Free Jarod's Heart (King Brothers Stories #2) by Elise Manion Page A

freshmen…only as a friend, of course.
    He felt motherly arms around his waist, pulling him from pictures of the past. “She’s beautiful, Jarod.” Camille wore a watery smile as she focused her eyes on her new granddaughter.
    “I know, Mom,” he put his arm around her shoulders in return.
    Sensing that she was getting down to business, he pulled his eyes off Jessica so that he could pay close attention to his mother.
    “I went through her backpack, and she doesn’t have much,” Camille said. “There’s a large t-shirt in there that I suppose will suffice for a nightgown tonight, but I’ll have to do some shopping tomorrow. I’ll set her up in your room for now. I doubt she’ll want to sleep alone in a strange house for a while, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to scare my granddaughter on her first night home.” She swallowed back her tears.
    “I’d planned on putting her on my sofa in my room for now, so I’m glad we’re in agreement on that issue,” he agreed.
    “Good,” she said, having gained her control again. “We can make other arrangements for her later. As far as her clothes, I’ll wash her things tonight so that she’ll have something clean to wear tomorrow morning because what she has on is it, Jarod.”
    “I hadn’t looked in the backpack. There’s nothing else?”
    “No, there’s nothing, not even an extra pair of undies.” She paused, then whispered, “My grandbaby has nothing.”
    “She’s got us, Mom,” Jason interrupted before Jarod could answer. Jason’s protective instinct had ruled his life for a long time. Jarod was proud that it extended beyond his brother’s fiancée to Jessica.
    “Of course, you’re right.” Camille visibly straightened and wiped the moisture from her eyes. Leaving his side, she marched right over to Josh and put her hands out to Jessica in a “can I hold you, too?” gesture.
    Jessica smiled and went to her grandmother willingly. The smile that spread across his mother’s face was all the answer Jarod needed.
    There would be no testing. Jessica Rose King was home.
     

 
     
     

     
     
    S omething’s not right. Jarod blinked his sleepy eyes open and looked around his bedroom. Everything seemed normal except that he’d left the bathroom light on by accident so the glow of the fluorescent bulb would spill into the room. How he hated those things. Most times he just took a leak in the dark instead of waiting for the damn bulb to heat up. In the time it took to cast any light, he was already back in bed.
    Then he heard the noise that must have jarred him from sleep.
    He laid perfectly still until he heard it again. Someone was in his bedroom breathing hard, as if in a panic.
    What the hell?
    He clicked on the bedside light and looked around. Through the bedroom door he could just make out the crumpled blankets on the couch in his sitting room, but no one was there.
    Revelation hitting him, he sat up quickly and looked around.
    Where was Jessica?
    He heard the noise again and looked toward his armoire, where Jessica was trying to open the tall doors.
    “What are you doing, Darlin’?” Jarod asked.
    Jessica startled and turned around slowly; her sapphire eyes were huge and frightened. Jarod went to her immediately, going down to one knee and putting his hands on her delicate shoulders. Her raven black hair was wavy from the braids she’d worn earlier and fell like a cloak to the middle of her small back. The t-shirt from her backpack was about seven times too big for her, the neck hole hanging off to one side, almost to her elbow. She had huge tears running down her face, but she barely made a sound.
    “Tell me what’s wrong, Jessica.”
    “Blue is gone,” she hiccupped.
    “Blue?”
    “Uh huh.” Her lower lip quivered and another fat tear rolled down her face. “I hafta find Blue. I can’t sleep without Blue.”
    Thinking that Blue was a toy that he’d somehow missed seeing, he asked, “What does Blue look like? And I’ll