Redemption: Reckless Desires (Blue Moon Saloon Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

I’ve ever done.”
    Swallowing her pride. God, how often had she done that in the past couple of months?
    But
this
was different than swallowing her pride.
This
would tear what was left of her aching heart into tiny bits, one piece at a time.
    Jessica walked to the counter, poured two teas, then came back and set one in front of Sarah. She took a deep breath and started talking, starting all the way back in Montana.
    “We didn’t see the ambush coming.” Jessica stared into the steam rising from her mug. Her voice was hushed. “They came out of nowhere, and suddenly, everything was on fire. Everything. The house, the woods, the neighbor’s place…” She let out a long, slow breath. “And the voices…”
    Sarah closed her eyes, remembering all too well.
Purity! Purity!
the lunatic arsonists had chanted as they burned her house down.
    “I grabbed Janna and ran and ran…”
    Sarah started rocking on the chair again. Yes, she had run, too. She’d had to give up on trying to get her parents out of the house and had run for her life, trying to ignore the burns on her arms.
    “We fled to some relatives out East, thinking we’d escape the Blue Bloods there, but it wasn’t long before we realized they had us in their sights again. Somehow, we could just feel it.”
    God, she knew the feeling all too well. That prickling warning at the nape of her neck, that panic building inside.
    “We went from place to place for months until fate brought us here…”
    Fate. Jessica said the word as if it were a living, breathing thing.
    “Simon didn’t want to hire us at first, and boy, did we have a rocky start.” Jessica sped up, then slowed down, and her face glowed a little when she talked about Simon and the saloon and the new life she’d made.
    “You’ll be safe here,” Jessica finished. “The baby will be safe here.” She let a heavy pause punctuate the words.
    A bird fluttered past the window, and the ceiling fan whirred quietly. An old truck rattled by outside. Sarah closed her eyes, trying so hard to resist the pull she felt deep, deep inside.
    This is the place,
the overhead fan seemed to whisper.
This is your home.
    Home. Did she really dare believe?
    Jessica clapped once and smiled as if everything was decided. “So, lunch. Would you like a wrap or a sandwich?”
    Sarah blinked at her. Was it really so easy to do what she had to do?
    Jessica took one more look at her, then stepped behind the counter. “I’ll make both.”
    Sarah plucked at her loose-fitting blouse and jeans. Did she really look that hungry? Probably. Just about the only thing holding up her pants was the baby bump, because she was rail thin. She shuddered to think what the stress of the past months might mean for the baby.
    “No thinking,” Jessica ordered her with a kind smile. “Just let go for a little while, and let someone take care of you for a change.”
    Sarah tried her best to smile. “Not sure I know what that’s like.”
    “Well, you came to the right place. You want papaya or mango in your smoothie?”
    She could practically feel her body crying for vitamins. “Um…”
    “Got it.” Jessica smiled. “Both.” She gestured Sarah over to the counter and started throwing chunks of fruit into a blender — richly colored, juicy chunks of papaya, orange, and strawberry Sarah could practically taste with her eyes.
    It wasn’t long before she was licking her fingers from the best chicken wrap she’d ever tasted, bar none, and downing her first smoothie in what felt like years. The second she drained the glass, Jessica snatched it away, refilled it, and thumped it back on the counter along with a grilled vegetable sandwich.
    “Oh, my God. This is so good,” Sarah mumbled between bites.
    Jessica shot her a weary smile. “It better be. We’re opening tomorrow.”
    Sarah looked around the café. The walls were sparkling white, and every chair was painted a different color, making a rainbow effect. Tiny wildflowers filled