The Pursuit of Jesse Read Online Free

feel like to be welcomed home that sweetly? Hell, it’d been so long since he’d been kissed, he’d surely forgotten what a woman’s lips felt like. Although the exchange lasted only a second or two, it was long enough for Jesse to feel as if he were intruding.
    Garrett stepped back, his arm still draped over his wife’s shoulder. “Jesse, this is Erica.”
    Jesse nodded and reached out to shake her hand. “Nice to finally meet you.” Per Jesse’s orders his family and friends had not been allowed to visit him while he’d been behind bars, and suddenly, he felt awkward and shy, meeting for the first time this woman who’dbecome so important to his brother in such a short amount of time.
    Chuckling, she glanced at his hand. “That’s a joke, right? We’re family.” Then she threw her arms around him and hugged him. “I’m glad you’re finally…here.”
    Jesse made an attempt at hugging her back, but it didn’t feel right. After so many years of holding the world at arm’s length, he wasn’t sure he remembered everyday niceties.
    “Daddy, Daddy!” A toddler sat in a high chair near the kitchen’s center island, his arms impatiently outstretched toward Garrett.
    “And this is David.” Garrett kissed the cheesy-sauced cheek of his young son and scooped him out of the high chair. Cute kid. Reminded Jesse of baby pictures of Garrett. His brother sure did seem comfortable around all this domesticity.
    “Zach?” Erica called. “Come and meet your uncle, kiddo.”
    A young boy popped up from the family-room floor and came toward them, his hands hanging awkwardly at his sides. “Hey.”
    “Hey, Zach.” Jesse reached out and shook the boy’s hand.
    From what Garrett had written in his infrequent emails to Jesse, Garrett and Erica had adopted her nephew after Erica’s sister had been murdered by her husband, Zach’s dad. Damn. And Jesse thought he’d had a tough childhood. The kid’s real name was Jason, but he went by Zach or Zachary, the name he’d chosen when he and Erica had first come to Mirabelle to hide from her abusive brother-in-law. Sounded to Jesse like a way to evade the past and all its pain, but who was Jesse to judge? The kid looked as if he was doing okay.
    “You look like you’re about Brian’s age, huh?” Jesse said. “Sarah’s son. You two friends?”
    “Yeah.” Zach’s eyes lit up. “Best friends.”
    “That’s cool. He seems like a nice kid.” For a moment, Jesse stood there, unsure of what to do next.
    “Well, settle in quick,” Erica said, heading back to the stove. “Dinner’s ready in a few minutes. Hope you like pork chops. Mashed potatoes and gravy.”
    Jesse’s mouth watered at the thought of his first home-cooked meal in almost four years.
    “Come on, Jess.” Garrett started toward the back of the house. “I’ll show you to your room before we eat.”
    Jesse picked up his bag and followed Garrett down a hallway off the kitchen. “Erica and I are upstairs with the kids,” he said. “You’re in the spare room down here. We’d been using it for storage, so it’s nothing special.”
    Jesse walked through the doorway and flicked on the light. Unlike the rest of the house, this room was sparse and plain. There was a bed, dresser and bedside table. The closet was still full of boxes, camping gear and luggage.
    “I know it’s basic, but—”
    “It’s clean,” Jesse said. “It has a bed.” He threw his bag onto the mattress. For years, he’d dreamed of this moment, he’d dreamed of being free, but now that he was out it all seemed terribly wrong. He didn’t belong here. This was all too perfect. Too nice. Too good for the likes of him.
    “And there aren’t any prison bars,” Garrett said softly.
    “Nope.” Jesse glanced out the window into the dusky early evening, saw the snow falling more gently nowand felt sweat break out on his brow. Most of the men he’d gotten to know in prison would’ve been leaping for joy right about now. An