Always the Best Man Read Online Free Page B

those.”
    â€œMaybe a cafeteria and bunk room?” Jase suggested.
    â€œYou can help me with those if you want.” Leaving Emily speechless where she sat, Davey gently lifted the new addition and carried it to the bookshelf. With Jase’s help, he slid it into place with a satisfied nod. “I’m hungry. Can we eat?” he asked, turning to Emily.
    â€œSure thing,” she agreed. “Grammy, Uncle Noah and Aunt Katie are waiting.” Her family was used to waiting as transitions were one of Davey’s biggest challenges. Sometimes it took long minutes to disengage him from a project.
    Her son stepped forward, his arms ramrod straight at his sides. “It’s time, Mommy. I’m ready.”
    She almost laughed at the confusion clouding Jase’s gaze. People went in front of a firing squad with more enthusiasm than Davey displayed right now. It would have been funny if this ritual didn’t break her heart the tiniest bit. Embarrassment flooded through her at what Jase might think, but the reward was too high to worry about a little humiliation.
    She rose to her knees and opened her arms. Davey stepped forward and she pulled him close, burying her nose in his neck to breathe him in as she gave him a gentle hug. A few moments were all he could handle before he squirmed in her embrace. “I love you,” she whispered before letting him go.
    He met her gaze. “I know,” he answered simply, then turned and walked out of the room.
    She stood, wiping her cheeks. Why bother to hide the tears? She’d left the lion’s share of her pride, along with most of her other possessions, back in Boston.
    â€œSorry,” she said to Jase, knowing her smile was watery at best. Emily might be considered beautiful, but she was an ugly crier. “It’s a deal he and I have. Every time he finishes a set, I get a hug. A real one.”
    â€œEmily,” he whispered.
    â€œDon’t say anything about it, please. I can’t afford to lose it now. It’s dinnertime, and I don’t need to give my family one more reason to worry about me.”
    A muscle ticked in his jaw, but he nodded. “In case no one has said it lately,” he said as she moved past, “your ex-husband may be political royalty, but he’s also a royal ass. You deserve to be loved better.” The deep timbre of his voice rumbled through her like a cool waterfall, both refreshing and fierce in its power.
    She shivered but didn’t stop walking out of the room. Reality kept her moving forward. Davey was her full reason for being now. There was no use considering what she did or didn’t deserve.

Chapter Three
    â€œI s that you, Jase?”
    â€œYeah, Dad.” Jase slipped into the darkened trailer and flipped on the light. “I’m here. How’s it going?”
    â€œI could use a beer,” Declan Crenshaw said with a raspy laugh. “Or a bottle of whiskey. Any chance you brought whiskey?”
    His father was sprawled on the threadbare couch that had rested against the thin wall of the mobile home since Jase could remember. Nothing in the cramped space had changed from the time they’d first moved in. The trailer’s main room was tiny, barely larger than the dorm room Jase had lived in his first year at the University of Denver. From the front door he could see back to the bedroom on one side and through the efficiency kitchen with its scratched Formica counters and grainy wood cabinets to the family room on the other.
    â€œNo alcohol.” He was used to denying his dad’s requests for liquor. Declan had been two years sober and Jase was hopeful this one was going to stick. He was doing everything in his power to make sure it did. Checking on his dad every night was just part of it. “How about water or a cup of tea?”
    â€œDo I look like the queen of England?” Declan picked up the potato chip bag resting next to him on the