “Are you out of your mind?” Carrie had demanded. “I’m sick of Louie’s, and I’m never coming within a mile of that truck stop place again!”
    No amount of cajoling could persuade her to go. Which was just as well, April supposed, in case she actually ran into Jesse.
    July heat poured into her car, baking hot. April pulled her long hair off her bare shoulders and flung it over the back of the seat. She’d cornered Jesse twice since the night in the gazebo. Once at Louie’s, once when he was walking through town with Bettina. Both times he’d acted as if she were invisible. Bettina had managed to say hello.
    She’d had better luck with Jordan. Two nights before, she’d caught sight of him stuffed inside an older Suburban with a group of high school friends. Waving, April had managed to get the driver to pull over. She pointed to Jordan and yelled for him to join her.
    Amid hoots of laughter his friends had practically tossed him out of the car. Sliding into the front seat of the Mercedes, Jordan had whistled softly. “Nice wheels.”
    “My father’s, not mine. We sold my Mustang because I’m going to be living on campus. I’m afraid I’m carless.”
    “Then we’re two of a kind,” he said, pulling a beer from the inside of his coat and cracking it open. “Only I just can’t afford one. Want some?”
    “No, thanks.”
    “Why did you pick me up?” he asked twenty minutes later, while April was driving aimlessly along River Road. He’d polished off the beer and crushed the can between his palms.
    April bit her lip, wondering if she should admit her feelings for Jesse – whatever those feelings might be. She wasn’t sure what attracted her, what compelled her to try and see him, but she was unwilling to let it lie. “I’ve met your brother.”
    Jordan turned her way, staring at her in the same unnerving way, Jesse did. “So?”
    “So I… want to see him again,” she admitted breezily.
    Jordan half-choked. “Jesse?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Well, if you think I can help you, you’re out of your mind. Jesse doesn’t listen to me.”
    “I just want to see him again, that’s all. To talk.”
    Jordan’s silence was eloquent of his disbelief. “How did you two meet?” he asked curiously.
    April shook her head. “It’s too long a story to go into. But I think he got the wrong impression of me, and I just want to straighten it out.”
    Jordan stared her down in such a way that April averted her eyes. To her amazement he touched her arm understandingly and said, “Jesse doesn’t like girls from Windsor Estates. It doesn’t matter what you do, April. He won’t like you. He can’t stand Tasha, either.”
    She gazed out the window, swallowing the swelling lump in her throat. Jesse’s prejudice made April’s soul ache. Inside, she yearned for something deep and nameless. Something only he could give her. “How does Jesse know Tasha so well?”
    “Oh, he just does.” Jordan shrugged. “Jesse’s not exactly impressed with her, if you know what I mean.”
    Now April laid her head against the car seat and stared