A Fresh Start Read Online Free

to flicker toward Paige.
    At the back of his mind, he couldn’t help wondering why a woman like her would move into a house with such a story behind it. The moment he had the chance to slip in a question, he immediately turned to Paige and asked, “So, what brought you to Pine and to the haunted house?”
    She chuckled softly. “Is that what everyone calls it?”
    “Yeah. It’s the town’s famous, or infamous, haunted house. You do know about the suicide.”
    “Justin.” Mrs. Seymour shot him a warning glare.
    Paige’s lips curled further. “Yes. I figured something was wrong when the owners were letting it go at such a low price. I asked and they told me.”
    “And still you bought it.”
    “I didn’t kill her, there’s no reason for her to hurt me.”
    “So you think she’s still in the house.”
    “Justin.” Mrs. Seymour narrowed her eyes and held his gaze.
    “It’s all right,” she said to Mrs. Seymour, half chuckling. “I don’t believe she’s still in the house. I’m just saying that even if she is, there’s no reason for me to be afraid.”
    He nodded, satisfied with the answer. “And what’s wrong with your driving skills?”
    “I’m just used to taking the subway or taxi.”
    He glanced over at Mrs. Seymour as he felt her staring at him, but he merely turned back to Paige and continued with his questions. “You’re from New York?”
    Paige opened her mouth to speak, but the words seemed to get choked in her throat.  
    He frowned at her reaction. It wasn’t a personal detail that people would mind speaking of.  
    “She doesn’t like to talk about her past,” Mr. Seymour explained.  
    Justin returned his gaze to Paige.
    Despite the small smile she kept displayed, her fingers played around with the ring on her right index finger.  
    He should let it go. He hardly knew her. He would only be taking a look around her house to see what she needed done, then pass the information back to Travis. He probably wouldn’t be seeing her after tonight anyway.
    But his eyes remained fixated on Paige. He observe her while his mind mused over all the reasons that could’ve brought her here.
    “Enough talking, eat. I’ll pack some for you kids to bring home, you bring some back to Travis, too.”
    “Oh, Mrs. Seymour, there’s no need.”
    “She’s not going to take no for an answer,” Justin said.
    Paige pursed her lips, but nodded after a moment. “Okay, sure.”
    Mr. Seymour moved over to the couch and switched on the TV. “Maybe the two of you should stay here for a while. The rain doesn’t look like it’s letting up.”
    He didn’t really care. He wasn’t going to melt from the rain anyway.
    Looking over at Paige, he found her staring ruefully at the TV screen, completely unaware of Mr. Seymour’s suggestion.
    Curious, he turned back to the TV. Mr. Seymour had flipped to some Christian channel and there was some pastor preaching away. He didn’t bother to listen to what the preacher was saying.
    “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’re not going to hell.”
    “Hmm?” Paige took her attention off the TV and onto him.
    “These preachers are always telling people that everyone will be going to hell. Don’t need to take it personally.”
    She broke into a grin. “You completely tuned out the pastor, didn’t you? He wasn’t talking about hell.”
    “Here you go.” Mrs. Seymour came back out from the kitchen. “These two are the same, you two choose either one,” she said to Paige. “This is for Travis, there’s more for Amy.” Then, she handed all three bags over to him. “Do you kids want to stay here for a while longer? The rain is so heavy.”
    “It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon,” Paige commented as she stared out at the rain.
    His thoughts exactly. The sound of thunder was rolling by every couple of minutes, and the rain only seemed to get heavier as the clock ticked.
      But women tended to hate getting caught in the rain.
    Paige swiveled