Here Comes Trouble Read Online Free PDF Page A

James.

    It seemed all her friends had either married or
moved away or both. James was reliable and responsible and had claimed to want all the things
she wanted. She'd been lonely and when he'd
asked her to marry him, she'd readily agreed,
thinking it was wise to get moving on with her
life. Thinking she'd finally get what she'd longed
for.
    What she wanted most in the world was exactly
what her mother had, and what she'd enjoyed as
a child. Stella wanted a family. A home and children of her own. And most of all, she wanted a
husband to love and be loved by.
    She'd attended college in Chicago. It was too
large, too noisy, too busy. Upon graduation, she'd
been happy to come home to a teaching job in
Littlemouth, knowing she wanted a future in a
cozy and warm small town.
    In retrospect, she hadn't been in love with
James, but she'd definitely loved her dream. When
she'd found him in her bedroom closet, trying on
her nicest pair of high-heeled shoes, she'd been
shocked. When he'd asked her to let him try on
her other shoes, she'd been devastated.
    Now, months later, she could find the humor in
the situation, but at the time ...
    She hadn't told anyone what had happened. Just
told her mother and friends what she'd told James,
that she was certain it couldn't work out. Her mother had tried to worm the story out of her, but
Stella felt James's eccentricities were his private
business. She'd been relieved when he left town.

    The oak tree and its tree house had been her
haven and her sanity. She'd had time, and the
needed privacy, to sort through her feelings and
realize she wouldn't fool herself again. She
couldn't marry for anything less than real love.
    Life had a way of going on and soon the rumor
mill had run out of gossip about James and her.
Now Littlemouth was buzzing with a new topic.
    The bad boy had come home.
    He'd looked every bit the bad boy when he'd
strolled past her house. Later, when she'd seen
Quin up close, she hadn't known quite what to
think.
    Her initial reaction had been how handsome and
devil-may-care he looked, despite all evidence to
the contrary. She'd wanted to hug him. She'd
wanted to tell him to never leave again. She'd
wanted him to hold her.
    She was ridiculous.
    It was pitifully obvious she lacked judgment
when it came to the male of the species. So, she'd
said the first thing springing to mind. She'd reminded him of their childhood argument about
him ignoring her to hang out with the wrong
crowd.
    And he'd laughed at her.

    She had to admit that she'd been pretty ridiculous, but his not having stopped at her house made
her feel-abandoned. So she'd helped with the injured animal and gotten as far away from his devastating smile as possible.
    Despite how everyone in town believed Quin
had returned home as the bad boy made good, she
couldn't quite believe he'd changed that much.
He'd always been up to mischief. She couldn't
help but wonder if he'd deliberately lured her into
the dumpster simply to stain her clothing. She
wouldn't put it past him.
    Quin studied the baskets of ferns hanging on
Stella's front porch while he waited for her to answer the door.
    If Stella was too shy to ask him to the reunion,
then he'd make it easy on her. Ten years before,
she refused to attend the senior prom with him,
and had then gone without a date, making it clear
she preferred to go alone rather than in his company. Now he'd get a chance to show her his damaged ego didn't hold any grudges, that he'd grown
up since then. Besides, going with her would be
fun.
    He rapped on the door again. Where was she?
He paced back and forth on the slatted wood decking.
    When she still didn't answer his knock, he de cided to go around back. Even if she wasn't home,
he wanted to see their old tree house.

    Stella had done a lot of work on the yard. A
small area was fenced off and staked out for a
vegetable garden. Lots of seedlings had been
planted. She'd always had an