Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise) by Sarah O'Rourke Read Free Book Online

date of February 14.  You’re good
with that being about eight weeks from now?” Harmony McKinnon asked Melody as
she looked up from her notes and stared across the desk at her friend and
newest client.  Tucking her blonde chin length hair behind her small ears, she
met the brunette’s anxious gaze.  “You’re positive?”
    “I think ‘good’ might
be a little too strong a word,” Melody hedged with a nervous laugh, “But, yeah,
Valentine’s Day sounds good.  Maybe I can capitalize on the last-minute-gift-buying
crowd.” 
    Absently listening as
Harmony described the cake she’d have her sister, Honor, prepare and the
appetizers the local café would supply, Melody was grateful the other woman had
things well in hand because she couldn’t seem to stop her thoughts from
meandering all over the place.
    Reminding herself that
she was here to talk about her business, Melody mentally castigated herself for
the third time.  Allowing her thoughts to drift toward a certain lumbering
gorilla that apparently knew her name was a bad plan.  This was only a big deal
if she let it be one, and she simply didn’t have time for another drama in her
life.  Between the store, her break-up, the weird hang-ups she started getting
a few days ago, and the mysterious home improvements  that kept happening
around her new-to-her home, she had enough on her plate.
    Today had been crazy –
even by her standards.  After she’d finally gotten moving after changing her
tire, she’d run home to change her soiled white shirt.  Grease had rubbed off
on the expensive fabric, and she’d wanted to drop it off at the dry cleaners
this afternoon.  Immediately upon pulling into her driveway, those stupid phone
calls had started again for the third day in a row.  Three times a caller had
dialed her number and simply breathed on the other end of the line as she
collected her things and climbed the porch steps to her door.  The stupid jerk
never said a word, but she knew he (or maybe she) was there.  She’d finally
hung up after the third call and refused to answer when the phone rang and the
blocked call showed up on her phone’s screen again.   Instead, her eyes had
been drawn toward the sliding garage door.  Her closed garage door.
    This wouldn’t have been
a big deal, but she hadn’t been able to close that door since she’d moved into
her granny’s house.  It wouldn’t have been a big deal except when she’d left
that morning, the door had been still stuck open.  It was now closed.  And she
knew with every fiber of her being that her ‘house fairy’ had been back to
visit her.  Oh, she knew it wasn’t actually a fairy that had been
helping her out lately.  In all likelihood, it was probably one of her
grandmother’s neighborhood friends (of which she had many ) doing what he
(or she) felt was their Christian duty.  Her house fairy had been busy the last
two weeks.  From mowing her lawn to repairing the broken screen door on her
back porch, somebody was going out of their way to make her feel at home in her
late Granny’s neighborhood of old, but well-loved two-story houses.  She
appreciated it, but she couldn’t deny it was getting creepy.  Mostly because no
matter which nearby neighbor she asked, nobody claimed to have seen anything. 
It was strange since she knew the elderly women that lived on the street were
as nosy as the day was long.  Sweet, but nosy.  Honestly, this unidentifiable
person was driving her crazy.  At the very least, she owed him, her, them, or
it a nice home-cooked meal.
    “Earth to Mel,”
Harmony’s musical voice called, pulling Melody’s eyes back to the pretty blonde
woman’s unblemished face.  “You okay? You tuned out on me there for a few
minutes,” she heard the event planner ask with a friendly smile.
    “I’m so sorry, Harm.  I
guess I’ve got a lot on my mind.  Starting over in a new place, alone, and
opening a new business has got me rattled, I guess.  My