California Dreaming: Four Contemporary Romances by Casey Dawes Read Free Book Online Page B

brown recliner and closed his eyes for a moment. Images of Annie filled his mind. The green sweater she’d worn at the restaurant, her high cheekbones, her eyes … But it was her mouth that attracted him the most … that damn kissable mouth.
    He suspected there was also a great personality behind those hazel eyes and pert lips. She reminded him of his mother — the determined attitude and strength a single mom had to have to keep everything together. His mother had shown the same character after his dad had died, handling the ranch chores and bills, managing the household and helping him with school work, but she still found joy in the little things in life — crocuses coming up in spring and the birth of new puppies. Jessica had shown the same strength when she was dying.
    He sighed. He still missed her, and he probably always would, but perhaps he was ready to love again. Real love, like he’d had with Jessica, not the desperate loneliness that had driven him to propose marriage to Deborah. He’d lost both women, one to cancer and one to a new job. If he risked his heart again, would he wind up breaking it for a third time?
    Annie intrigued him, but she was moving to New Jersey. It would be foolish to pursue her.
    The bell from the nearby Catholic church rang out its call to Sunday Mass. In Montana he’d been a regular attendee at St. Paul’s Lutheran until Jessica had died. God had given up on Jessica, and he had given up on God. He’d lived on autopilot until he bought the store in Santa Cruz. The move to California had given him new purpose, made him feel alive again. Maybe it was time to give God … and love … another chance.
    He snapped the footrest to the floor. Did Annie go to church? He remembered seeing steeples from the highway near Costanoa, where she lived, according to the store’s loyalty program records. Right now, any church would do. Maybe he’d get lucky and see her. If not, he could take his horse out for a short ride after the service.
    He threw a corduroy jacket over his button-down shirt, switched from jeans to khakis and left the house. As he drove down the highway, he paid attention to the scenery — verdant mountains to his left and house-crowded lowlands leading to oceanfront on his right. Where should he look for a house? Anyplace with more room than he had right now, which probably meant the foothills. He was ready to get away from the densely populated university area where houses with small yards overflowed with twenty-somethings and discordant music.
    When he reached the Costanoa exit, he picked the first church he saw, St. Andrew’s Episcopal. The service was beginning and he settled in a back pew where he could see most of the faithful. All eyes were focused on the priest as he intoned the initial prayers. Sun poured through the windows, intensifying painted silk banners. John settled in a seat and sensed the strong feeling of connection in the community. It was part of what he’d been missing. After Jessica’s death and Deborah’s betrayal, he’d pushed everyone away, not wanting any form of companionship. Hell, he’d pushed everyone so far away he was now a thousand miles away from his friends.
    Time for a change.
    During the first hymn, he distinguished a voice soaring above the awkward chorus of enthusiastic, if off-key, singers. The powerful contralto rose from the other side of the aisle, its beauty sending a message directly to his heart, cracking it open a little more. There’d always been music in his house with Jessica. Silence reigned after she died. It was time to change that, too.
    When the song ended, he scanned the congregation for Annie. It was a long shot, he knew, but there was always a chance. With everyone else sitting, it should be easy to spot her.
    An older woman to his right cleared her throat loudly. He looked down.
    “Sit down,” she mouthed, playing with the cane in her hand.
    He sat.
    The rest of the service could have been in Greek. He