Valentine Wishes (Baxter Academy Book 1) by Jane Charles Read Free Book Online Page B

read?”
    “Romances.” I wait for a derogatory remark and laughter. Instead he just nods.
    “My mom read those all the time. Stacks of books.”
    “Really? What kind?”
    Brett shrugs. “I don’t know. They all had ladies in old-fashioned gowns. The guy’s shirts were open, if they were wearing one, and he was usually undressing her. At least that’s what the cover made it seem like.”
    “Sounds like historical.”
    He nods. “Her escape from reality.”
    Brett said it so quietly that I was beginning to think his mother escaping wasn’t a good thing, so decide not to say anything further.

    I know I shouldn’t hold it against Jacqueline, but the romance novel reading doesn’t set well with me. I’m sure she is nothing like my mom, or at least I hope not, but there was a time when mom always had a book. Reading instead of playing with us. Dad would be at work during the night, five kids in the house needing to get homework done, dinner, baths, and she’d sit there reading. That was the earliest sign of her checking out.
    It didn’t matter that she hated her job, hardly ever saw Dad because he was always working overtime, and not happy with the ways things turned out for her. She still had five kids at home that needed her.
    I’m sure there are a lot of people who read romances for the entertainment. All books, no matter what the genre, are an escape. It’s why people read. But, it shouldn’t be a replacement for a life a person didn’t want to live.
    “I don’t have the time to read like I used to.” She sighs. “In college it was impossible to read for pleasure because of homework and sometimes I just needed to go out. In the summers I usually catch up on my favorite authors, like this summer, but once I start working and am back in school, it’ll probably take me a month to get through a single novel.”
    “Do you read the same kind as my mom?” Though it sounds like Jacqueline at least knows how to prioritize and set the book aside when more important things need to be done.
    “Oh yeah! Regencies are my favorite.” She grins. “Lords, ladies, balls, carriages, estates.”
    I chuckle and lean in. “Does that mean you’re a romantic at heart?”
    Her cheeks color, but she doesn’t answer. Maybe I should read one of these regencies. It might give me some insight into why women seem to love them so much. Just because I listened to my sisters’ conversations growing up, doesn’t mean I even know half of what I need to about women.
    “Sounds like a late sixties, early seventies band,” Jackie say as we come around the corner. There is a trio up there singing Leaving on a Jet Plane . “Peter, Paul and Mary wannabes?”
    I glance at her from the corner of my eye. I didn’t think anyone our age knew who they were.
    “Between my grandparents, aunts and uncles and their eclectic choices in music, I probably know more bands from the 1940’s through the early 80’s, than my own eras of music.”
    “Nothing more recent?”
    “Not for them.” She laughs. “Though I do have one uncle who stays up with all music, no matter what the genre. Of course, he is a musician, so there’s that.”
    The square is filled with people, families, sitting on blankets and in lawn chairs, taking up every available green space to sit. Others line the sidewalks. This is nice. Real nice. I think I may like it around here.
    I nod to Sullivan’s. “I’ve got a tab to settle.”
    It’s the only business that’s open. There are some people sitting inside and the music can be heard.
    “This is usually a big carryout night for Seamus. Families get their dinner and take it outside to enjoy the night.”
    That makes sense and had I known, I might have suggested this over the Italian restaurant. That would have been more of a second date type of atmosphere. Yet, I really liked having Jacqueline all to myself, in the dark corner with a waitress ordering us to fall in love.
    We weave our way through the people who are