"Constance Bretes books are always an education of culture and place. ‘Love Songs’ is no exception and is thought provoking and intense. Constance adds her usual grit into a story that is as suspenseful as it is sensual."
—Amazon Reviewer
—Amazon Reviewer
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When Jennifer Summers returns to the U.S. after spending two years in Africa, she has some decisions to make. Should she resume her singing career or continue to live a secluded life out of the spotlight in the hopes that her stalker won't be able to locate her?
Years ago Jake Ackerson let Jennifer go so she could pursue her dreams. When she suddenly returns to their hometown he's determined to rekindle his relationship with the woman he never stopped loving. Jake's band is temporarily without a singer, and Jennifer agrees to take the position, but in doing so she is once again pushed into the limelight, and she knows it's only a matter of time before danger strikes. Will Jake be able to protect her, and can he convince her to put past hurts aside and give their relationship another shot? Content Warning: contains some sexual content |
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Chapter 1
Once Jennifer Summers finished unpacking in her room at the Black Bear Inn she decided she needed a cup of coffee, so she left the inn and drove down to the Jarillo Café on the other side of town. She entered the café and looked around, noticing that not much had changed in the five years she’d been gone. It was still furnished with old wooden tables and chairs, with a barstool-countertop area, and antique kitchen items covered the back wall.
Jennifer sat down at a table by herself. As she put her sunglasses in her purse, a voice from behind called out, startling her.
“Hello, Jenn.”
She knew that voice. Jennifer turned around and watched Jake Ackerson approached her table. She forced a smile. “Oh, Jake. Um, hi.”
“What brings you back to Jarillo?” he asked.
Jennifer’s heart was doing flip-flops and she could hear it go thump, thumpity, thump as she stared up at him. He’s still as handsome as ever. His hair was as long as hers and you could make out his Apache ancestry. “I’m in town for a little while to decide what to do with my parents’ ranch. How are you?”
“I’m fine. I didn’t think you’d come back here to deal with things like that. You could just hire a realtor or something. It’s not like you don’t have any money,” Jake said in a subdued tone.
“I still have to go through the stuff in the house and decide what to do with it all.” And I wanted to find out about you.
“Well, good luck with the house. Nice to see you again.” Jake turned and walked away.
That was abrupt. She knew she would run into Jake at some point, but she hadn’t expected it to happen as soon as she arrived.
She glanced around to see where Jake was sitting in the restaurant. She spotted him in a corner with a redheaded woman. The sight of the two of them together, the woman clinging to Jake’s arm, left Jennifer feeling unsettled. She had assumed he would be involved with someone else, but she didn’t anticipate it bothering her so much.
She felt safer in Jarillo than some of the other places she had stayed. Each place she went, Tom Rutherford found her, except when she had gone overseas. She had hoped that by quietly coming back to the United States, and to Jarillo, she would be able to escape from him for a while—at least until she decided what to do.
“Jenn?” a female voice called out.
She turned around in her seat and saw Anna, Jake’s sister and her childhood friend.
“Well, hello, Anna.” She stood up and hugged the beautiful young woman with long, black hair and doe eyes, who was also very pregnant. Jennifer placed her hand on Anna’s belly. “Wow, congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Anna smiled. “How are you doing, Jenn?”
“Pretty good.”
“Can I sit with you?”
“Sure.” Jennifer motioned with her hand to the chair across from her, and they both sat down.
“You look as beautiful as ever. Are you still in the music business?” Anna asked.
“I took a leave of absence from singing the past few years, and now I’m trying to decide what I want to do.” Jennifer thought about the past two years she had spent in Africa. For being twenty-eight, she felt like she had aged to thirty-eight.
“What brings you back to Jarillo?” Anna asked.
“I’m finally getting to the point where I need to settle all my parents’ estates. They passed away a few years ago.”
“Oh yes, I heard about that. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks, Anna. Anyway, I decided to come here and check out the ranch. I need to decide if I want to fix it up and keep it, or sell it. I’ve always loved the ranch and the natural beauty around here,” she mused. She had been really happy here until she and Jake broke up. Not wanting to think about the breakup, or her feelings, she changed the subject. “How about you? What’s going on with you, Anna? How far along are you?”
“Eight months. Rocky and I are pretty excited about the baby. We just got the nursery done and finished Lamaze classes. Now all we’re doing is waiting for the time of delivery.”
“That’s great. I’m sure you will be wonderful parents.” Jennifer smiled. She had always dreamed that she and Jake would someday have children.
As they sat talking, Jake and his girlfriend walked up. “Hey, Anna. You still holding on to that baby?” he teased.
“Now don’t you start,” Anna said, rolling her eyes.
“Really, Anna. I don’t know how much bigger you can get before you finally deliver that baby!”
“You just stop that right now,” Anna chided.
Jake looked back at Jennifer and the smile left his face. “See you around, Jennifer.”
“Um, yeah, bye, Jake.” Jennifer watched the two of them walk out the door, feeling sadness well up inside her as she thought about their past relationship and breakup.
“Jake has been awful toward me since I became pregnant. He makes all kinds of smart-aleck remarks about my size. Sometimes I just want to strangle him,” Anna complained.
“I remember he always used to tease you a lot.” Jennifer smiled at the waitress when she came to the table to refill her coffee cup.
Anna was silent for a few minutes and then she asked, “How long are you figuring on being here?”
“I don’t know yet—a few days, a few weeks, a few months. I don’t have a game plan of what I’m going to do at the moment,” Jennifer reflected thoughtfully. She really wanted to feel her way around, see if she could find some sort of security and peace.
“You know, Jake is looking for a lead singer for his band White Sands. I stopped singing due to the pregnancy being hard on my back, and I don’t really want to go back to singing after I give birth. Why don’t you meet me at his studio for rehearsal and see if you might like to sing with the band again?” Anna asked hopeful.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying here and if I can commit to anything right now,” Jennifer answered quickly.
“Well, you could try it for a few weeks and then see what happens. Maybe it will help you decide what you want to do. I know Jake would love to have you in the band again.” Anna smiled.
“We didn’t part on very good terms.”
“That was a long time ago. I don’t think he’s even thought about it in years. Come on, Jennifer. You can reconnect with the band again, and with your popularity and singing voice, your presence will surely bring the people to see you, and boost sales for the band and the casino.
Why not just give it a try and see what happens? I think it will be great!” Anna was all at once enthusiastic.
Jennifer and Anna spent the next half hour chatting, with Anna catching her up on what everyone had been doing since she left town. “How is the band? Are they still the same members from when I last sang with them?” Jennifer asked. It had been years ago since she left Jarillo and the band, but to Jennifer it seemed like it was just yesterday.
“Yes, the group is still the same. Vincent got divorced, and Calvin finally married his high school sweetheart. They have a three-year-old son and another one on the way. Jonathan married Rosie, Vincent’s sister, but Bruce never married. I think he’s interested in Vincent’s younger sister, Debbie. Jake never married either. I don’t know if you heard about this or not, but Jake got shot almost two years ago, outside the casino. He was in critical care for a few weeks, and it was touch and go. We weren’t sure if he’d pull through it.”
“Oh, no!” Jennifer looked at Anna, shocked. “Did they ever find out who shot him?”
“No, never did find the shooter. We just couldn’t figure it out. Who would want to shoot Jake? He didn’t have any enemies. However, he is seeing someone, Kaitlin is her name.”
Jennifer took a few minutes to digest the information. So that’s who she is. “I noticed that Jarillo hasn’t changed much, but Hobbs sure has changed. What a town!” Jennifer changed the conversation again to get away from talking about Jake.
“Yeah, Jarillo is the same as always, but the population has increased quite a bit since you left here. New subdivisions have popped up all over.” Anna shifted in the chair. “It is fortunate that we live as close as we do to Hobbs, because that’s where my doctor is and of course, the hospital. Boy, the baby sure is moving around a lot today.” She grimaced uncomfortably, rubbing her belly. “Guess I better get going. So what do you think? Would you like to meet me about two this afternoon at Jake’s place? He has a pole barn that he built a few years ago, where we do all our rehearsals.”
“Well...okay. I guess I can try it out if Jake wants me to do it. I’m not all that convinced he’ll be interested,” Jennifer said thoughtfully. She loved the idea of singing in his band again. Even though she didn’t know if she would be staying, she could sing in the band, and it might help her decide if she really wanted to get back into singing again. She hadn’t sung in the last few years and she missed it.
* * * *
As Jake and Kaitlin left the restaurant and got in his truck, Jake thought about his encounter with Jennifer. She’s still as beautiful as ever, but her eyes look so sad. Is she having a difficult time dealing with something? Relationship troubles, maybe? He became instantly jealous of any man she might be involved with.
Her hair was still very long, beautiful and blonde. She had a lovely face with sapphire blue eyes. She could easily have been called Stevie Nicks’s twin. She was tiny—he remembered she stood five feet four in her bare feet and wore a size three. Her skin was creamy white, and her makeup always looked like it had been applied by a makeup artist. Her nails were immaculate, showing just a little white at the tips and not too long. She hasn’t changed much over the years, except she’s matured.
“What are you thinking about, Jake?” Kaitlin asked, looking over at him from the passenger seat.
“Nothing.”
“Jennifer sure is beautiful,” Kaitlin remarked. She looked out the window.
“Yeah, she is,” Jake agreed. He ran his right hand over the scar below his heart where he had gotten shot.
Once Jennifer Summers finished unpacking in her room at the Black Bear Inn she decided she needed a cup of coffee, so she left the inn and drove down to the Jarillo Café on the other side of town. She entered the café and looked around, noticing that not much had changed in the five years she’d been gone. It was still furnished with old wooden tables and chairs, with a barstool-countertop area, and antique kitchen items covered the back wall.
Jennifer sat down at a table by herself. As she put her sunglasses in her purse, a voice from behind called out, startling her.
“Hello, Jenn.”
She knew that voice. Jennifer turned around and watched Jake Ackerson approached her table. She forced a smile. “Oh, Jake. Um, hi.”
“What brings you back to Jarillo?” he asked.
Jennifer’s heart was doing flip-flops and she could hear it go thump, thumpity, thump as she stared up at him. He’s still as handsome as ever. His hair was as long as hers and you could make out his Apache ancestry. “I’m in town for a little while to decide what to do with my parents’ ranch. How are you?”
“I’m fine. I didn’t think you’d come back here to deal with things like that. You could just hire a realtor or something. It’s not like you don’t have any money,” Jake said in a subdued tone.
“I still have to go through the stuff in the house and decide what to do with it all.” And I wanted to find out about you.
“Well, good luck with the house. Nice to see you again.” Jake turned and walked away.
That was abrupt. She knew she would run into Jake at some point, but she hadn’t expected it to happen as soon as she arrived.
She glanced around to see where Jake was sitting in the restaurant. She spotted him in a corner with a redheaded woman. The sight of the two of them together, the woman clinging to Jake’s arm, left Jennifer feeling unsettled. She had assumed he would be involved with someone else, but she didn’t anticipate it bothering her so much.
She felt safer in Jarillo than some of the other places she had stayed. Each place she went, Tom Rutherford found her, except when she had gone overseas. She had hoped that by quietly coming back to the United States, and to Jarillo, she would be able to escape from him for a while—at least until she decided what to do.
“Jenn?” a female voice called out.
She turned around in her seat and saw Anna, Jake’s sister and her childhood friend.
“Well, hello, Anna.” She stood up and hugged the beautiful young woman with long, black hair and doe eyes, who was also very pregnant. Jennifer placed her hand on Anna’s belly. “Wow, congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Anna smiled. “How are you doing, Jenn?”
“Pretty good.”
“Can I sit with you?”
“Sure.” Jennifer motioned with her hand to the chair across from her, and they both sat down.
“You look as beautiful as ever. Are you still in the music business?” Anna asked.
“I took a leave of absence from singing the past few years, and now I’m trying to decide what I want to do.” Jennifer thought about the past two years she had spent in Africa. For being twenty-eight, she felt like she had aged to thirty-eight.
“What brings you back to Jarillo?” Anna asked.
“I’m finally getting to the point where I need to settle all my parents’ estates. They passed away a few years ago.”
“Oh yes, I heard about that. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks, Anna. Anyway, I decided to come here and check out the ranch. I need to decide if I want to fix it up and keep it, or sell it. I’ve always loved the ranch and the natural beauty around here,” she mused. She had been really happy here until she and Jake broke up. Not wanting to think about the breakup, or her feelings, she changed the subject. “How about you? What’s going on with you, Anna? How far along are you?”
“Eight months. Rocky and I are pretty excited about the baby. We just got the nursery done and finished Lamaze classes. Now all we’re doing is waiting for the time of delivery.”
“That’s great. I’m sure you will be wonderful parents.” Jennifer smiled. She had always dreamed that she and Jake would someday have children.
As they sat talking, Jake and his girlfriend walked up. “Hey, Anna. You still holding on to that baby?” he teased.
“Now don’t you start,” Anna said, rolling her eyes.
“Really, Anna. I don’t know how much bigger you can get before you finally deliver that baby!”
“You just stop that right now,” Anna chided.
Jake looked back at Jennifer and the smile left his face. “See you around, Jennifer.”
“Um, yeah, bye, Jake.” Jennifer watched the two of them walk out the door, feeling sadness well up inside her as she thought about their past relationship and breakup.
“Jake has been awful toward me since I became pregnant. He makes all kinds of smart-aleck remarks about my size. Sometimes I just want to strangle him,” Anna complained.
“I remember he always used to tease you a lot.” Jennifer smiled at the waitress when she came to the table to refill her coffee cup.
Anna was silent for a few minutes and then she asked, “How long are you figuring on being here?”
“I don’t know yet—a few days, a few weeks, a few months. I don’t have a game plan of what I’m going to do at the moment,” Jennifer reflected thoughtfully. She really wanted to feel her way around, see if she could find some sort of security and peace.
“You know, Jake is looking for a lead singer for his band White Sands. I stopped singing due to the pregnancy being hard on my back, and I don’t really want to go back to singing after I give birth. Why don’t you meet me at his studio for rehearsal and see if you might like to sing with the band again?” Anna asked hopeful.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying here and if I can commit to anything right now,” Jennifer answered quickly.
“Well, you could try it for a few weeks and then see what happens. Maybe it will help you decide what you want to do. I know Jake would love to have you in the band again.” Anna smiled.
“We didn’t part on very good terms.”
“That was a long time ago. I don’t think he’s even thought about it in years. Come on, Jennifer. You can reconnect with the band again, and with your popularity and singing voice, your presence will surely bring the people to see you, and boost sales for the band and the casino.
Why not just give it a try and see what happens? I think it will be great!” Anna was all at once enthusiastic.
Jennifer and Anna spent the next half hour chatting, with Anna catching her up on what everyone had been doing since she left town. “How is the band? Are they still the same members from when I last sang with them?” Jennifer asked. It had been years ago since she left Jarillo and the band, but to Jennifer it seemed like it was just yesterday.
“Yes, the group is still the same. Vincent got divorced, and Calvin finally married his high school sweetheart. They have a three-year-old son and another one on the way. Jonathan married Rosie, Vincent’s sister, but Bruce never married. I think he’s interested in Vincent’s younger sister, Debbie. Jake never married either. I don’t know if you heard about this or not, but Jake got shot almost two years ago, outside the casino. He was in critical care for a few weeks, and it was touch and go. We weren’t sure if he’d pull through it.”
“Oh, no!” Jennifer looked at Anna, shocked. “Did they ever find out who shot him?”
“No, never did find the shooter. We just couldn’t figure it out. Who would want to shoot Jake? He didn’t have any enemies. However, he is seeing someone, Kaitlin is her name.”
Jennifer took a few minutes to digest the information. So that’s who she is. “I noticed that Jarillo hasn’t changed much, but Hobbs sure has changed. What a town!” Jennifer changed the conversation again to get away from talking about Jake.
“Yeah, Jarillo is the same as always, but the population has increased quite a bit since you left here. New subdivisions have popped up all over.” Anna shifted in the chair. “It is fortunate that we live as close as we do to Hobbs, because that’s where my doctor is and of course, the hospital. Boy, the baby sure is moving around a lot today.” She grimaced uncomfortably, rubbing her belly. “Guess I better get going. So what do you think? Would you like to meet me about two this afternoon at Jake’s place? He has a pole barn that he built a few years ago, where we do all our rehearsals.”
“Well...okay. I guess I can try it out if Jake wants me to do it. I’m not all that convinced he’ll be interested,” Jennifer said thoughtfully. She loved the idea of singing in his band again. Even though she didn’t know if she would be staying, she could sing in the band, and it might help her decide if she really wanted to get back into singing again. She hadn’t sung in the last few years and she missed it.
* * * *
As Jake and Kaitlin left the restaurant and got in his truck, Jake thought about his encounter with Jennifer. She’s still as beautiful as ever, but her eyes look so sad. Is she having a difficult time dealing with something? Relationship troubles, maybe? He became instantly jealous of any man she might be involved with.
Her hair was still very long, beautiful and blonde. She had a lovely face with sapphire blue eyes. She could easily have been called Stevie Nicks’s twin. She was tiny—he remembered she stood five feet four in her bare feet and wore a size three. Her skin was creamy white, and her makeup always looked like it had been applied by a makeup artist. Her nails were immaculate, showing just a little white at the tips and not too long. She hasn’t changed much over the years, except she’s matured.
“What are you thinking about, Jake?” Kaitlin asked, looking over at him from the passenger seat.
“Nothing.”
“Jennifer sure is beautiful,” Kaitlin remarked. She looked out the window.
“Yeah, she is,” Jake agreed. He ran his right hand over the scar below his heart where he had gotten shot.