The Deputies: 3 Novella Box Set by Olivia Jaymes Read Free Book Online Page A

had been, she was far from out of the proverbial woods with Hank. He was looking for any excuse to push her away. Her job was simply not to give him one.
    After she unpacked the groceries, she quickly made three roast beef sandwiches and opened a bag of chips. There was fruit for dessert if the boys were still hungry plus an angel food cake she’d made before they left. Pouring Luke a glass of milk and some iced tea for her and Hank, she stuck her head out of the door and bellowed their names.
    She settled at the table as the two of them stomped into the house, their faces wreathed in smiles. What was it about a male and dirt? They were both in heaven.
    “See anything interesting?” she asked before biting into her sandwich. She’d made this roast beef herself and it was delightfully rare with a tangy horseradish.
    Hank took a big bite and groaned. “Damn, this is good. I’ll never eat lunch meat from the store again. You’re spoiling me.”
    The praise was like sinking into a warm bubble bath at the end of the day. It felt that good.
    “Thank you. The less processed your food is the better. I’ve been reading quite a bit about the subject while I’ve been learning to cook.”
    “I never complained about your cooking,” Hank said a trifle defensively.
    “You never said anything nice either,” she countered. “In fact it seemed like you went out of your way to eat before you came home. I couldn’t be sure if it was my company or the food that kept you away. After awhile I assumed it was both.”
    Streaks of red stained his cheeks. “I’m sorry about that. I should have just manned up and told you instead of avoiding the subject.”
    “Don’t worry about it.” She shook her head with a sigh. “There are a lot of things we should have talked about and didn’t. If we had, well, we might not be in this mess. But it’s not too late to change.”
    She added the last part just to see his reaction. His expression closed down and he turned back to his lunch.
    “Somethings are better left unsaid.” The words were spoken softly but she heard them. She felt a stab of hurt somewhere near her heart. He was still pulling away from her even after all they had shared.
    Like telling me you love me?
    She’d said it to him every day but he had yet to say it back.
    Hank might hope this vacation would send her packing but Alyssa had another completely different hope. She wanted it to bring them together like they were in the beginning. Before her parents had interfered and before the realities of everyday married life and parenthood beat them into submission.
    She wanted them to fall in love again.

    This evening was turning out to be a very bad idea.
    Hank should never have accepted the invitation to dinner from the seemingly nice couple he had met while fishing. Bill White and his beautiful blonde wife Celine had a son the same age as Luke and the boys had hit it off like a house afire while at the river today.
    Hank had accepted the invite gladly thinking Alyssa would enjoy a night out of the cabin. They’d been there for four days already and she hadn’t seemed bored in the least, but she might simply be too polite to say anything. She didn’t enjoy the fishing but in the mornings she would sit in a lawn chair on the bank while he and Luke fished. In the afternoons, she retired to the front porch of the cabin with her e-reader and a glass of lemonade before making dinner.
    They’d built campfires and made s’mores. Alyssa had told a story by the flickering firelight that was more goofy than scary. They’d played tag and frisbee and even a game of croquet with a set they found in the shed. Alyssa was a shark at the game and by the time they were done Luke had been too.
    All in all, it was turning out to be the best vacation they’d ever taken as a family. Alyssa didn’t push him but she still told him she loved him every day. A few times Hank almost said the words back but then remembered what she had put him