Read Online Whisper of Revenge (A Cape Trouble Novel Book 4) by Janice Kay Johnson - Free Book Online

him.  “You’re not so young yourself, you know.  Most of
the good women your age are taken, too.”
    He laughed, a picture of Hannah’s face appearing unbidden. 
He kissed his mother’s cheek and murmured in her ear, “Who says I want a good
one?”
    She huffed, but then, to his surprise, hugged him fiercely. 
He’d never doubted her love, but she wasn’t physically demonstrative.  When she
let him go, she said, “I worry about you.”
    Elias didn’t ask her why; he knew.  She was his only
family.  Once she was gone, he’d be entirely alone.  He’d never meant to end up
this way, but he didn’t seem to have what it took to make a woman believe in
him.  To make her happy.  Which begged the question – why was he being stupid
enough to take one more chance?
    His mother studied him with narrowed eyes.  “What’s that
expression mean?”
    He hesitated, but knew gossip would find its way to her.  “I
have a date tonight.”
    Her eyebrows rose.  “With?”
    “Hannah Moss.  She owns—”
    “I know who Hannah is,” she interrupted.  “I like her a
great deal.  I admit to being surprised, though.  She isn’t your usual type.”
    “Am I that predictable?”  Yeah, he was, and knew it, which
was why this attraction to Hannah had blindsided him.  But once he’d started
imagining her naked, his hands all over her lavish body, the women who once
would have attracted him seemed to be leaving him cold.
    “Yes, but I think this is a good thing.”  Obviously pleased,
his mother kissed his cheek again and got into her car.  “Call me,” she said,
and backed out.
    He should go home and get some work done…but the urge for a
cup of coffee and one of Hannah’s smiles was too powerful.
     
    *****
     
    She gave him the smile accompanied by a blush, but they
barely exchanged a couple of words before she turned her smile to the next
person in line, Arthur Escott.  Hannah wasn’t alone – her usual assistant,
Alice Roberts, a perky young woman with spiky hair currently dyed blue, was
behind the counter as well.  But the two were having to hustle to keep up with
a major jump in business.  Mostly locals, he noticed, likely drawn by all the
talk.
    Elias had the surprised thought that, while he vaguely
recognized which people were locals, he didn’t know many of them well.  Having
grown up in Cape Trouble, there’d been a time he would have.  But while he
hadn’t been paying attention, families had moved away and newcomers arrived. 
Out of this crowd, he spotted only a couple people he’d gone to school with:
Caitlin Murrin nee Bryson, once a homecoming princess, and John Donnelson, an
offensive lineman who had protected Elias as quarterback the last two years of
high school.  The two of them still played touch football in a casual, muddy
fall tradition.  Even that group, it occurred to him, while still including a
number of his teammates, had over the years incorporated newcomers.
    Elias shook his head in faint amusement as he greeted
Donnelson.  Man, back in the time they’d thought they were something, even
though the size of the school mean they competed in the 4A bracket, not exactly
the top of the heap.  A couple of the guys had been so damn sure scouts were in
the stands, when there’d never been a chance.
    He might have taken a minute to talk to Donnelson, except
the guy had two kids hanging on him.  The little girl was chanting, “Please,
please, please,” like a metronome, her eyes fixed on her daddy’s.  The boy,
maybe four or five, had his eyes fixed on the fudge.  Elias could see
the poor sucker going down for the count.
    Something bumped his back and, startled, he turned his head.
    “Sorry,” Ron Campbell said.  “These tables are squeezed too
close together.”  He pulled out a chair at a neighboring table and sank down
with his coffee and a small plate holding fudge.  “Don’t know why she bothers
with the books, when this is where her business is,” he