Almost Like Love by Abigail Strom Read Free Book Online Page B

predicted Chris’s infidelity. Because she was a person who always tried to stick with things, she’d expected the network and her fiancé to stick with her.
    But, damn it, she wouldn’t let this change her. She’d learn from the experience and move on, but she wouldn’t give up her values and ideals. She just needed to find a better home for them, that was all.
    And she needed to learn how to protect herself a little better.
    This weekend she’d think about what she wanted to work on next, and Monday she’d start making calls to set up pitches. She wouldn’t feel sorry for herself, and she wouldn’t let the grass grow under her feet. She’d get right out there and make something happen.
    Unfortunately, she didn’t find the inspiration she was looking for. None of her old project ideas seemed to get her creative juices flowing.
    Maybe she needed a new project. Something fresh and exciting. And maybe she should get away from TV for a while. She could pitch a graphic novel or a children’s adventure story to a publisher, or—
    The phone rang, and she picked it up absently.
    “Ms. Meredith? There’s a car here for you.”
    Damn. Was it five o’clock already?
    “I’ll be right down.”
    She’d planned to put on a little makeup and choose the perfect outfit—something flattering while also appropriate for babysitting. There’d been masculine approval in Ian’s eyes the night before, and she didn’t want to look so crappy today that he would decide her appearance in the club had been just an aberration. That wouldn’t be good for her ego.
    But now she didn’t have any time.
    Oh, well—maybe the best way to look like she wasn’t trying too hard was not to try too hard. She kept on her jeans and vintage X-Men tee shirt, pulled her hair back in a ponytail, and headed out.

    Ian knocked on his nephew’s door and waited for the quiet “come in” before he turned the knob.
    “Hey,” he said. “It’s almost five o’clock. Kate will be here soon.”
    Jacob looked up from his computer and nodded. “Okay.”
    Ian waited a moment to see if he’d say anything else, but he didn’t. He just blinked behind his wire-rimmed glasses and smiled politely.
    “Okay,” Ian echoed after a short silence, retreating back into the hall and closing the door behind him.
    His sister Tina, Jacob’s mother, had died in a car accident eleven months earlier. Ian still couldn’t think of it without a spasm of pain.
    Jacob’s father, Joe, had been killed in Afghanistan before Jacob was born. Ian and Tina had never known their father and their mother had passed away, so except for Joe’s parents, Ian was the only family Jacob had left.
    In her will, Tina had named Ian her son’s legal guardian. He had been humbled by his sister’s trust in him and was determined to do right by his nephew.
    It was a resolution easier made than kept.
    His nephew had always been a quiet boy, and the two of them had never really connected. But since Jacob had come here to live, he’d been more than quiet. He’d been silent and withdrawn.
    For the first few months, Ian had respected Jacob’s obvious desire to spend his free time alone, figuring that was his way of dealing with his grief. Ian made it clear he was ready to listen if Jacob wanted to talk, but beyond that, he didn’t push his nephew to interact with him.
    But when the school year began, Ian started to worry that Jacob’s behavior was more than a normal response to the loss of a parent. If his nephew had mouthed off or acted out, Ian would have known better how to deal with him. But he’d never been around a kid who was so . . . remote.
    In the fall, Ian pushed him to try out for his school’s soccer team—or any sports team. Jacob had refused, politely but firmly. Ian took him to games—baseball, football, basketball—but Jacob always brought a book along. When Ian tried to talk him into going to the park to toss a Frisbee or a football around, Jacob always turned him