Ingrid Weaver – Finders Keepers (страница 2)
Oh, great. Whatever progress she might have made just evaporated. His smile had the same effect it always did. It made her feel special, warm, cherished….
And idiotic. She dipped her chin once in what she hoped was a casual nod. “Yes, that’s me.”
“I’m Jesse.” He thrust out his right hand. “Jesse Koostra. My family used to live down the road from yours. Don’t you remember me?”
The question was so absurd, it brought out an answering smile. She took his hand without thinking.
The hand that enclosed Brittany’s was warm and gentle. She thrilled at the contact. For an instant, the restaurant smells and sounds disappeared and she was once more an eight-year-old girl with skinned elbows and knees, sitting on the side of the road, staring through her tears at the mangled bicycle in the ditch.
Her parents had repeatedly cautioned her not to ride her bike on the hill to the north of the farm, because the road curved sharply, the gravel was loose and they worried she might fall. But they cautioned her about everything, so she did it anyway. With the sun warm on her face and the breeze ripe with the smell of freshly cut hay, she pedalled faster and faster, leaning low over the handlebars as the world blurred around her. The sensation of speed was intoxicating, her recklessness empowering.
Naturally, she crashed. The new bicycle she’d begged her parents to buy her was ruined. Her sweater was torn. Her scrapes stung like crazy. She had never felt more miserable, because she knew she would get in trouble, and that simply wasn’t like her. When she heard the rumble in the distance, she thought it was thunder, but it turned out to be Jesse’s Harley.
That was how they met. He was only fourteen, far too young to have a driver’s license, yet he was big for his age and capable of handling the large machine. It was an old, rebuilt bike of questionable ownership that he cruised around the back roads where the cops seldom patrolled.
Brittany didn’t care how many laws he was breaking. In her mind, he was the proverbial knight in shining armor, arriving on his flashy steed to rescue her.
His touch was gentle then, too. He didn’t make fun of her for falling off her bicycle or for crying like a baby. He didn’t comment on how she was too fat to ride it in the first place. Instead, he helped her onto the seat behind him and took her home on his Harley.
How could she help falling in love with him? He was the epitome of cool. Gorgeous, too. The six-year gap in their ages only made him more fascinating. Each time she saw him, she found more to love about him. He was kind. Funny. Smart. Sensitive. He wasn’t bad, like everyone in town said.
Or so she’d fantasized.
She’d been a fool. Her naive longing for an imaginary love was the reason she’d nearly ruined her life.
Cutlery clinked against a stoneware plate, snapping Brittany out of her trance. She dropped her hand to her side, finally breaking the contact with Jesse. “Yes, of course I remember you,” she said. “What brings you back to Port Hope?”
His smile faded. His features firmed into an expression every bit as tough as his reputation. “I’m looking for something.”
Before Brittany could ask Jesse to explain what he was seeking, the bell over the restaurant door signalled the arrival of another customer. It was Ian Taylor, a local real estate agent, who turned out to be the man Jesse was waiting for. She ushered them to the booth against the back wall next to a plastic philodendron. By the time she returned with their glasses of iced tea, they were deep in discussion. It wasn’t hard to deduce the topic. One not-very-subtle glance at the documents that were spread on the table between them confirmed her guess.
Jesse was selling his family home.
Well, it was bound to happen. She was surprised he had hung on to the property as long as he had. The land was poor, and the house had been badly neglected even before the family had abandoned it. This was no concern of hers, anyway. Her relationship with Jesse had been mostly in her mind. She should be pleased that she and her parents would be getting some new neighbors. She had absolutely no reason to feel sad. Maybe now she could close that disastrous chapter of her life for good.
Yet her crush on Jesse hadn’t been all bad. Sure, it had led her into making some serious mistakes, but she’d learned from them, hadn’t she? She wasn’t waiting for anyone to rescue her. She began taking control of her life the day she forced herself to stop hiding behind her hair. She
Apparently, so had Jesse. The distinctive Harley and the leather jacket had thrown her at first. Now that she could observe him more thoroughly, she saw other differences in addition to the ones she’d noticed earlier. He used to work at a garage in town, and he regularly tinkered with his father’s cars, but there was no trace of grease or motor oil on his hands now, not even along the cuticles. The expensive-looking gold watch that circled his wrist was at odds with the plain white T-shirt he wore. His demeanor as he spoke to Ian was businesslike, as if he was no stranger to dealing with legal contracts. The tough-guy image was further eroded when he put on a pair of reading glasses to scrutinize the fine print.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.