Broken (The Broken Series Book 1) by Carrie Cox Read Free Book Online Page B

on a tray, thanks. I’m feeling tired tonight,” Jack said.  
    Then he looked up at me, and as I gazed back, I saw his eyes were no longer dark with anger. They seemed to me to be full of pain. “You don’t have to hang around anymore, Kristina. You can go and see your friend or whatever…”  
    “Oh, I don’t mind staying,” I said. “I can stay here and fix dinner for you, if you’d like?” For some reason, despite the stress of the day, I didn’t want to leave him.
    Jack shook his head. “I’m beat. I’m just going to get an early night.”  
    As Jack wheeled himself away, Maria shot me a look. “Is he okay? He seems worse than ever.”
    “I don’t think it was anything I did…” I said and I really hoped that it wasn’t. “I think the visit from Joanna upset him.”  
    Maria scowled and looked over her shoulder to really make sure Jack had really left the room.  
    “She’s not very nice,” Maria said in a whisper. “He’s better off without her.”
    I was sure that Maria was right. Joanna didn’t seem like a nice person. But I was sure Jack would have preferred to end the relationship himself rather than have it ended because of his accident.  
    I left Jack’s apartments with Maria. Because it was still early, I decided to try and find Lauren. I walked around the outside of the house, following a narrow stone path. The smell of flowers in the air was just delicious, floral and enticing, but I didn’t know what it was.  
    As I walked further, I caught sight of Lauren bending over and digging away at a flowerbed. I didn’t know where she got her energy from. Just looking at her made me feel tired.
    I called to her and she stood up. She was wearing jeans and a pink t-shirt. Her cheeks were smudged with dirt, but despite that, she looked absolutely gorgeous as usual. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked so healthy. I put that down to all the time she spent outdoors.  
    “Are you finished for the day?” she asked.
    I grimaced. “Yes, I got dismissed.”
    Lauren looked horrified.
    “Oh, I don’t mean permanently dismissed. Just dismissed for the day.”
    “Uh-oh,” Lauren said and wiped her hands on her jeans. “I take it the first day didn’t go so well.”  
    I shrugged. “It wasn’t the easiest of days, but we were getting on okay until a woman showed up this afternoon. It was Jack’s ex-girlfriend. She told him she was getting married again. I think it really upset him.”  
    Lauren threw her weeding fork on the ground. “God, poor Jack. She didn’t take long to find someone else, did she? Alexander told me about her. He said she dumped him a week after the accident.”  
    I nodded. “She’s a fast worker all right. I didn’t like her.”
    I couldn’t explain why I felt the way I did. I hadn’t known Jack for long at all, and for most of the time I’d spent with him, he’d been a prickly, obnoxious jerk, but I really felt for him. I’d much preferred Jack acting the way he had been this morning, teasing me and being sarcastic, rather than being quiet and reserved.  
    “I’ll try and cheer him up tomorrow, but I’m not sure really what to do.”  
    “Well,” Lauren said, “what does he actually like to do?”  
    I shrugged. I had no idea.
    “I know,” Lauren said as she stooped down to gather her tools. “We can have a chat with Alexander later and find out what Jack likes to do. He’s sure to know.”  
    I bent down to help her and smiled. “Thanks, that’s a really good idea.”
    “I’m glad you’re making a go of this job,” Lauren said. “I know it can’t be easy.”  
    I nodded, reluctant to start talking about my past again.  
    I’d only known Lauren for a couple of months, but in that time, we’d grown really close. We had never really spoken about the things that had gone wrong in our lives, but there was a common thread that held us together.  
    Lauren had lost her father last year, and Kate and I lost our mother too.