Three Down the Aisle Read Online Free PDF Page A

That’s made everything else look shabby, so the whole project has gotten out of hand. I’ve done nothing but paint for days now.”
    He didn’t even try to contain his surprise. “You’ve painted the entire house since I last saw you?”
    “Most of it,” she said. “I haven’t gotten to the attic bedrooms yet.”
    “When? How?”
    She grinned. “Don’t tell me you’re actually impressed with something I’ve done.”
    Mike didn’t want to concede that he was. “Haven’t seen the job yet, have I?”
    “Oh, come on, admit it. You didn’t think I was going to lift a finger to put things right around here, did you? You probably thought I’d turn a blind eye to the work that needed to be done or, worse, just give up and run away.”
    “To be honest, that thought did occur to me. Why didn’t you?”
    “No place else I wanted to be,” she admitted.
    Her eyes were filled with that same sorrow he’d noted on his last visit. It made him want to hold her. To fight the urge, he balled his hands into fists and dug his nails into his palms.
    “What’s wrong with home?” he asked.
    “If you’re referring to the place where my parents live, there’s nothing wrong with it.”
    “You’re still living with your folks?”
    She gave him a wry look. “You’re going to keep poking at this, aren’t you?”
    “Just being neighborly.”
    “Well, then, let me make it as plain as I possibly can. I don’t want to talk about Boston or my past.”
    Mike could understand that kind of reluctance all too well. “Okay. Then that brings us back to this place.”
    She gave him a faint grin. “Actually, Mr. Mikelewski—”
    “Mike.”
    “Mike, then. When it comes to this place, I think you’ll find I’m full of surprises. Once I get around to these gardens, I intend to see that you’re awed and amazed. By the time I leave—”
    He gave her a sharp look. He’d expected as much, so he was surprised by the disappointment that slashed through him. “You’re not here to stay?”
    “Nope. Just passing through.”
    That made her willingness to do anything at all to bring the place back to its former beauty all the more remarkable. He should have felt a wave of relief at the news that she wasn’t staying, but he didn’t. He told himself it was because there was no way she could turn this garden around on some two-week vacation or whatever she was taking here.
    “That makes it even more important that you consider my offer of help,” he told her. “You won’t be able to accomplish much on your own during a brief vacation.”
    She gave him a long, steady look, then nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. And for the record, I’m not exactly on vacation. It’s more like a sabbatical.”
    “How long?”
    “I’m not sure.”
    He saw her evasiveness as just more evidence that she couldn’t be counted on to make a real difference here. “Say you do all this work,” he said, regarding her curiously, “who’ll look after it once you’re gone? Or do you plan to abandon it again?”
    “To be honest, I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” she told him. “Right now I’m barely planning this afternoon, much less tomorrow or next week.”
    “Drifting’s fine for a time,” he said. He’d done his share in those first weeks after he and Linda had separated. Only Jessie’s demand for attention had kept him focused at all. He glanced at the woman next to him and added, “But making it a way of life is dangerous.”
    “Oh?” she asked, her tone edgy. “Do you have a lot of experience drifting along?”
    Mike thought about the question before responding. When it came to emotional drifting, he’d become a grand champion, but having Jessie hadn’t allowed him to drift in any other way for long. She forced him to live in the moment, since plans could get scrambled in a heartbeat on one of her bad days.
    “Everyone needs goals,” he said at last.
    She regarded him curiously. “What are yours?”
    The conversation