Hearts In Bloom. Mae Nunn
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Название: Hearts In Bloom

Автор: Mae Nunn

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Современные любовные романы

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СКАЧАТЬ dumped her several months earlier. He’d made some excuse about being too busy for a relationship. She knew the real reason he was suddenly so busy. What man would ever have time for an out-of-work, out-of-shape, overweight dancer?

      A low rumble rattled the windows.

      “What was that?” Becky Jo gathered her caftan up around generous thighs and closed the distance to the laundry room.

      “Check this out! Hurry!” She frantically waved Jessica toward the window.

      Urgency in her friend’s voice caused Jessica to take the three steps up to the kitchen level with less caution than usual. Briefly aware there was no pain in the ascent, she silently thanked the hairy mutt whose needs forced her into motion every morning.

      Standing on tiptoe, Becky Jo had pulled the mini-blinds several inches apart, revealing the commotion outside. Jessica had to stoop to peek through the same opening.

      The temperature had been so nice all day that she’d opened several windows. The sound of a car engine carried through the screens, and it was loud! But it wasn’t just noise.

      Power reverberated.

      Outside their laundry room was what guys lovingly called “a muscle car.” She didn’t have to know anything about racing to know she was looking at a special machine. Painted a brilliant blue, the sports car had two wide white stripes across the top that ran the entire length of the vehicle. Extra-wide tires were mounted on shiny chrome wheels, pathetically clean compared to Jessica’s grungy red station wagon.

      The rumble grew as the car fell in behind Valentine’s. The driver wore a harness instead of the usual seat belt. As if sensing female attention, Drew Keegan turned and gazed up at the window. Smiling in a way he probably knew deepened his dimples, he waved as if they were spectators in a private parade, revved the engine and passed through the gates of Sacred Arms.

      The kitchen phone jangled. Jessica grabbed it on the second ring.

      “Well, what do you think of Drew?” Valentine purred into her cell phone. “Isn’t he a gorgeous creature?”

      Jessica rolled her eyes. Valentine had never been subtle about her matchmaking. “He’s okay, if you’re into the macho military type, which I absolutely am not. As long as he keeps his distance, I’m sure we’ll be just fine.”

      “Then you may have a small problem.”

      “Oh? Why is that?” Jessica asked, suddenly concerned at the humor lacing Valentine’s voice.

      “Dahhhlin’, Captain Keegan is your new next-door neighbor.”

      Chapter Two

      Just before 7:00 a.m., Jessica perched on the kitchen stool waiting for the first dose of caffeine of the day to drip. She yawned and gracefully stretched long arms overhead, flinching at the slight pain in her sunburned shoulders.

      Frasier nudged at her ankle, demanding his morning walk. Ignoring his urgency would result in a puddle on the tile, so she took the leash from a peg by the front door.

      “Come on, buddy. Let’s head for the back lawn.”

      At the dog’s insistence, she navigated the pathway a little more quickly each day. She preferred to start off slowly, letting her muscles warm up naturally. But there’d been little of that since Becky Jo had shown up on April Fool’s Day with the critter under her arm. What an unexpected gift they’d been.

      The accident had left Jessica lying on the couch for months, burying her grief and guilt in bags of cookies. Unable to give up the practice of her daily weigh-in, she’d watched the number on the scale rise as she scoured childhood memories for the sin that had surely earned her body God’s wrath.

      Her only distraction was her lifelong best bud, who had kept the phone wires hot between Atlanta and Dallas. Becky Jo had been there day and night for Jessica to lean on, in the same way she leaned upon the detestable aluminum cane.

      A month ago she’d answered the loud pounding on her front door to find the sweetest sight of her life—Rebecca Josephine Osborne standing in the hall with a squirming white dog firmly tucked in the crook of her arm. She’d come to stay awhile. Subletting her apartment to a college student, Becky Jo had packed up her eccentric retro wardrobe and folded her massage table into the back of her turquoise van.

      Somewhere along the more than seven hundred miles of I-20, a tape had jammed in her eight-track player. Desperate for company, she’d located the animal shelter in the next small town and adopted Frasier. In a way peculiar to Becky Jo, she’d reasoned that a dog would be good physical therapy for her friend. Fortunately, she’d been right.

      Every morning Becky Jo set off for the health spa and Jessica found herself the pup’s primary caregiver. For the past month the rascal had kept her in constant motion. She stretched to move things out of his reach, bent to attach his leash and picked up the pace to keep up with his insistent tugging.

      Frequent walks kept her mind off her problems and forced her to critically assess the beds and gardens she’d agreed to develop four years earlier when the property owner, Daniel Ellis, had reduced the price of her town home in exchange for her horticultural services.

      Now, if she spotted a weed, it had to be pulled. Empty spaces in the perennial island had to be filled. As spring flowers bloomed, she became aware of the need for more balance, more texture or color. Folding new life into the soil was only surpassed by the satisfaction of admiring the results.

      She was doing just that while she waited for Frasier to finish his morning business when a big dual-cab pickup pulled a rental trailer through the gates. The driver propped his elbow on the ledge of the open window, his muscular arm visible. He sported a baseball cap, his eyes hidden by dark sunglasses, but there was no mistaking that goofy little mustache or the very solid jaw.

      Rambo.

      Her stomach did a quick flip-flop.

      Dropping her gaze self-consciously, she grimaced at the cheap shorts and tank top. Recent purchases, but already permanently stained. Her sneakers were old favorites, well past their prime. Even with one pinkie toe visible where the canvas had worn completely through, she refused to discard them.

      She reached up, running a hand through the mess she called morning hair, and slid a disapproving tongue across fuzzy teeth. Worse still was the glow from fish-belly-white skin on exposed arms and legs. A little sunburn helped, but frying to a crisp wouldn’t eliminate that fresh layer of cellulite that puckered just below the surface.

      Anxiously she glanced up the path, seeking an escape route.

      “Let’s go, Frasier.” She yanked the leash to get his cooperation. “Hurry up the front way, and we’ll avoid him.”

      They made the long climb with the dog determined to stop every few feet. If Drew Keegan came around the corner for any reason, they’d be spotted. She could only hope he was completely occupied backing the trailer into place.

      The pair made it to the Commons without incident. For once, Frasier chose to be quiet. A frisky squirrel could change that in a flash.

      As they edged toward the corner, shoes crunched on the nearby pavement. Jerking the white pup to a halt, she held СКАЧАТЬ