Jesse's Brother Read Online Free

she does invite you and you need a date, I would be honored to go with you.”
She blushed and wondered what it would be like to go on a date with Noah. “Okay…” she said shyly, then looked up at him. “So tell me a little about you.”
His pace quickened a bit. “Not much to tell you. My name is Noah.”
“Noah what?” She bumped her shoulder into his.
“Combs.”
“And?”
He sighed. “I have a parrot named Blue.”
“Anything else?”
“Nope. That’s all there is to know about me.”
“Ever been married? Kids?” Getting him to open up was like pulling teeth. Maybe she shouldn’t have told him so much.
“Neither of those.”
“By the way, I’ve figured it out already.”
“What?” he asked as he played with his small hoop earring.
“You’re better than a dog.”
“And I’m glad you came home.” He looked away, but the smile remained on his lips. “It’s going to be a fun summer.”
Samantha could see the distance between them and the house closing in. Her heart skipped a beat. This stranger took her heart to places she’d never been, and she didn’t want the visit to end.
Being around Noah would make the summer a little more tolerable.
He shook her hand, and walked back down to the barn. Was he really done with the job, or had he been fibbing so she wouldn’t worry about taking his time?
She climbed up the steps to the front door. Should she knock to prove her point to Mom? No. She didn’t need to add to the already brewing pot of problems and that was exactly what knocking would do.
Once the door squeaked open, her mother padded out of the kitchen, no doubt ready to pick up where they’d left off. Samantha held up her hand, signaling she had no intentions of discussing the matter tonight.
“Samantha, your father—”
“I don’t want to talk.” She tried to walk away, hoping her mother would give up but she continued to forge ahead with the conversation.
“What did you do out there?” Mom asked her.
“Nothing.”
“Samantha…”
“I know Dad talked to you about what was said. It’s the same old story each time I’m here. Guess what? I don’t want to talk to you tonight.” She paused half-way up the stairs. “Oh, I met your handsome farm hand, Noah Combs. Daddy sure has wonderful taste in employees. He should’ve hired help long ago.”
She couldn’t keep the singing from her voice when she spoke of him. She most definitely had the start of a school-girl crush. She rolled her eyes as she pictured herself drawing hearts with Noah’s name in them.
Mom’s mouth dropped open but she didn’t say anything. Her suspicious stare burned in Samantha’s direction as she spun on her heel and ran up the stairs.
Once the bedroom door clicked shut behind her, she heard footsteps below. Her mother had gone into the living room located directly beneath her bedroom. The raised voices implied Mom was angry about something. That something was Noah Combs.

CHapter 4

Noah stabbed the pitchfork into the hay, trying to get a head start on tomorrow’s chores and Samantha out of his thoughts.
He always returned to his trailer once the sun went down. He’d had the same routine every night for the last year: work until dark, then home for dinner and a shower. Blue and a good book made great company as far as he was concerned.
Martin didn’t care when Noah ended work for the day as long as he met the day’s goals and took care of the animals. Any night of the week, he could have hung around town meeting new people and scored a date or two. There was even talk about a few of the local women being interested in him. He, for sure, noticed the attention, sometimes even heard the whispers amongst the women as he walked by. Most men liked having their egos stroked, but it actually did the opposite for him. As a result, he stayed away from town as much as possible. It gave him an incentive to follow the same routine he’d stuck to for the past three hundred sixty-five nights.
Not tonight, however.