Read Jack Who? (Silver Strings G Series) for Free Online Page A

worth it.” She muttered the confession with a sad sigh. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t him. I just wasn’t into it I guess.”
    Her job as a gaming supervisor required her to stand all day, and her knees suddenly felt the strain. Sinking to a bar stool at the counter, she tiredly stared into her drink.
    “Rissa, I wish you would let me set you up with Michael’s friend Joel.” Olivia spoke of her husband of two years, and his friend already mentioned to Marissa several times. “Hot, and rich.” Coming to lean on her arms over the bar, her friend’s sympathetic eyes skittered to Tristan who was popping open a fortune cookie with his gaze still glued to the television. “You need rich...”
    The envelope in the hall flashed to mind. Marissa was afraid to read the reply. Would she have to get her own lawyer? Spend money she didn’t have to acquire the money needed for Tristan? Where would she come up with the retainer amount for her own legal counsel? Would Jack continue making her feel like some slutty schemer who set out from the get go to shake him down?
    Wouldn’t it be easier to abandon this plan of getting the money from Tristan’s father and instead get Tristan a new father? Could she give up this fantasy of finding another spiritual and chemical connection?
    Would the details of Jack’s skin against her, his hands, his mouth, his everything, ever fade into simply a fond memory?
    “Did you say you had a picture?” Her voice felt small, and she gulped a few fortifying drinks as Olivia flew to the sofa and returned, just that fast, clutching her phone.
    After sliding her finger across the face a few times, Olivia slid the device across the bar to Marissa. Delaying a few uneasy seconds, Marissa instead reached for a straw from the colorful straw dispenser that Tristan had begged to buy during a dollar store excursion.
    Lifting the phone, she studied a more than average handsome face, and since the picture had been snapped by a pool, an extremely fit, shirtless body. Intently watching her reaction, Olivia let a few seconds tick by then exploded, “Well?”
    “You’re right. He’s hot. But, I need to think about it. And I can’t go out with anyone until after Tristan’s surgery.”
    Unconsciously, both of their eyes went to the calendar on the fridge and the large notation on a date exactly a week from the day’s date.
    “Oh! The mail! You have a certified delivery!” Surprisingly, Olivia abandoned the subject of Marissa dating Joel to inform of the envelope she did not know had already been seen. Then, she went so far as to take it upon herself to fetch it, mumbling about the return address being an attorney.
    Once, over mixed drinks in the past, Olivia had asked why Marissa wasn’t solving the money problems concerning her son by involving his father, and after explaining what she could, Marissa had begun keeping her friend slightly updated. At this point, Olivia knew only that Marissa had appealed to this man through an attorney.
    With her drink now drained, Marissa felt the courage needed to rip open the cardboard casing. Olivia busied herself filling the glasses again and then nonchalantly leaned against the fridge after returning the pitcher to the freezer.
    Marissa’s eyes scanned the posh letterhead and then the letter itself before beginning to silently read:
    ‘Ms. Marissa Duplei,
    Regarding our phone conversation on the date of blah blah blah ; here she began to skim; ‘after much consideration, on behalf of Mr. J. L. Storm, enclosed is what he feels is a fair sum pending the outcome of a paternity test,’ blah blah . ‘By cashing the enclosed check, you are entering into a legal commitment to obtain a paternity test no later than,’ blah . ‘The paternity test is to be conducted at one of the following facilities,’ blah blah . ‘If a paternity test meeting these specifications is negative, you will abandon all claims of Jack Storm as the paternal parent of your