Sentimental Journey Read Online Free Page A

Jordanna home?"
    To Jessica, it seemed more like a demand than a question. Fear had a stranglehold on her vocal cords and she wasn't able to utter a sound. Brodie Hayes took her silence and the fact that the door was opened so wide as permission to enter.
    Her heart was pounding so hard, she thought it would explode as he stepped into the foyer. She watched his gaze make a sweeping arc of the interior of the house. She wanted to run, but as if she were in a nightmare, her legs were paralyzed.
    "Who was at the door, sis?" Jordanna's voice called from another room.
    Jessica wanted to scream a warning, but not a sound came from her throat. She heard her sister walking toward the entryway and noted the way Brodie had turned to face the sound. Inside, she was crying for being so frightened. She could have told him Jordanna wasn't home if only she hadn't been so terrified.
    It was too late when the footsteps stopped and Brodie said, "Hello, Jordanna." And Jessica noticed that his eyes didn't mirror the smile parting his mouth.
    There were more footsteps. Jessica nearly jumped out of her skin when her sister's hand touched her shoulder, and she looked up into the nervous smile of her sister. Her cloudy green eyes were rounded in apology and Jordanna's hand tightened in reassurance.
    "You'd better go up to your room and change out of that wet swimsuit." Her sister provided her with an excuse to escape.
    The touch of Jordanna's hand broke the grip of paralysis. Jessica raced up the stairs two at a time, but she went no farther than the top. There she huddled against the wall to listen, shaking like a leaf.
    "I happened to be in the neighborhood," Jessica heard Brodie say, "and thought I'd drop by to see if you'd like to go for a ride. It's a beautiful afternoon."
    "I'm sorry you made another wasted trip. I can't go with you," Jordanna refused, then hurried an explanation. "There wouldn't be anyone here to stay with my little sister. I couldn't leave her alone."
    Hiding at the top of the stairs, Jessica cringed. She didn't think her sister should tell him they were alone. What if he decided to rob them?
    "How old is your sister?" Brodie Hayes asked. "Nine? Ten?"
    "She's eleven."
    "Then she's old enough to stay by herself. Nobody's hung around to look after me since I was eight."
    "That doesn't matter," Jordanna insisted. "We don't do that. Besides, Jessica is a girl, so it's different."
    "Then you won't change your mind and come for a ride with me?" He sounded as if he expected a negative answer.
    "I can't. I've already explained that I have to stay here."
    "In that case, I'll stay and keep you company."
    At his statement, Jessica breathed in sharply. Alarm trembled through her, bones knocking together so loudly that she was sure they could hear her in the foyer below.
    "I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you to leave, Brodie. Our parents don't allow us to have friends in unless one of them is here, as well," Jordanna explained, quite bravely, Jessica thought.
    "Do you always do what your parents tell you?" He seemed to be mocking Jordanna's strict adherence to her parents' wishes.
    "My parents don't make unreasonable requests." Jordanna didn't say any more in defense of her parents or her stand.
    "If I come back later this afternoon, when your mother or father are home, would you come out with me then?"
    Jessica held her breath, knowing her sister was going to refuse, yet wondering what excuse she could make for not going with him.
    Jordanna's answer, when it came, was straightforward, her voice slightly breathy. "No."
    "Why?" Despite the quiet, even pitch of his voice, it contained the threatening ring of challenge. Upstairs, Jessica quivered as an eternity of seconds ticked away in silence. "Are you afraid of being seen with me?" His voice was so controlled, so lacking in emotion that it sent chills down Jessica's spine and she was able to imagine how her sister felt. "Or are you just afraid of me?"
    "It's nothing like that, Brodie,"