Where She Belongs Read Online Free Page A

pocket. “Let me take a picture. You holding the key.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œFor Gran. It’d mean a lot to her.”
    â€œI guess that would be okay.” Shelby held up the key and smiled. She didn’t like the idea of AJ having a photo of her, but neither did she want to appear ungrateful for his grandmother’s gift. He snapped the photo, looked at the phone display, then held it out to her. In the photo, her eyes appeared too bright, her smile uncertain.
    â€œDo another one. Please.”
    â€œSure.”
    She took a deep breath then smiled, a genuine smile for the elderly woman who’d given her a precious keepsake from the past.
    They examined the photo together. The lighting wasn’t the greatest, but at least her expression was more relaxed.
    â€œMuch better,” she said. “You will tell her how much this means to me?”
    â€œI will.” AJ pocketed his phone. “Does this mean you aren’t mad at me anymore?”
    â€œI was never mad at you.”
    â€œCould have fooled me.”
    â€œIt’s not that I’m mad.” She hesitated, wanting to corral her emotions into the right words. But how could she explain the unrelenting anger she carried for the family who had caused her such grief? Until today, when she met AJ, a faceless family who hadappeared in her nightmares as ogres with red eyes and grasping fingers that clawed at her heart.
    Nothing at all like the man who sat across from her with his Cary Grant cleft, warm eyes, and easygoing demeanor.
    â€œIt’s that . . . you’re a Sullivan.”
    â€œYou don’t like me because I’m a Sullivan?”
    â€œIt’s reason enough.” She lifted her chin, trying to impose solidity where there was nothing but foolishness. She wasn’t being fair. But life hadn’t been fair to her.
    Tiff arrived at the table with two steaming plates of lasagna. “Bon appétit,” she said. “Let me know if you need anything.” She leaned closer to AJ. “Anything at all.”
    â€œThanks, Tiff.” He barely smiled. “I think we’re good.”
    Thankful for the distraction, Shelby placed her napkin on her lap and picked up her fork. “May I ask you a question?”
    â€œSure.” AJ took a breadstick from the basket and tore it in half.
    â€œWhat did you mean earlier about the house being a punishment?”
    He bent his head, but not enough to hide the set of his jaw. She cut into the lasagna with the side of her fork and jabbed at it.
    â€œYou don’t need to answer. It’s just hard for me to understand. It’s a beautiful house. At least it was. Once.”
    He lifted his eyes, drawing her into deep brown pools of light and warmth. Her breath caught as an unexpected thought beat rhythm with her pulse.
    If only she had met AJ Sullivan under different circumstances.

    â€œI’m sure it was. Once.” AJ bit into the soft, hot bread. Shelby’s green eyes mesmerized him, but her mercurial attitude confounded him. One minute, he felt like her enemy. The next, as if they could be best friends. Maybe even something more. “But the first time I saw it, the house had already been empty several years.”
    â€œYou didn’t want to fix it up? Live in it?”
    â€œIt’s kind of large for one person, don’t you think?” He ventured a grin. Thankfully, she nodded agreement.
    â€œYou could have rented it out. Made some money.”
    He searched for a noble reason why he hadn’t done even that. But the simple truth was that he wanted nothing to do with the house or the memories it embodied. Shelby might be hurt by that truth, but perhaps his explanation would make up for whatever wrongs his family had done to hers.
    â€œGranddad—everyone called him Sully—had several business interests,” he said. “And three heirs. My two cousins and me. I got Misty Willow, and they got