The Pursuit of Jesse by Helen Brenna Read Free Book Online Page A

married. Besides, Sarah had onceupon a time planned the perfect wedding. Pulling out all the stops never ensured a blissful union. “Who says I’m ever getting married?”
    “Oh, come on.”
    “Seriously. I’ve got Brian. Great friends. A successful business. I love Mirabelle Island. Soon, I’ll have a house. What more could a woman want?”
    “A man she loves to share it all with?”
    “Not gonna happen, but I’m so glad you stopped by,” she said, abruptly changing the subject. People who were happy in their marriages always wanted everyone else to get married. “I really needed this break. What wonderful thing did you bring me to eat?”
    Missy looked reluctant to let the topic of a possible Sarah-wedding go, but she did. “I’ve been dying for Dee Dee’s cranberry almond salad with tofu crumbles. So I brought you her Caribbean chicken.”
    Missy was the island’s only resident vegetarian, and she’d started off a bit of a health kick for Sarah. “Yum,” Sarah murmured. “Sandwich or salad?”
    “Salad, of course.”
    “That’s going to hit the spot.” The mango, black beans and jicama mixture over a bed of mixed greens sounded wonderful. “I just need to finish this arrangement before I eat, but you go ahead.”
    Missy took off her coat, unwrapped the colorful scarf around her neck and hung them both over the back of her chair. “You coming to yoga tonight?”
    Missy taught twice-a-week classes up at the community center. Sarah tried to make it as often as she could, but she never seemed to have enough time in the week for consistent workouts.
    “I think I can come after I get Brian to basketball practice. You might have to start without me.”
    “We can wait. I don’t think anyone will mind. Oh, that reminds me. Did you hear the latest?” Her voice took on a conspiratorial tone. “Sherri cut my hair this morning and she said Garrett Taylor’s brother moved to the island. She was in the Rusty Nail a couple nights ago and out of the blue this guy she’d never seen came walking in from a virtual blizzard. She said they talked and danced…”
    Just talked and danced? That’d be the day.
    “…said something about a quick trip to the bathroom…”
    There you have it.
    “…and all she knew was his first name. She didn’t find out he was Garrett’s brother until the next day when Crystal Stotz came in for a color. His name’s Jesse. The baby in the family, and Sherri says he’s as different from Garrett as curly from straight.”
    She had that right.
    “She said he’s going to be here for a while.”
    “Yeah, I know.”
    Missy’s eyes widened. “You knew about this and you didn’t tell me?”
    “There’s nothing to tell. Garrett can’t do the work on my house, so Jesse’s taking care of it.”
    “You don’t sound happy about the situation.”
    Sarah shrugged.
    “Has he started working on your house yet?”
    “Apparently.”
    “Is he not doing a good job?”
    “I’ve gone up there a couple times.” After their run-in the other day, she’d done her best to go to the house only when she knew he was gone. She wasn’t sure she could handle again the way he looked at her, as if he knew his touch would very likely set her skinon fire. The way he called her boss, as if she was no such thing, as if with a flick of a wrist he could get her to do his bidding. “The job seems to be getting done in a…competent manner.”
    The fact was she’d been surprised by how good a job he was doing, and had been hard-pressed to come up with improvements. Still, she’d wanted him to know she was keeping a close eye on him, so she’d—basically—manufactured things for him to do in the notes she’d left for him.
    “Buuuuut?” Missy said, pressing for more.
    “I just…I don’t like him,” she said decisively.
    Missy raised her eyebrows.
    Sarah held stubbornly silent. Although they’d moved to Mirabelle within a few months of each other and had been best friends since, there were