Rough Edges Read Online Free PDF

option. The knowledge of it was thrilling.
    Allie glanced at the clock, realizing she had just a few short hours to work on her orders before it was time to pick up the kids. And tomorrow, she’d start her new job at the workshop. She had no idea what things would be like, considering her unique history with Braden, but Allie was dying to find out.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
    Talk about foolish. Braden shook his head as he drove from Allie’s house, a sick stone sinking in his gut. What had he done? Invited a massive torrent into his life? Had he not drowned enough over the years?
    That old familiar ache sunk deeper, the pain of it nearly crippling as he recalled his failed attempts to turn his mind from her. Seemed as if – once the heart was stuck on someone – almost nothing could make the hurt fade. Not being alone, not being with another person – no matter who it was. Even when the mind forgets for a season, caught up in other ventures and such, it’s the heart that reminds, a quiet nag in every aching breath that the person you long for is not yours to have.
    “Damn it,” he growled, smacking the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. Just what had he gotten himself into? His shoulders dropped a notch. Things had felt different today, hadn’t they? Hadn’t Allie seemed more… accessible than ever? Open to … to what ? All she wanted was a job. And he was a fool to hope for more.
    The sudden ringing of his cellphone was an irritation. Braden was in such a foul mood he mused he’d rather throw the thing out the window than answer it, but with a quick glance, he noted it was Bree calling. He stifled a curse while bringing it to his ear, balancing the steering wheel as he did. “Yeah?”
    “Could you do me a favor?” his sister asked, her voice tense. One of the kids whined in the background.
    “Maybe,” he said. “What is it?”
    “Sophie’s fever is back, and now Carter has one too. I’m wondering if you could grab me some children’s Tylenol at the market.”
    A bit of guilt seeped in. He hated it when those kids were sick. “Sure,” he said. “I’ve got some ice cream I’ve been wanting to get rid of,” he lied, “think they’ll eat it?”
    “You can bring it, but I’m not sure they will.”
    “That bad, huh?” Braden frowned, shutting off the wipers as the rain slowed. He made a mental note to slip Bree some extra cash along with the ice cream. She was taking a big hit in pay with her kids being sick and all, having to let the daycare children she watched attend the facility down the road for the second day in a row now. Still, it wasn’t enough to pull his mind away from the recent distraction in his own life. “Hey, did you tell Allie Emerson’s mother that I was hiring a secretary?”
    Silence.
    “Bree?” he urged.
    “Well it’s no secret that I think you could use one. And I ran into her the other day at Lee’s Market.”
    “And you decided to talk about me.”
    “Only for a second.”
    Braden sighed, the effects of being in Allie and Terrance’s home still squirming over his skin like an unwanted insect.
    “Are you going to hire her?” she asked.
    He kept his gaze set on the road ahead, hardly seeing it through the misty haze of his thoughts. “You have no idea what having her back in my life will do to me,” he assured. He was barely a mended man as it was.  When Bree failed to speak up, he elaborated. “She’s sure to break me for good this time. And the worst part is, she won’t even know it.”
    “Then tell her, Braden. Now is your chance.”
    His shoulders tensed. His grip on the wheel did too. “Bob Harris asked me to come help out with a woodshop project at the high school,” he said, needing the shift in topic. “I just pulled up to the lot now, but I’ll grab the medicine as soon as I’m done.”
    “I didn’t realize you still did that,” Bree said. “Well, I’m not going to forget where we left off, Braden. This is something you should talk