Over You by Christine Kersey Read Free Book Online Page A

suppressed a sigh. “I’m not sure of the details,” she admitted. “But basically he said we should have the power back on later today.”
    “Oh. Well that’s wonderful. He must be a very good electrician.”
    Jessica hoped so and she hoped this would be the last of his services that they would need.
    Later that afternoon as Jessica was reading her book in the sunroom, she heard the sound of the refrigerator turning on. She set her book down and turned to share the good news with Ellen, but saw she had fallen asleep. Smiling at the peaceful expression on her aunt’s face, Jessica adjusted the blanket on Ellen’s lap, then settled back in her own chair to wait for Kyle to finish whatever it was he was doing.
    Half an hour later she heard the front door opening and closing. Peeking around the corner of the sunroom, she couldn’t see anyone in the foyer. She figured Kyle was loading up his tools, and decided to intercept him on the porch so that Ellen would never know he had been there. Tiptoeing to the window which overlooked the porch and front of the house, Jessica pulled back the curtains enough to see outside.  
    Kyle was next to his truck, loading up his tools. Once he was done, he closed the back of the truck and went around to the driver’s side to get a water bottle. Jessica watched as he finished it, then saw him run both hands through his dark hair. When he took his cell phone out of his pocket, Jessica thought he was going to make a call, but when he looked at the screen, pressed a button and put the phone to his ear, she realized he was answering a call.
    He turned his back to her and she wondered who he was talking to. Then he turned around and reached to the ground, and Jessica saw that he was petting Hudson. She wondered what he would think if he knew it was her cat he was petting. He stood, and Jessica could see a wide smile on his face, then he laughed at something the caller said.
    A thought suddenly occurred to her and she let the curtain fall back into place. What if he has a girlfriend? She didn’t know why she had assumed anything otherwise; it had been five long years since he’d abandoned her. Why wouldn’t he have a girlfriend? She didn’t want to think about why the idea bothered her so much. After all, she’d had several boyfriends in the last five years. And she wasn’t the one who had ended the engagement. He had. He certainly hadn’t been lying around pining for her. It had been his decision to end things, not hers. The idea that he had been dating and having a good time with other women while she had been trying to recover from her crushed heart made her furious.
    Angry now, Jessica decided it was time to wrap things up and get him out of her life once and for all. Stepping onto the wide front porch, she saw that Kyle was still on his phone and his back was to her. The sound of him laughing grated on her nerves and she felt her anger escalating. Closing the front door a little harder than normal, Jessica hoped it was loud enough to get his attention, but not so loud that it would sound like she was slamming it.
    Kyle spun around at the sound, and Jessica stared at him, obviously waiting for him to finish his call.
    “I’ll call you later,” he said to the mysterious person on the other end. “Bye.” He slid the phone into his pocket, then walked toward her.
    Glad that the only emotion she felt just then was anger, Jessica didn’t smile. “It looks like the power is back on.”
    Kyle stood at the bottom of the porch steps. “Yeah, I’m finished.”
    “That’s great.” She allowed a small smile to briefly appear on her face. “Do I need to pay you directly or do I pay Ben?”
    “Don’t worry about it.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “There’s no charge.”
    Jessica didn’t want him to do her any favors. “You spent half the day here.”
    “Consider it a gift.”
    She didn’t want any gifts from the man who had broken her heart. “I would prefer to pay you for