Loves Me, Loves Me Knot Read Online Free PDF Page A

favor. It was like an episode of
The Twilight Zone
, and that
do-do-do-do do-do-do-do
theme started to echo in his head.
    Scratching his chest through the worn cotton of his T-shirt, he cleared his throat and said, “Yeah, okay. Sure.”
    He checked his watch, calculated the distance to Charlotte Langan’s isolated farm house from his apartment in the city, and added, “Give me half an hour.”
    When Jenna responded, the words seemed to come out in a rush. “All right, I’ll be here. Thank you.”
    There was a loud click and then he was left with nothing but a dial tone buzzing in his ear.
    Ten minutes later, boots and jacket on, Gage walked to his older-model, nondescript, gray unmarked car, small metal tool box in hand. He didn’t know a lot about plumbing, but he figured he could tighten a few fittings or replace a pipe or two, if needed, just to get Jenna through the rest of the weekend.
    The real problem wasn’t how he’d manage to fix a leaky faucet, but how he was going to handle being alone with Jenna for the first time in two years. Away from their small group of friends; away from the boisterous crowd at the bar where they hung out; even away from her odd, mop-headed little aunt.
    And he didn’t know who he should be more concerned for. Jenna . . . or himself.
    Jenna slammed the phone down, feeling like she might throw up. “He’ll be here in thirty minutes.”
    Grace made a sound that was half squeak, half giggle, and both she and Ronnie bounced up and down on the balls of their feet.
    “Okay, let’s get moving. Ronnie, you go park your car out of sight. Jenna and I will run upstairs and get the bedroom ready.”
    Oh, God, the bedroom.
    This was crazy. It was insane. How had they ever come up with such an off-the-wall idea?
    Unfortunately, Jenna agreed that it was the only way she was ever going to get what she truly wanted. It was either this, or be miserable for the rest of her life. And at twenty-nine, she just wasn’t ready to give up and play dead yet.
    So she would have to go forward with Phase Two ofOperation Knock-Me-Up as planned. Even if the very thought made her feel nauseous, lightheaded, and scared witless all at once.
    Thank goodness Grace and Ronnie were there to help her out and walk her through everything that needed to be done—and for the margaritas. Otherwise she would have wimped out hours ago.
    Finished in the bedroom and bathroom, she and Grace hurried back downstairs just as Ronnie returned from moving her car behind the barn where Gage wouldn’t notice it when he arrived.
    “Everything set?” Ronnie asked, slightly out of breath. Her leopard-print raincoat was misbuttoned, two of the fastenings crooked and one in the wrong hole, leaving a flap of extra material where it didn’t belong. A thin layer of mud caked the bottoms of her wedges, sprigs of grass sticking out of the light brown sandal straps that crisscrossed over her otherwise bare feet.
    Not the least bit anxious about what they were doing, Grace gave a cheerful, “Yep,” and skirted around them back to the kitchen.
    Digging through her purse, she pulled out a flat plastic tray of tiny white pills. “Get me a couple bottles of beer and two teaspoons,” she ordered, beginning to pop the pills one after another through the foil backing.
    Ronnie and Jenna quickly gathered the items Grace needed and set them on the island in front of her, watching as she ground a dozen pills into a pile of dust on the counter. With almost scientific care, she deposited half the white powder into each of the two bottles of Corona they’d never gotten around to drinking for Mexican Night and slowly swirl, swirl, swirled them until she felt they were adequately dissolved. Then shescrewed the caps back on and returned them to the refrigerator.
    “Remember,” she told Jenna, “you uncap the bottles and hand them to him. Don’t let him take the caps off himself or he might notice they’re not on quite right. And if he starts to