Breathe Again by Joelle Charming Read Free Book Online Page A

could finish getting ready. I knew she’d follow me.
    “Oh, nothing,” she said, moving my dress so she could sit on
my bed.
    I glanced at her through the mirror. “Don’t waste my time,
Josephine. What’s going on?”
    She smirked at my expression. Jackson didn’t always put me in
a good mood, apparently. Oh, and I was nervous as shit.
    “I heard about Thursday, and after seeing you get all primped
and ready to go, I’m going to assume you’re seeing him again tonight.”
    I sighed. “He wouldn’t let me say no,” I said, trying to
convince myself as much as I was trying to convince her.
    She pursed her lips. “I don’t believe in excuses, Mel, and I
don’t blame you for saying yes, either. I may not be into men, but Jackson
Traver is one fine specimen of a human being. Even I would probably make an
exception for him.”
    I couldn’t help but laugh at that. There was a time when we
couldn’t joke about her ‘lifestyle,’ as my family put it. Selden wasn’t unused
to scandal. My hometown was so small that it was difficult to keep any private
business really private, and it definitely wasn’t unaccustomed to the occasional
rumor regarding the sexual exploits of its youth. When mistakes were made, they
were dealt with quickly and efficiently. Shotgun weddings followed by the
premature birth of an eight-pound baby were so common that they rarely even
caused a second thought.
    When my aunt Margaret found Josephine in bed with her college
roommate, however, she wished the solution were that simple. Instead, the
entire town watched as Josephine was sent to the nearest Christian treatment
center. For three months, my aunt Margaret prayed that her daughter would
overcome her deviant sexual behavior and finally realize God’s true purpose for
her life. Instead, Josephine came home with a new haircut and a new girlfriend.
    I was fifteen and naive when my favorite cousin was forced
from my life. I didn’t understand why Josephine left so suddenly, and without
saying good-bye. It wasn’t until years later, when I finally confronted my
mother about it, that I found out she had been told to leave and never come
back. She wasn’t even given a chance to pack her things.
    It was too late to mend our relationship by then. Almost
three years had passed, and I hadn’t done anything to reach out to my cousin. I
was afraid that Josephine, outspoken and stubborn, would refuse to forgive me
for abandoning her too.
    But when my carefully constructed life began falling to
pieces around me, I didn’t really have anyone else to turn to. So I called the
number I got from Josephine’s younger brother, Paul, the only person in the
family who still spoke to Josephine, and asked her for help. After asking me if
I was still the best baker in the family, Josephine immediately offered me a
job making pastries and desserts at Olive Sweet, and even offered me her loft.
I couldn’t have been more grateful.
    “I can’t disagree with you on that one,” I said at
Josephine’s somewhat crude description of Jackson. “And he is one hell of a
kisser.”
    “I never imagined you to be the type to fall for a movie
star. Fawning over celebrities isn’t exactly your style,” Josephine said.
    “You’re right. It’s not. Or I thought it wasn’t.”
    Josephine studied me for a moment. “Darcy’s been talking.
Apparently Jenn was the one who directed Jackson to the kitchen the other
night. I told them both that they better keep their mouths shut, and that
they’ll have to answer to me if they say anything, but I can’t guarantee
anything.”
    “Thanks, Josephine,” I said softly, catching her eye in the
mirror.
    “I know that you would only be dating him if you had a good
reason to be dating him, and dating him just because he’s a celebrity isn’t a
good reason. But I don’t want you to get hurt. So be careful.”
    Even though we’d barely spoken in the previous eight years,
it was as if time didn’t matter. I was a lot like