All A Heart Needs B&N by Barbara Freethy Read Free Book Online Page B

imagination run wild after a few whispers on a dark night?
    A cold breeze blew through the trees, lifting the hair off the back of her neck. She shivered, the shadows from the tall trees suddenly giving her charming neighborhood a more eerie atmosphere. She hurried into the house and locked the door behind her.
    She reminded herself that Helen had lived in the house without incident for two decades. There was no reason anything should be different now.
    Or was there?
    Helen was no longer living in the house; she was.
     
    * * *
    Jessica woke up Sunday morning feeling just as tired as when she'd gone to bed. After getting herself worked up the night before, she hadn't been able to fall asleep for hours. Every little creak seemed as loud as a gunshot. Her dreams were filled with whispering voices and fiery flames. She'd felt the heat of a fire, and thick smoke had seared her lungs as she'd run for her life, probably much the way Stacy had done. Poor Stacy! How terrified she must have been. And how terrified Sean must have been when he saw his friend on fire.
    As her thoughts turned to Sean, she felt a mix of emotions. Putting her hand to her lips, she remembered the firm pressure of his mouth, the heat between them, the passion. They needed to stay away from each other, but so far they were not doing a very good job of that. She'd started things off on the wrong note with her impulsive kiss on Friday night, and he'd taken it to another level yesterday, but today they needed to put the brakes on.
    They were going to be a part of each other's lives forever. It would be smarter to keep their relationship at the friend level. And she was a mom; she couldn't afford to be driven by passion. If she was going to be with someone, it had to be the right someone, a man who would stick around, who would be good for her and for Kyle.
    Getting out of bed, she took a long shower and then made herself breakfast. She was just finishing up her oatmeal and blueberries when she heard a car pull into the driveway. She went out the side door and smiled as Kyle jumped out of the passenger seat of Nicole's car and ran towards her, a huge joyous grin on his face. She wasn't surprised. Her six-year-old, blond, blue-eyed boy was almost always smiling.
    Kyle loved life. He was curious about everything, always had a million questions, and thrived on meeting new people. She was lucky that he was such a resilient child, because he'd certainly been through some pain in his young life. His teenaged birth mother had been forced to give him away. Then his adoptive mother had died of cancer, and his adoptive father had died in an accident a few years later. Now he was living with her, and despite the fact that there was no blood between them, it was as if they'd been mother and son forever.
    "Mom, I'm going to play on a baseball team," Kyle announced. "Look, I already got a mitt."
    She looked at the weathered leather mitt in his hand. "Where did you get that?"
    "Brandon's dad gave it to me. He said it used to be his when he was a kid. I told him I'd share it with Brandon," Kyle added, glancing over his shoulder at his brother. Brandon stood next to the car, not looking at all sure about coming any closer.
    Brandon was the mirror image of Kyle, but he was a faded version, a little paler, less energetic, and there was rarely any light in his eyes. On occasion, there was a spark, usually when he was doing something with Kyle. Nicole had told her that the sparks came more often now than they had before, but Jessica had no frame of reference.
    "Brandon isn't sure he wants to play," Kyle said, turning back to Jessica. "But I think he'll like it once we start practicing. Ryan is going to coach us."
    "That's exciting." She glanced at Nicole, who had encouraged Brandon to walk down the driveway with her. "So a baseball team, huh?"
    "It was all Ryan's idea," Nicole said, a smile in her eyes. "He took Brandon and Kyle to the park by the recreation center yesterday, and they