Summer Vows (Arabesque) by Rochelle Alers Read Free Book Online Page A

asked him to become
godfather to their son whom they named Samuel Jacob Cole-Thomas. Although they
lived in the same state, he didn’t get to see his friends as much as he would’ve
liked. Oversight of staff to supervise the U.S. Marshal Service at four Miami
federal detention centers left him little time to socialize. It was only when
the mandate came down that he had to take at least two months of his accrued
vacation leave or he would lose it had he become aware that his career had taken
over his life.
    Jacob couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a normal
relationship with a woman, at least one that lasted more than a few months,
because they were no longer a priority whenever he was directed to search for a
fugitive or assigned to witness protection. At first he’d come to regret sitting
behind a desk, because he’d missed the adrenalin rush of being in the field, but
after a while he’d come to appreciate a measure of normalcy when he wasn’t on
the job 24/7, or on an assignment that took him away from home for weeks, or on
occasion months.
    Ana had asked if she was safe with him and he hadn’t lied to
her when he said yes. No one he worked with knew he had a house in the Keys.
Some of them had been to the renovated apartment he rented near downtown Miami
whenever they got together to view a game, but on a whole most of his coworkers
knew him to be a very private person. Even when some of the single guys got
together socially they never saw him with the same woman more than twice.
    Jacob didn’t know why he wasn’t able to form a lasting
relationship with a woman because it hadn’t been that way with his parents.
Theirs had been a fairy-tale love affair when at the age of seventeen his father
had spied the woman he would eventually marry. The pretty girl had been a
cheerleader for the opposing football team. He took her to his prom and he was
her date for hers, sparking a lot of controversy that she was dating the running
back from their rival team.
    “What made you decide to live in Long Key rather than Key
West?”
    Ana’s query pulled Jacob from his musings. “Key West is too
crowded and touristy. Long Key is more for those looking for laid-back
solitude.” He gave her a quick glance. “Have you ever been to the Keys?”
    Ana gave Jacob a spontaneous smile for the first time. “When I
was sixteen I’d decided to leave home. Destination: Key West. I’d accelerated in
high school, graduating a year ahead of my peers and I was ambivalent about
going to college. I’d read about Ernest Hemingway living in Key West, and I was
always drawn to the bohemian lifestyle.”
    “How were you planning to support yourself?”
    “I’d closed out my bank account, and I figured if I lived
frugally then it would’ve lasted me until I took control of my trust.”
    “How long was that going to take?”
    Ana turned her head to stare out the side window. “Nine
years.”
    “At sixteen you’d saved enough money to last you for nine
years?”
    A smile softened her mouth. “At sixteen I’d believed I could
live on five thousand dollars for nine years. What did I know about money? All I
knew was when I asked for it to buy something, I got it. I loaded up my car and
took off in the middle of the night. I got as far as Miami before the police
pulled me over.”
    “Were you speeding?”
    “No. They told me the car had been reported stolen.”
    “Should I assume the car was in your father’s name?” Jacob
asked as he struggled not to laugh.
    “It was. The police held me until Daddy arrived. What he didn’t
say frightened me more than if he’d gone off on me. He refused to talk to me,
then loaded my bags in his car and arranged to have my car driven back to Boca
Raton. I didn’t get to see that car again until it was time for me to go to
college. Having my dad, whom I adore, not talk to me for weeks cured me of
wanting to live in Key West.”
    “What made you decide to strike out on your own?”
    “It had