First a Dream (Dreams Come True #1) Read Online Free Page A

face. I’ll teach you to fake it ‘til you make it. And if you look amazing, you’ll start to feel amazing too.” He grabbed her wrist and brought her back to the makeup room.
    “But...appointments!” Isabella worried about clients showing up and not being there to greet them.
    Glancing at his watch, Kristofer shook his head. “We have twenty minutes before the first one. Even if they show up early, I’ll still have time. And besides, I love doing makeup. Just shut up and let me!”
    An unexpected laugh escaped her lips. How could she be unhappy around these antics?  With a grin, she acquiesced. “Okay, but you have your work cut out for you.”
     
    ***
     
    As Isabella drove home, she realized she hadn’t heard from Jack all day. So it was a huge surprise when she arrived home, two kids in tow and opened the front door only to discover he had emptied out all of his possessions in their absence. There was a note taped to the door she had grabbed on the way in. As the kids scampered up the stairs to their rooms, she finally read it with shaking hands.
    Isabella,
                  Sorry about everything. I hope you
    know that I will never love anyone like
    I love you.
                   We need to get together to distribute
    the movie collection. I wasn’t sure what you
    wanted.
    Love, Jack
     
    Isabella realized he must have scrutinized every item he took carefully, cautious to not take anything that Isabella might lay claim to. That’s right , Isabella thought, you’ve taken enough from me already.
    She continued to analyze the brief note. Never love anyone like you love me , Isabella snorted. Just as well for your next victim I suppose . Then she walked around the house, did a quick once over. Her favorite chair was gone, the flame stitched club chair his father had purchased at an auction was one of their first pieces of furniture and happened to fit her perfectly, but it was Jack’s anyway. Some of the cookware was also gone, as well as the old dishes and silverware. He had taken the video games, which didn’t upset her in the least. There in the built in bookcase, the movie collection remained untouched. The apartment seemed strangely vacant. All of the clutter and mess she usually complained about was missing.
    There were no stacks of bills and catalogs, no half-done jigsaw puzzles, no partially assembled model cars. There were no remote control vehicles, no Jack toys of any kind. Finally Isabella climbed the stairs to the bedroom where the closet door exposed a gaping vacant area his clothes used to occupy. The electric razor which always stayed plugged in and dangling over the sink...gone. No deodorant, no toothpaste, no shampoo, not one piece of Jack remained.
    Isabella inhaled deeply. I will not cry. I will not cry . Rebecca and Konnor had passed her on the stairs and were now watching television in the living room. Still, they could wander upstairs at any time. She couldn’t let them see her cry. It was such a foreign act, they were bound to be frightened. Isabella staggered over to the bed, lowered herself to the floor, and reached into her pocket to grab her phone. She hadn’t even spoken to Jessie since the “mall incident” had occurred.
    “Isabella, what happened?” Jessie’s voice was both concerned and stern, demanding a response.
    “He’s…gone…Jessie,” Isabella whispered through controlled breaths. “He’s… really…gone.”
    “Don’t move. I’ll be right over,” her friend commanded in a hurried voice before abruptly ending their call.
    So Isabella didn’t. Jessie arrived less than twenty minutes later from the outskirts of town with her toddler, Stephen. The door was unlocked and she heard it creak as Jessie let herself in.
    “Stephen, play with Konnor and Rebecca,” she suggested gently.
    A moment later she heard Jessie slowly mount the stairs. When she reached the landing, Jessie peeked over tentatively to assess the situation. Isabella was