The Redemption Of Lillie Rourke. Loree Lough

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СКАЧАТЬ ago, he’d decided to give up on dating. He’d had it with well-intentioned friends trying to set him up with the perfect woman, one who’d help him get over Lillie. And then, at one of Drew and Dora’s shindigs, he’d met Whitney. She wasn’t perfect, but then, neither was he. Besides, perfection was overrated. A satisfying existence could be just as fulfilling as a happy one, right? And he sure didn’t appreciate the cosmos, or whatever it was, interfering with his almost perfect life.

      Jase picked up the glasses, and as he turned to leave the kitchen, he grazed Dora’s cheek with a brotherly kiss.

      “Thanks for caring, sis. And just so you know, I love you, too.”

      He could still see her tiny grin as he rounded the corner into his mother’s office.

      Colette was lounging in her favorite chair—a flowery, overstuffed thing that was wide enough to accommodate a linebacker—a romance novel in her lap. She’d kicked off her shoes and propped both stockinged feet on the matching ottoman.

      “You’re early,” she said, glancing up from her book.

      “Early? You didn’t even know I was coming over tonight.” He put the iced tea glasses on coasters, then sat on the end of the sofa nearest her chair.

      She used her thumb to mark her place in the paperback. “I thought maybe since that little set-to with Whitney caused you to miss dinner at Sabatino’s...”

      “Set-to?” He hadn’t seen it that way at all. But wait... “How’d you hear about that? I only left her place half an hour ago.”

      She fluffed chin-length white hair. “Dora got a phone call not long after she got here. Guess who it was.”

      Yet again, he was reminded of the Drew-Dora-Whitney connection down at the law office.

      “She’s such a lovely young woman. So soft-spoken and ladylike. She’ll make someone a wonderful wife, and be a great mother someday. That someone could be you...if you don’t blow it, pining over Lillie. That girl put you through the wringer.”

      Once upon a time, his mom had cared for Lillie as if she’d been one of her own, often making excuses for her erratic behavior. Until she caught Lillie slipping a hundred dollars from her wallet. Colette had been furious when she’d told him about it. “Not because I need the money,” she’d said, “but because Lillie has made fools of all of us.” She’d gone on to say that unless the craziness with the drugs stopped, Lillie would break his heart. Deep down, he’d known his mother was right but had held out for a miracle. And a week later...

      Jase pressed fingertips together, and like a spider doing pushups on a mirror, flexed and relaxed, flexed and relaxed his hands. He knew his mom had received a check a month or so ago. Lillie hadn’t succeeded in getting money from Colette, and yet she’d paid back every dollar she’d almost stolen. In private moments, Jase admitted the sincere words in the note Lillie had included for Colette had touched him, too.

      “So how are you feeling, Mom?”

      Blue eyes narrowed to mere slits, and her left brow rose high on her forehead. It was the look she’d branded him and Drew with as boys, when she suspected they’d broken a household item or violated a rule.

      “Why do you ask? What did Dora tell you?”

      “Only that you looked a little pale today.”

      “I love her to pieces, but that girl can be such a fussbudget.”

      Jase grinned. “I have to admit, it’s hard to believe that just a month ago, you were rushed to the hospital.”

      “Oh, that.” She waved a pink-taloned hand. “Just a little TIA. I’m following doctor’s orders to the letter, so all’s well.”

      “Just a little TIA,” he echoed. The symptoms of a transient ischemic attack included weakness, double vision, dizziness, numbness on the left side of her face...all of which she’d exhibited before he’d dialed 911. And all of which could lead to another, more serious stroke.

      “It was just a ministroke, honey. Don’t make more of it than there was.”

      “Is.”

      “Semantics. All you need to know is that I’m fine now. And as long as I keep doing what Doctor Ginnan says, I’ll stay that way.” She leaned forward to pat his hand. “Besides, I have the best business partner this side of the Rockies.” Colette winked. “And don’t give me that look. You love running the company almost as much as you love being on TV.”

      He couldn’t deny it. What had started as Jase helping out with bookkeeping and ordering supplies for his mom’s little craft shop had developed into Jase subbing for her on cable TV’s most prominent shopping network. He’d felt silly at first, standing beside the show hosts, describing his mom’s handcrafted wooden and ceramic birdhouses, wall decorations, lawn ornaments and colorful bakeware. Before long, though, her products grew so popular that she’d had to sign on with a manufacturing company to mass-produce her can’t-get-them-elsewhere items. Even before the money started rolling in, Jase looked forward to monthly flights to Florida to do live shows during which audience members, mostly women, called in to ooh and aah over Colette’s Crafts...and flirt with him.

      “You’ve been a huge help to me, honey. If not for you, I’d still be operating out of this office-slash-parlor-slash-library-slash-craft room.” She hesitated. “You know, if you need a break, we’re doing well enough to afford to hire an actor to take your place on the show.”

      “Why would we do that?”

      “So you can get back to your music, part-time, of course, because I need you as CEO. And maybe even tell Whitney that you love her, too, settle down and start a family.” She sniffed. “At the rate you and Drew are going, I’ll be a decrepit old woman before I become a grandmother.”

      “Wait. Too?”

      “Don’t look so surprised. We’ve sort of become friends. And friends confide in one another.”

      Things like I love your son?

      “For one thing, the subject of love has never come up.” He wished he hadn’t just told Dora that it might. “For another, I don’t much appreciate finding out that my mother and the woman I’m dating are talking about stuff like that behind my back.” He cringed. “It’s creepy.”

      “She’s more than just the woman you’re dating.”

      He could only stare in disbelief.

      “She’s your girlfriend.”

      “Mom...”

      “Well? Do you?”

      “Do I what?” As if you didn’t know...

      “Good grief, Jase, don’t be so obtuse. Do you love Whitney, or not?”

      Jase could admit that he enjoyed spending time with her. And that it felt pretty good, seeing a twinge of envy on other guys’ faces when he entered a room with the gorgeous blonde on his arm. But love?

      “Mom, I—”

      “Are you hesitating СКАЧАТЬ