Read Commissioned In White (Art of Love Series) for Free Online

dress, it just makes me really sad. Mama would have been sad too.”
    “Yes, she would have,” Jillian said, looking back at the dress. “But that’s just the way life works sometimes. Don’t be thinking your aunt got cheated. She didn’t just marry Shane Larson to get custody of you all. She fell for him the first time she laid eyes on that scruffy looking man. He’s the one for her, so it’s unlikely she’ll have a need to wear this dress so long as he’s in her life.”
    “But if it wasn’t for us. . .” Chelsea began.
    “Don’t even go there. . .” Jillian interrupted. “She’d be married to that awful Brentwood Addison and not nearly as happy as she is with you all and Shane. Teresa Callahan is doing exactly what God intended, and I know Shane is part of that.”
    “You can tell he loves her. I see him watching her. He reminds me of daddy looking at mama,” Chelsea confided softly.
    “You know, I’ve thought the same thing,” Jillian said. “The way he found her and all—well, I have to believe your mama and daddy are looking down on us and helping things along in the right direction. Trust me—white wedding or not, your aunt is way happier now.”
    “I still feel sad about the dress,” Chelsea said, unable to get the image of her Aunt Teresa in it out of her mind.
    Jillian hugged her again. “Of course you do, sweetheart. You’re fourteen and have the softest heart of anyone I know.”
    “Should I remind Aunt Teresa that I have it and just let her sell it?” Chelsea asked.
    “Nah,” Jillian said, pulling away. There was no reason to dash all the girl’s illusions. “Keep it here for now. She’ll remember it eventually. Let Shane get moved in completely and settle into a routine with you all first. You’re doing everyone a favor by holding it off for a little while.”
    Chelsea nodded, trusting her Aunt Jillian and hoping the sadness she felt about it went away quickly.
    ***
     
    Shane knocked on the door of the house, smiling as he thought he heard someone yelling for him to come in. When he tried the door, it swung easily open in his hand, so he stepped inside.
    “Hello,” he called out as he walked past the mountain of boxes in the living room. Peering into the kitchen and dining room, he saw no one. But he heard whispering then, even though still no one came to meet him.
    “Help—I’m lost,” he said loudly, stopping to listen again.
    “Back here,” two voices yelled in unison.
    Shane’s mouth twitched as he prowled the hallway peering into mostly empty rooms as he went. Finally in one of them, he found his father and Jessica lying on their backs in the middle of an unmade, freshly assembled bed rivaling the one he and Reesa currently shared. Packing and paper was strewn all over the floor.
    “Boy, seeing you two in bed together brings back memories,” he said, reaching up to loosen the tie that felt like it was strangling him.
    He remembered how embarrassed he had been when Jessica had crawled into bed with his depressed father in front of Michael and him. Of course, they had been fighting then, but his father had eventually caved, and Shane had seen the naked love on his face when he held her. That was the exact moment Shane had decided he wanted that same kind of love for himself. And thank the creator, he had found it.
    “So where’s the stuff we’re moving?” Shane asked.
    Will and Jessica both laughed at the question.
    “I should have called you. We’re too tired now to move anything else today. You look tired too,” Will said, pushing up to a sitting position.
    “I am,” Shane admitted, finally managing to get the tie loose enough to hang. “But things are going well, and I start my new schedule next week. I’ll be working mostly afternoons at the clinic. Mornings are my time with Reesa. I’m not willing to give them up right now.”
    “Good for you,” Jessica said, groaning as she sat up. “Man, I feel a hundred years old after all that