Right Next Door by Debbie Macomber Read Free Book Online

promise not to go in my backyard after school, either, because Blackie sees me and gets all happy and excited—and I guess I get all happy and excited, too—and that’s when I do stuff I’m not supposed to.”
    â€œI see.” Cole smiled down at Jeff. Robin thought it was a rather unusual smile. It didn’t come from his lips as much as his eyes. Once more she witnessed a flash of pain, and another emotion she could only describe as longing. Slowly his gaze drifted to Robin. When his dark eyes met hers, she suddenly found herself short of breath.
    â€œActually I didn’t come here to talk to you about what happened this afternoon,” Cole said. “I’m going to be out of town for the next couple of days, and since Jeff and Blackie seem to get along so well I thought Jeff might bewilling to look after him. That way I won’t have to put him in the kennel. Naturally I’m prepared to pay your son for his time. If he agrees, I’ll let him play in the fort while I’m away, as well.”
    Jeff’s eyes grew rounder than Robin had ever seen them. “You want me to watch Blackie?” he asked, his voice incredulous. “And you’re going to pay me? Can Blackie spend the night here? Please?”
    â€œI guess that answers your question,” Robin said, smiling.
    â€œBlackie can stay here if it’s okay with your mom,” Cole told Jeff. Then he turned to her. “Would that create a problem for you?”
    Once more his eyes held hers, and once more she experienced that odd breathless sensation.
    â€œI…No problem whatsoever.”
    Cole smiled then, and this time it was a smile so potent, so compelling, that it sailed straight through Robin’s heart.
    Â 
    â€œMom,” Jeff hollered as he burst through the front door late Thursday afternoon. “Kelly and Blackie and I are going to the fort.”
    â€œKelly? Surely this isn’t the girl named Kelly, is it? Not the one who lives next door?” Robin couldn’t resist teasing her son. Apparently Jeff was willing to have a “pesky” girl for a friend, after all.
    Jeff shrugged as he opened the cookie jar and groped inside. He frowned, not finding any cookies and removed his hand, his fingertips covered with crumbs that he promptly licked off. “I decided Kelly isn’t so bad.”
    â€œHave you got Blackie’s leash?”
    â€œWe aren’t going to need it. We’re playing Sam Houston and Daniel Boone, and the Mexican army is attacking. I’m going to smuggle Blackie out and go for help. I can’t use a leash for that.”
    â€œAll right. Just don’t go any farther than the Alamo and be back by dinnertime.”
    â€œBut that’s less than an hour!” Jeff protested.
    Robin gave him one of her don’t-argue-with-me looks.
    â€œBut I’m not hungry and—”
    â€œJeff,” Robin said softly, widening her eyes just a bit, increasing the intensity of her look.
    â€œYou know, Mom,” Jeff said with a cry of undisguised disgust, “you don’t fight fair.” He hurried out the front door with Blackie trotting faithfully behind.
    Smiling to herself, Robin placed the meat loaf in the oven and carried her coffee into the backyard. The early evening air was filled with the scent of spring flowers. A gentle breeze wafted over the budding trees. How peaceful it seemed. How serene. All the years of pinching pennies to save for a house of their own seemed worth it now.
    Her gaze wandered toward Cole Camden’s yard. Jeff, Kelly and Blackie were inside the fort, and she could hear their raised voices every once in a while.
    Cole had been on her mind a great deal during the past couple of days; she’d spent far too much time dwelling on her neighbor, thinking about his reputation in the neighborhood and the son he’d lost.
    The tranquillity of the moment was shattered by the insistent ringing of the