The Cowboy's Housekeeper by Lori Copeland

Author:Lori Copeland [Copeland, Lori]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sunny Day Publishing
Published: 2017-06-25T18:30:00+00:00

Eleven

The phone rang bright and early the following morning.

Jessica answered with a cheery, “Hello?”

A pause on the line. “Uh, hi.” No mistaking that voice. Jessica’s stomach soured. “Is, uh, Jason there?”

Normally he wouldn’t be here at this time of day, but he happened to have just walked through the back door and announced that his morning chores were finished. Without a word to the caller, she extended the cordless to Jason.

“For me?” he said, a puzzled look on his face.

‘Monica,’ she mouthed, and then practically shoved the phone at him.

She returned to her tiny bedroom and began dressing for church. Though she didn’t want to eavesdrop, she couldn’t stop herself from straining to listen to the rich timbre of his baritone as he laughed at some comment Monica had apparently made. She looked in the mirror and mimicked his laughter, a sarcastic smirk on her face, while jealousy shot through every part of her body. In the next instant, she threw her hairbrush onto the bed with more force than necessary. What was she going to do? With every day she lived here it became more apparent that Jason would never give her a chance again.

But I still love him, she told her reflection, which now held a pitiful feeling-sorry-for-myself expression that sickened her. Over the months since she moved in, their relationship had been a roller coaster, but one thing was certain - her love for him grew every day. Being in his home, seeing him every day, cooking for him, taking care of him—all these things fed the tender blossom of her love. How would she ever be able to give him up again?

Slumping to the bed, she battled tears, something that happened far too often of late. Monica was such a nice person—why couldn’t Jessica simply reconcile herself to the fact that eventually Jason would marry her? She would probably make him very happy. The mental image of Monica wrapped in Jason’s arms at night tormented her, and a groan escaped her parted lips. What could she do to stop that from happening?

A million thoughts circled her brain, but she dismissed them one by one. Frustrated, she snatched up the hairbrush and jerked it through her tresses. Surely there was something she could do. After all, he had been attracted to her years ago. A flicker of the old flame remained, she’d seen it in his eyes last night. His comment, about what a good team they could have made, might mean he harbored some feelings for her.

If so, he sure kept it hidden lately. He went out of his way to avoid her. Last night’s Fourth of July picnic was a fluke. Most of the time he treated her the same as he would treat Mrs. Perkins.

She jerked the edge of her quilt to straighten it. No, she just couldn’t sit idly by and let him slip through her fingers again without trying to win him back. But short of stepping over boundaries she couldn’t force

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