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

an altercation with the sexy new owner, he didn't have any plans to go back to that place. Her son had a major attitude problem, and she obviously wasn't going to do anything about it.  What kind of mother allowed her son to talk to people like that? She obviously wasn't a very good disciplinarian, and he could probably teach her a thing or two about that. If one of his brothers had ever talked to anyone the way that kid had talked to him, he would've smacked the snot out of them. But, this woman apparently didn't have much of a backbone.
     
    He finished up his coffee and dug his cell phone out of his pocket. It was time to call his sister and try to figure out exactly what was going on. He had a feeling his mother was right. Addison had never pulled this far away from the family, and she rarely missed a holiday. Although she and her husband did travel quite a bit, Addison always stayed in close contact with the family. Lately, things hadn't been the same, and he could feel it himself.
     
    "Hello?" Addison answered. Her voice sounded softer than normal, and for a moment he wondered if he'd woke her up. It was already after 9 AM, and she was usually a pretty early riser. Of course, he had no idea where she was in the world right now.
     
    "Hey, sis. It's Jackson. Are you okay? You sound tired," he said.
     
    "Oh, hey, Jackson. Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a late night out. You know how we like to have a good time. Slept in for a while this morning. How is everyone?"
     
    He could tell that she was brushing his concerns off, and that just made him even more worried about her. "We're all fine. Missing you for Thanksgiving, though."
     
    "Yeah, I really wish we could've been there. I hate missing a holiday with my Parker brothers. But, I'm going to try my best to get there for Christmas."
     
    "I thought you guys were in Greece or some other exotic locale?" Jackson said. There was a silence on the other end of the phone for a moment as if she was trying to think of something to say.
     
    "Um, yeah, at the last minute Jim had a change at work … " She was stuttering and stammering, and Jackson knew he had to act fast.
     
    "Come on, Addison. You and I both know that something is going on. You would never miss a Thanksgiving with the family if you were stateside. I'm your big brother. I can help you. Please just tell me what's wrong."
     
    Addison didn't say anything for a moment and then he heard what he thought was a sniffle on the other end. "Jackson, I'm fine," she said through what sounded like tears.
     
    "Why won't you let us help you?" he asked. He was aware that his tone sounded like he was begging, and he really was. He wanted to help his sister. All the brothers felt that way about her being the only girl.
     
    "There's nothing to help me with. Really. Everything is fine. I've got things under control."
     
    "Are you okay? Are you safe? Has someone hurt you?" Jackson started rattling off questions to her.
     
    "I'm safe. No one is hurting me, I promise. I just need to be away right now. Please don't say anything to Mom. I don't want her worried about me."
     
    "Too late. She's very worried about you, Addison. And now that I've talked to you, I'm worried too. If something is going on with your husband, you need to let me know about it. I can help you fix this."
     
    "Jackson," she snapped. For the first time in their phone conversation, he heard his sister getting aggravated. She was usually a pretty feisty one anyway, so he was kind of glad to hear her backbone finally. "I'm not going to say it again. Everything is fine. Nothing to worry about. I've got things handled." There was a silence between brother and sister for a few moments before Jackson finally got the message that his sister wasn't ready to talk about whatever was going on with her.
     
    "Okay. Just know that you can call me anytime, day or night. I will be there to help you. I promise."
     
    "I know you will. You always have been. And I thank you for that.