The Truth About Fairy Tales by Annie Walker Read Free Book Online Page A

good. I didn’t want her to believe I’d taken my mother’s path.
                  When the answering machine picked up and Jackson’s voice came into my apartment reminding me of everything I’d done wrong since meeting him, I couldn’t even bring myself to listen. I put my pillow over my head and wished him away.
    I was almost successful until a few hours later when he knocked on my door. I’d just fallen into a heavy sleep after trying to shut him out of my thoughts when the insistent buzzing woke me. I waited and hoped whoever was there would just go away. They didn’t. Someone apparently was leaning against the doorbell.
                  I grabbed my robe, not concerned that I looked like hell. “What?” I yanked the door open wide then stopped. Whatever else I might have considered saying died away when I saw him standing before me...my mistake.
                  “What do you want?” I asked mainly to cover my uncertainty. He was not supposed to be here. He was supposed to be getting ready for Miss Sunday night. Seeing Jackson standing before me looking nothing at all like the ruthless, arrogant man I believed him to be, knocked the breath right out of me and left me speechless.
                  He held out a bag and a container that smelled wonderful and felt blissfully warm.
                  “In the bag is the medicine I gave you last night. Take it, Maggie. It will help you. And this is soup—chicken soup. You should eat it while it’s still hot. And then go back to bed.” With that, he leaned in and kissed my cheek then turned and walked away without another word. Missing the fact that I’d started to cry again. It was just the sickness, I told myself. After all, there was no way this man could make me cry. Whatever reasons had brought him here, I’m sure it was mostly out of guilt. Jackson Riley wasn’t capable of feeling anything human.
    By the time my shift at Rosario’s began, I had to admit I was feeling much better. I don’t know if it was because of the medicine, the chicken soup, or the fact that I’d spent the rest of the day asleep in bed, but I was starting to feel a little more like myself.
                  Sunday nights at Rosario’s were usually one of the busiest around. Most folks don’t want to bother with cooking when the new workweek is about to begin. Tonight, the place was packed. It didn’t show any signs of letting up until almost closing time.
                  I was just finishing up with what I’d hoped was to be my last customers for the evening when I noticed that the party of four I’d been serving, mom, dad and two kids weren’t really listening to my polite run down of the available deserts. Their eyes focused on something just behind me.
                  When I turned to see what was so interesting I almost ran smack into Jackson. He’d come to a halt about two feet behind me his hands reaching up to steady me in a way that felt a little too familiar – with me standing here in this family restaurant and a family of four next to me. I know I had to be blushing, all the way down to my toes. The way he grinned at me told me he knew exactly what I was thinking.
                  “What are you doing here?” I asked only to realize that probably didn’t sound all that sweet, the image I was trying to project to these nice folks.
                  Jackson grinned again apparently finding me extremely amusing, while being fully aware I wanted him gone. “Do you really want to do this here?” When I simply glared at him in way of an answer, he added, “Okay, I'm here because I figured it was time you and I went out on a real date since we’ve sort of skipped over that part and moved onto other, more interesting things.”
                  I glanced back at the nice family seated beside me. Dear old mom and dad had definitely caught