Hope Breaks: A New Adult Romantic Comedy Read Online Free PDF Page A

screen door open for me.     
    “Don’t start,” I warned her.  But she ignored me and followed me into the house.
    “So who is he and when do you see him again?”
    “See who again,” I evaded.
    “Shame on you,” Bette chided.  “I’m talking about that dark, handsome, truck driving man who delivered you like the morning paper just now.”
    “Oh, him?  I haven’t a clue.  Complete stranger.”
    Bette poured out my old, cold coffee and started a fresh pot.  She was a regular visitor in my little fortress of solitude.  Actually, besides models and the occasional workmen, she’d become the only person who regularly came into my home.  I liked my privacy.
    But my next door neighbor, Bette Lee Brandt, is not the sort of woman you can just ignore.  Not even with deadbolt locks and pepper spray.
    When the coffee was dripping she raised an eyebrow at me.  “So did your complete stranger give you any candy, little girl?”
    I rolled my eyes at her.  “No, but I bought him lunch.”
    “You bought him lunch.  Have I taught you nothing?  Always get the guy to pay!”
    “Well, since he drove me home, and is fixing my car—”
    “Oh yeah, I was wondering about that—”
    “I thought it would be only right that I buy him lunch, since he’s probably fixing my car as we speak.”
    “You broke down in front of his garage?”  Bette’s eyes brightened even more.  A three time divorcee, Bette quickly categorized men by looks, and then their net worth.
    “No, I broke down in the parking lot of Wal-Mart.  The kid driving the tow truck said that…” I felt a little flush as his name dropped onto the tip of my tongue.  “He said that they could fix it if… Jake was working.  And he was.”
    “Jake?  Oh, I like that name.  What’s his last name?”
    I was tempted to lie and say I didn’t know it, but I knew she’d gotten a good look at him, and had probably memorized his license plate.  So either she’d find his identity out via an online reverse directory, or she’d spend the next few hours Facebook stalking him.
    “Troy,” I said miserably.  “Jake Troy.  My brother went to high school with him.”  And his sister had made it her mission in life to make my existence pure hell.
    “So you know him?”
    I shook my head.  I opened my cookie jar for a Keebler fudge striped cookie and took a bite as Bette poured me a mug of coffee.  She even added the sugar for me.  “No, I don’t remember him for the life of me.  But he seems to remember me just fine.”
    “Jesus, Mary , and Joseph!” she said, her hand at her expansive décolletage.  Did I mention my neighbor was a red headed look-a-like for a young Dolly Parton?  And as far I could tell, all her “assets” were real.  “You actually don’t remember a hunk like that?  Were you on drugs or religion as a child?”
    I snorted.  “Episcopalian, and no, I only tried some reefer after a… after a concert once.”   I wasn’t about to confess I’d been to see Hanson in my youth.  Not now, not ever.  No power on this earth could pry that information from me.
    “Well, don’t go forgetting about him now that you’ve found him.  And answer my second question!  When do you see him again?”
    I coyly dipped my second cookie in my coffee and made a show of savoring a bite.
    “Don’t even try it!” Bette howled, her sky blue eyes turning hard, her peaches and cream cheeks reddening, and her cleavage surging.  “Now spill it, you Wal-Mart hussy!”
    I felt a sudden pang of guilt.  If she only knew I’d propositioned two young studs at the retail giant as well.
    I was going to keep that tidbit all to myself.
    “He’s dropping my car off after work.”
    “Here?” Bette squealed.
    “Yes, and then I’m driving him back to his truck.”
    Bette plopped down in one of my kitchen chairs and fanned herself dramatically.  “Oh my, door to door service and a hot date afterward.”
    “It’s not a date!” Even though