Three Down the Aisle by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online

assume it was because he genuinely cared about setting the neglected landscape to rights. She’d be foolish to ignore such an offer out of pure stubbornness.
    Even so, a cautionary alarm sounded in her head. Mike might be divorced, but his tense tone the other daysuggested there was not only an ex-wife lurking somewhere, but quite possibly an ex-wife who liked to stir up trouble. Melanie wasn’t inclined to get tangled up in the middle of that kind of complicated situation.
    She’d make this innocuous enough trip to the nursery with Mike because it was something she’d need to do sooner or later, anyway. But after this, she vowed, she’d discourage any further contact between them.
    Not that Mike had actually shown one iota of personal interest in her, she was forced to admit. But every time she looked into his eyes, she suddenly wanted things she’d sworn never to allow into her life again. And that wouldn’t do. It wouldn’t do at all.
    “I promised Jessie a tour of the house,” she told him. “We’re ghost busting.”
    His lips quirked at that. “Then, by all means, let’s go inside.”
    “You’re in charge of banishing any ghosts we find,” Melanie added.
    He nodded. “Got it.”
    Jessie peered up at him. “Are you scared, Daddy?”
    “Nah,” he said. “No silly old ghost is a match for me.”
    While Mike was showing Jessie around and conducting dramatic searches of closets and cupboards for signs of ghosts, Melanie took the time to wash her hands and run a brush through her tangled hair.
    “No ghosts,” Mike eventually hollered from downstairs. “We’re going out to the swing.”
    “I’ll be right there,” Melanie called back.
    On her way out, she grabbed the photo of the garden. Outside, she could hear Jessie’s squeals of delight echoing from the backyard. Obviously, her earlier fears had been calmed by her father’s ghost-busting expedition.
    Melanie rounded the house and spotted the little girl sitting atop Mike’s broad shoulders as he stood at the water’s edge. She had her hands fisted in his hair in a way that had to hurt like the dickens, but he wasn’t complaining.
    “Daddy, no!” Jessie shouted, giggling.
    “You don’t want to go for a swim?” he teased, taking another step toward the bay.
    “No!”
    Melanie listened to them for several minutes, enjoying the banter and feeling just a little like an outsider. Oddly, it reminded her of the way she’d felt when Jeremy had finally admitted the truth about his family. Aside from the burst of anger, she’d immediately known he had something important that was missing from her life, something she might never have. It was as if she were being taunted by possibilities, and the unfairness of it had hurt.
    Mike chose that moment to turn around, and the laughter on his lips promptly died. He studied her intently. “Everything okay?”
    Melanie forced a smile. “Fine.”
    “You saved me,” Jessie told her. “Daddy was going to make me swim in the water and it’s too cold.”
    “Oh, I don’t think you were ever at risk,” Melanie told her. “Something tells me your dad takes very good care of you.”
    Jessie nodded. “He does, but he’s not a mom. Moms know it’s too soon to go swimming.”
    Melanie didn’t miss the tiny flash of hurt in Mike’s eyes, but he didn’t respond.
    “Dads know stuff like that, too,” Melanie assured Jessie. “My dad used to take my sisters and me to Cape Cod in the summer, and he knew all the important stuffabout swimming. My mom never even got her toes wet.”
    Jessie studied her solemnly, as if she were trying to process such a thing. “Not even once?”
    “Never,” Melanie told her. “So, you see, it seems to me like you haven’t been giving your dad nearly enough credit.”
    Mike gave her a grateful look as he tucked Jessie into the back seat and snapped the seat belt.
    “My dad knows lots about flowers and stuff,” Jessie volunteered proudly, obviously eager to jump on the