Jeannie Watt Read Online Free

a sheepish grin, then gave up. “I had assumed that meant before the sun came up!”
    The brother got out of the truck. “I’m sorry, T. Josh and I got stuck up behind Bounty Peak.” He gestured at the muddy undercarriage of the Dodge. “My cell wouldn’t get service there.”
    Tara sucked in a breath and let it out again. “Listen to me. In the future, you call . I don’t care if you have to hike to the top of Bounty Peak to get service, you call.” She pushed a piece of paper into her brother’s hand. “And I’m sure I don’t want to know why you were behind Bounty Peak in the first place. Here’s the list we talked about. Do what you can. I’ve gotta go.”
    Matt had seen the same look on his mother’s face more than once during his own turbulent teens—fully justified fear, followed by relief, and then anger at being made to worry unnecessarily. He felt a little sorry for both Tara and the kid.
    “I’m late for an appointment,” Tara explained abruptly. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. You’re pretty well lined out, aren’t you?”
    Matt nodded and Tara gave her brother one more smoldering look before walking swiftly to the Toyota, muttering under her breath. Matt and the brother stood side by side as the car peeled out of the driveway and turned onto the county road.
    “She yells at me when I do that.” The blond kid turned to Matt. “I’m Nicky Sullivan.”
    “Matt Connors. You worried her,” Matt said as he shook the kid’s hand.
    “Yeah. I guess I should have called when we got out of that mud hole,” he admitted, “but I figured I’d be home in an hour.” He tilted his head, his blue eyes narrowing. “And I think I’m old enough to stay out all night if I want to.”
    “Probably not to her.”
    “I guess,” the kid agreed. “Hey, you want some breakfast before you get started?”
    Matt shook his head. “I had the special at the Owl.”
    Nicky grimaced. “Sorry, man.”
    Matt smiled in spite of himself. Dinners weren’t bad at the casino, but breakfast had proven to be an adventure. Eggs came in one form. Bouncy. Bacon bordered on scorched. The toast was usually okay, though, and that was what he’d ended up eating that morning after trying all the various components of the special.
    “Come on, at least have some coffee. Tara makes great coffee.”
    A thermal carafe sat on the counter of the obviously recently renovated kitchen and Nicky shook it. It sloshed reassuringly and he reached for two mugs.
    “If I had been any later, she’d have dumped it out,” Nicky reflected as he poured.
    “Important appointment?”
    “It is for her.” Nicky settled on one of the antique chairs and stretched out his legs. He took a drink of coffee, closed his eyes, took another. “Long night,” he muttered. “Anyway, the local school is celebrating its centennial this year and there’s going to be a big reunion of all graduates. Tara wants a piece of the action.”
    “How so?” The coffee smelled great. Matt took a seat on the opposite side of the table and sipped. Star-bucks, move over.
    “She wants to use the reunion to help her kick off her bed-and-breakfast business. She’s trying to host a function here.”
    “Bed-and-breakfast?” Matt almost dropped his cup. Tara Sullivan was going to deal with the general public? Nicky smiled at him.
    “She’s good with paying customers,” the kid said, accurately interpreting Matt’s expression. “We lived in the basement apartment of a bed-and-breakfast for five years while she was going to college. She ended up running the place from time to time for the owners, so she knows what she’s doing. Of course, getting the house ready in time is kind of a challenge.”
    “The kitchen’s not bad,” Matt said tactfully. Only the worn linoleum needed replacing. Everything else, from the fancy retro range to the huge fridge, looked new.
    “You should see the rest of the place—and I’m only here for ten days. I’ll do what I