Read Falling For You - January Cove Book 3 for Free Online Page A

above everyone else or he would feel like a failure.
     
    Jackson left his mother to finish up her work in the kitchen while he walked outside to the back deck. The solitude of January Cove provided him a welcome respite from the stresses of his real estate career. Suddenly, he was starting to feel like his life in Atlanta wasn't nearly as fulfilling as he pretended it was. There's something that always drew him back to his family, his home, the waters in the ocean. He had missed the smell of the salty sea air, the breeze that lightly touched his face, the small-town life where everyone knew everyone else. And now he felt conflicted in a way that he never had before.
     
    ***
     
    Jackson woke up on Thanksgiving morning way earlier than he'd planned. He could already hear mixers going in the kitchen, and the loud laughter of the women as they started preparing the big Thanksgiving meal. He wondered what they were talking about that was so hysterically funny at six o'clock in the morning.
     
    Sitting up in his bed and rubbing his eyes, he stepped out onto the hardwood floor and headed for the restroom. He put some cold water on his face, brushed his hair and threw on a T-shirt and a pair of baggy athletic shorts. Even though it was winter time, he still found January Cove to be warm enough to wear shorts in November. After all, he had been in Atlanta where it was a lot colder during this time of the year.
     
    "Good morning, ladies," he said with his best smile. The women giggled, and his mother tried to stifle a smile. "Is something funny? Is my hair askew?" he asked pretending to fix his hair with his fingers.
     
    "No, honey, you look lovely," his mother said ruffling his hair as Jenna and Tessa started laughing.
     
    "Okay, ladies. I can tell that you're laughing at my expense. What's so funny?" he asked crossing his arms and shooting a sly smile their way.
     
    "Well, your mom was just giving us the lowdown on some of your romantic adventures as a teenager," Jenna said cutting her eyes at Adele who started to laugh.
     
    "Oh really? My dear mother is talking about my private romantic life?" Jackson said wagging his finger in his mother. "And what, pray tell, did she tell you ladies?"
     
    "Well, there was talk about a couple of teenage girls climbing out of your window … " Tessa said wagging her finger back at him. He liked this Tessa chick. She seemed to have just enough of a rough edge to fit right in with the rest of the Parker siblings.
     
    "Mom! I can't believe you told them that. I told you that I was just playing board games with them!" he said with his hands on his hips."
     
    "Oh, yeah. Sure. Board games. Likely story," Jenna said rolling her eyes. "Besides, I heard one of those was a Callahan sister."
     
    "Listen, I never had any luck with the Callahan sisters. I was too busy helping to raise my snotty little brothers and sister." His attempt at a joke seemed to fail.
     
    A hush fell over the room for just a moment, and Jackson could tell that he had made his mother feel bad or inadequate or something. She looked at him for a brief second and then turned around and started stirring the mashed potatoes. He felt terrible. "Listen, mom, I'm going to go grab a shower and then make that phone call we talked about. Okay?"
     
    She turned around and nodded. "Sure, honey, that would be great. Lunch is at noon, so just make sure that you are back down here by then."
     
    He gave her a quick kiss on top of the head and then trotted back upstairs. He wasn't sure why what he said caused her to pull back so. Maybe she felt guilty that he'd had to step up after his father died. He'd always been her right hand, but he didn't know how his mother really felt about that.
     
    Jackson got a shower, made himself a cup of coffee in his little coffeemaker upstairs and sat out on the deck for a little while. He watched traffic go by and for some reason his eyes kept getting drawn to the new coffee shop. Jolt. Even though he had