Treasure on Lilac Lane: A Jewell Cove Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

directions for you. You ready?”
    He hesitated.
    “Rick?”
    “Um, yeah, about that. Look, I was wondering … are you free to go with me?”
    She blinked. “Go with you?”
    “Yeah. I feel kind of awkward going there by myself.”
    “Because…” she prompted. Surely he wasn’t prejudiced. No one ever intended to get in a position that they’d need a shelter.
    “Maybe the women there don’t appreciate a man being around. I don’t know,” he answered, sounding flustered. “I’ve never done this before.”
    “You intimidated, Rick?” She smiled into the receiver. “It’s just a drop-off.”
    “Never mind, then,” he answered sharply. “Give me the damn directions.”
    She sighed, suddenly feeling guilty for breaking the tentative truce between the two of them. What would it hurt, spending an hour at most with him? For charity. “I can’t just leave, that’s all. My after-school help doesn’t get here until three thirty.”
    There was a pause. “I could wait and go then.”
    He was making a concession. An effort. And he was doing a good thing, so why was she fighting it so hard?
    “Swing by and pick me up at quarter to four,” she said heavily.
    “Forget it.”
    She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Rick, let’s not make this into an argument. You want me to go and I’m going. Let’s just leave it, okay?”
    There was a long silence. The clacking of dishes and cutlery was gone and she assumed he’d gone outside.
    “Fine. I’ll see you later,” he muttered, and then clicked off without saying good-bye.
    She would not let him get to her.
    At precisely 3:45, Jess hooked her handbag on her shoulder and waved to Tessa as she left the store. When she got down the boarded walkway that Tom had built for her, she discovered Rick in his truck parked along the street, tapping his fingers impatiently against the steering wheel.
    She hopped in and pasted on a smile, determined to start the drive on the right foot. “Hi. Again.”
    His fingers stopped tapping. “Hey.”
    He pulled away from the curb and at the next intersection, turned left onto Main and continued until they hit the exit to the highway, all without saying a word. If traffic stayed light, they’d reach the shelter in thirty, thirty-five minutes tops.
    Over an hour when all was said and done. It would be the longest she’d spent with him since high school and even then they’d rarely been alone. Considering his apparent lack of conversational skills, an hour was going to feel like a lifetime.
    “So,” she began uneasily. “You went through some of Roberta’s things.”
    “I’m thinking of moving in.” He stared straight ahead. “No sense putting it off, really. Going through her clothes, I mean.”
    “People grieve in their own time. I don’t think anyone should be held to certain rules, you know? If you felt like doing it, then it was clearly the right time.”
    His shoulders relaxed a little. “At first I thought about putting the house up for sale.”
    Jess considered the cute two-story house. Situated on one of Jewell Cove’s side streets, it had a splendid birch tree out front and a profusion of perennials—forsythia in spring, rhododendrons and lilacs, cosmos and phlox. She’d always thought Roberta’s house looked like something out of a magazine or book. “I’m assuming your mom kept it in primo shape,” she mused. “I bet it wouldn’t be on the market long.” In fact it would be perfect for a family. She could easily imagine a swing set in the backyard. A dog to fetch sticks or a tennis ball. A perfect family life for a perfect family.
    “She did, until the last year or so when she started feeling tired and then was diagnosed.” Rick’s voice was tight, as if talking about it physically hurt. “But it won’t take long to fix up what fell behind.”
    Jess studied his profile. His dark hair was a bit longer now that the jarhead look was gone, and curled slightly at his T-shirt collar. His eyes were