Read Chanel Sweethearts for Free Online Page B

wiping the edge of his mouth on his sleeve.
    â€˜Bye,’ Jess answered, as he sauntered out the door. It was a relief to be rid of his grumpy face for a while.
    That evening Jess pulled into her driveway and killed the engine. She stared at the weatherboard homestead that sat amid the dry paddocks. The last rays of sun stroked its west wall and the orange glow settled on her arum lilies, staining them peach.
    How much longer could she face walking into that empty house? She couldn’t believe she used to grumble about the noise and nag for the kids to pick up their Lego.
    She sat in the car, dry-eyed and empty. She was so tired of faking brightness and cheer all day.
    Jessica clearly remembered the day Graham and the boys had come into her life. She’d been walking from the kitchen to cross through the cafe when she’d noticed a little shoe wiggling from the top section of the shelving unit. She’d sped up her journey, fearing the worst. Sure enough, a baby, about a year old, had managed to use the shelves as a ladder and was now balancing precariously between the linguine and the one-and-a-half-metre drop to the timber floor.
    â€˜What are you doing?’ Jess had grabbed the chunky, squirming babe around his tubby little belly. ‘Are you a monkey? This isn’t a palm tree, you know!’
    The boy squealed and kicked his little legs in glee at having been caught. Jessica laughed. She loved children, she always had, and this one was gorgeous with his wispy soft blond toddler bob, red denim overalls, and eyes the colour and clarity of a Whitsundays’ sky. Jessica felt a tightness in her chest, one she hadn’t known was even there, snap and release. It was like ice-cream melting on the inside.
    â€˜Who are you?’ she whispered as she stood there, holding this magic little person around the waist.
    â€˜Callum?’ A deep rumble called out and the owner of the voice quickly followed. A tall, thin man emerged from the glass hallway that led to the gallery.
    â€˜Oh, there you are! I’ve been looking for you.’ He sounded very terse but Jessica could only presume he’d been worried.
    â€˜I am sorry, has he been bothering you?’ the man asked. At his first glimpse of Jessica, a smile came to his tanned face.
    â€˜Not at all, I just rescued him from the top shelf, that’s all. I was worried he might fall. But no harm done, he’s delightful,’ she said as she reluctantly handed her new charge back to his dad.
    â€˜No, he isn’t!’ The man looked at his son disbelievingly. ‘Oh, you’re a monkey!’ he said. The scolding was met with peals of giggles. The child clambered up to his dad’s shoulders and grasped handfuls of the thick, overgrown ginger hair.
    Jessica giggled right along with him. ‘That’s exactly what I called him!’ she said. ‘He certainly likes climbing.’
    â€˜Yes, too much, I’m afraid. He’s a real worry.’ He leaned down, unattached Callum and placed him on the ground. Doing so allowed his eyes to wander over Jessica’s open, friendly face, surreptitiously taking in her attractive figure and her wild blonde locks.
    â€˜His name is Callum, and I am Graham,’ he said putting out his right hand to shake Jessica’s. Their eyes met and Jessica smiled shyly at Graham’s frank and open gaze. The freckles smattered across his whole face made him seem even more youthful than he probably was. His grin, with head cocked to one side, was both enquiring and endearing – it gave him a cheeky quality. She decided she liked him. And she definitely liked Callum.
    â€˜Hello, Graham, hello, Callum. What a pleasure to meet you both.’
    â€˜Ooooof.’ Graham suddenly lost his footing as a small towheaded dynamo barrelled in from the gallery door and slammed into his leg. ‘And this little hurricane is Liam. Liam’s older than Callum by eighteen