From the Heart: Romance, Mystery and Suspense a collection for everyone Read Online Free Page B

who’d broken his heart and done something this man hated her for. Don’t piss him off. Yah, she heard the warning. She knew some people didn’t forgive; they held onto the hate, letting it become a monkey on their back.
    Emily swallowed hard, and then backed away. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Chapter Four
    Her hands wrapped around the steering wheel, driving alone became a mini-holiday, one she’d too-rarely had the opportunity to enjoy. It gave her time to think, evaluate her life, dream big, and put plans in place. That’s just what she did now, after the unusual interview. “I’ll give notice to the landlord, pack after Katy’s in bed, and could maybe be ready by the weekend. Yah, this will be easy.” In some ways, this change would be a relief.
    Gina must have been glued to the window when Emily pulled into the driveway. Before Emily could turn off the ignition, she’d ripped open the front door and bounced outside with Katy perched on her hip.
    Her little blonde princess clapped and squealed with glee, holding her arms out for her mama. The rusted hinges on the van door squeaked when Emily gave it a shove, just as Katy landed in her arms. Emily inhaled her baby soft scent and held her tight, kissing her over and over on her plump round cheeks. “I’ve got the job, baby girl , and we start tomorrow.”
    “Yeah! Oh, I knew you could do it.” Gina punched her lean arms in the air before pulling Emily and Katy into a hug. “It’s freezing out here, come on. So tell me everything, details, details. Who’re you working for?” Gina clapped her hands to hurry Emily inside.
    Emily left her coat and shoes on as she carried Katy into the darkened living room, where her worn out brilliant green couch had seen better days. She dropped into her Scottish plaid glider rocker and let out a sigh ; a contented sound, like every burden inside was gone. She put Katy down on the ugly beige carpet, where she toddled off to pick up her dolly with blue ink stains streaked across its plastic face. Emily watched as Katy, plopped the doll into the doll-sized stroller parked by the fireplace and began to push her around the living room. “We need to move to his ranch.”
    “Move ? Why?” Gina perched across from Emily on the edge of the dark green sofa.
    “The job’s full -time care of his young son. He’s a single father and runs the ranch alone. He needs someone there to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s what I do now, except now I’ll be getting paid for it.” Emily couldn’t suppress a slight grin.
    “Does he have a house on his property for you to live in?” Gina flattened both her hands across her knees.
    “We’ll be moving into his house. It’s large, and there’s enough room.” There was a slight hitch in Emily’s voice. And Gina, being Gina, never missed anything and could make anyone trying to keep the slightest detail from her squirm, narrowed her dark brown eyes, and stiffened her spine as she leaned forward.
    “Call it a gift from my mother side, but honey I’m one Irish Italian girl you can’t pull nothing over on : there’s a whole schwack of problems with that arrangement, and I know you’re holding something back from me. So you may as well spill it, all of it.”
    Emily looked up at the low dingy stucco ceiling and rocked the squeaky chair. She answered without meeting the narrowed eyes that burned another layer off Emily’s protective shell. “He’s the most attractive man I’ve ever met, and arrogant and unforgiving, and I humiliated myself like the bumbling, socially inept idiot that I am. And Trevor, that’s his little boy, the mother’s not around. I don’t know what happened to her, but it’s evidently a sore point with him. One he’s not willing to discuss, and he doesn’t hold her too highly in his regard … which I suspect is where he puts all women.”
    “Oh, I see.” Gina rose to her feet when the kettle whistled from the kitchen. She walked around the