With Every Breath Read Online Free PDF Page A

imagined Mia would purchase to display.
    “What is that?” She bent for a closer look. It was hideous. Scary. Like it might come to life and assault someone with the miniature shovel in its gloved hands.
    Cole laughed as he climbed back into his car. “Gift from her mother-in-law.”
    “Oh, wow,” was all she could think to say. She tilted the gnome and retrieved the key underneath. By the time she stood, Cole was backed out of the driveway and on the street.
    He lifted his fingers from the steering wheel in a wave. “See you around, Jelly Bean.”
    He took off down the street before she could throw something at him, like the garden gnome. She’d been twelve and an idiot, and had gotten it in her head to prove she could hang with the boys. No dare was too big for her, so she’d eaten half a jar of jelly beans—then proceeded to throw them all up. Apparently, she’d never live it down.
    When his car disappeared around the block, she turned to climb the porch steps. A cold shower and Jesus, that’s what she needed.
    She unlocked the front door with a huff. There was nothing special about Cole.
    True, over the years, curiosity had gotten the best of her. She’d scrolled through Mia’s pictures on social media, knowing she’d see Cole’s face there. She had no clue what possessed her to linger on his image, a man who was better left in her past. Every time she clicked off his image there was a small ache in her chest. He had a little boy who was a spitting image of him, with a mop of dark brown hair and a smile cute enough to make a woman’s biological clock tick in overdrive. Cole and his wife, the little boy—the three of them were a gorgeous family.
    A long time ago, she fantasized about being the woman on his arm in pictures like those. Growing up, all she saw were stars when she looked at him; he was perfect. She couldn’t help it, even when he didn’t know she existed as anything other than his little sister’s best friend. She’d been head over heels for a guy who had a trail of heartbroken girls in his wake, making him all the more desirable to a teenage girl. Despite the trouble her feelings for Cole had caused her over the years, she could smile about it now. She’d been so ridiculous in her youth, scribbling their names inside of hearts in her notebooks, going to bed at night wondering if tomorrow would be the day he’d smile at her. So long ago.
    None of it mattered—not their spotty history, nor how long it’d taken her to get over him. He was off limits, and she was dead set on avoiding him for the next two weeks. And since Cole, she’d built a life around simplicity. Her gypsy soul was untethered and happy.
    At least she wouldn’t run into Ellie on this visit. The last voice message she received from her mother had been to tell Jaden she was going to rehab. Again. Not a surprise. She hadn’t spoken with Ellie in three years. Jaden ignored every single call, sending it to voicemail. Most of those voicemails were deleted without being played. What was the point?
    Ellie’s words from their last conversation all those years ago still stung: “YOU did this to me! I’m like this because of YOU. You owe me your LIFE. I would never abandon you like this, you little bitch!” She’d been coming down off of drugs when she’d called, wanting money for an attorney. Jaden hadn’t even asked what she’d needed an attorney for. A DUI? Drug paraphernalia? It wouldn’t matter. Ellie would never change. The last thing she spat into the phone before Jaden hung up was how she hoped Jaden got pregnant and that the “little brat” ruined Jaden’s life as she’d ruined Ellie’s. Three years was a long time to go without talking to one’s mother, but that had been the last straw—she’d had enough.
    Jaden forced Ellie from her mind. She wasn’t here for her, and she didn’t have to worry about an uncomfortable or embarrassing reunion with her mother. She’d be long gone before Ellie returned