Destroyed Dreams

Copyright Notice and Disclaimer

Destroyed Dreams

By Jessica Gray

Copyright © 2013 Jessica Gray

Kindle Edition

This book is copyrighted and protected by copyright laws.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission from the author.

All characters
, names, and places in this book exist only within the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons or locations is purely coincidental.

T
able of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Epilogue

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
. Zzzzzzzzzz.  Zzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzz. ZzzzzzzzzEeee.

Rolling over in the bed, Melissa Taylor raised her hand up to her forehead and pushed her tangled hair up and off her face.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

“What in the world?“ groused Melissa.  Sitting up a little farther in the bed, she glanced over at the side table, locating the alarm clock. “6:30 in the frickin’ morning – someone had better be dying or they’re dead.“

The noise
stopped momentarily. She listened for a few seconds, and then released a huge sigh and had just scooted back down in bed, when...

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. ZzzzzEeeeeeeee. ZzzzzEeeeeeeeeeee.

Rushing from the bed, Melissa ran through the bedroom door, frantically looking around for the source of the sound. She had to make it stop.

Looking back and forth through the wall of windows, which occupied most of the ground floor, she finally saw the perpetrator of her disrupted sleep. UGH! It was wearing jeans that had seen better days, a worn flannel shirt, and was holding some sort of electric tool. The offending item appeared to be a drill and was responsible for the awful noise, which had awakened her.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzz. ZzzzzzzzzEeeeeeee. ZzzzzzzzzzzzzEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Rushing to the front door, she ran out onto the deck of her uncle’s cabin and began shouting at the offending man with the power tool.

“STOP! STOP!“ she shouted. Incredulously, the man didn’t even lift his head, but just kept doing whatever he was doing. Looking around, she located the electrical outlet with a large orange extension cord plugged into it.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Quickly moving in that direction, she grabbed the cord and yanked it from the socket.

Zzzzzz
..........

Melissa smiled smugly as she watched the man slowly stand up and look at the tool in his hands.  He turned it different directions, and even tried unplugging the cord several times. When it didn’t turn back on, he reached behind him and gave the extension cord a tug. Not prepared for a slack cord, he wasn’t prepared for the cord to give, and lost his balance, going down to one knee with a curse.

Melissa started edging her way back towards the door of the house as the man quickly picked himself up off the deck, setting the drill down in the process and turned towards the outlet.

She was just about to reach the relative safety of the doorway, when he caught her movement out of the corner of his eye and whipped around, pinning her in place.

As she watched, the man took in her appearance from the top of her head, to the sole of her feet.  His perusal caused an unfamiliar heat to travel through her body, but she was used to men’s stares and gave as good as she got.

She took in the tousled hair, the several days’ growth of beard, the aviator sunglasses and the strong chin.  Moving her eyes downward, she saw that the worn flannel shirt covered an impressive chest, and where his shirt sleeves were rolled up his arms, she could see a sprinkling of golden hair covering very tan arms.  His hips were trim and his jeans fitted him like a glove; everywhere.

As her eyes reached below his hips, he shifted his weight, making her aware of her stare. Quickly raising her eyes, she watched as he removed his sunglasses and a smirk took over his very kissable lips.

A smirk?  Who was he smirking at?  He had some nerve.  Opening her mouth to tell him off and get him off her uncle’s porch, he only smiled at her and shook his head before gesturing back to her.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but get...,“ Melissa paused as his grin grew even bigger. Not sure, what he was finding so amusing, she placed her hands on her hips; her very naked hips.

Glancing down she realized why the strange man was open
ly grinning at her. She was completely naked, and to make matters worse, Melissa had always had a bad habit of talking with her hands. The obnoxious man had gotten a good glimpse of her everything.

Quickly covering her chest with one arm and shielding her crotch with the other, she took refuge behind one of the deck chairs. She could feel the blush rising in her cheeks and chest, and her breathing had become quick and shallow, but this was still her uncle’s cabin and this man had to leave. NOW!!

The man’s smirk returned at her attempt to cover her body.  He grinned even more when he realized that she wasn’t aware that he was getting a perfect view of her backside thanks to the reflection from all of the windows.  He let his eyes travel up and down the woman who was simply gorgeous - in a prickly cactus sort of way.  She looked like one of those “look, but don’t touch” types. Crossing his arms over his chest, he decided to wait her out and see what would happen next.

Melissa couldn’t believe this arrogant man had seen her naked. And now, he just stood there, as if he was waiting on her to invite him in to tea.

“Well, don’t just stand there. Pack your stuff up and leave these premises immediately.“ She so wanted to stomp her foot at him, but having become aware of her shoeless feet, she had also become aware of the weathered wood on the deck. A splinter would just make the morning all the better!

Robert Cooper looked at the irate beauty and could see the effort it was taking her to maintain her self-control. He just couldn’t resist stoking the fire and slowly shook his head at her. He didn’t say anything; he just smiled and shook his head at her demands.

Melissa’s mouth dropped open when he began to shake his head at her. She had just given him a direct order to leave the premises and he looked like he was getting ready to laugh at her. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, she tried again, “Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but my uncle owns this cabin and I want you to leave. I won’t tell him you were here, doing whatever you were doing, but if you don’t leave immediately, I’m going to call the authorities and have you arrested for trespassing.“ Not able to hold back this time, Melissa stamped her foot, only to cringe when she felt a small piece of wood pierce her tender arch. Great!

When the man just continued to grin at her, she quickly whirled around and hobbled into the cabin. Grabbing the first piece of cloth she could find, an old rain jacket hanging on the coat rack, she quickly donned it while shutting and locking the door.

After ascertaining that she was safe for the moment, she grabbed the cordless phone and quickly dialed 911.

“911, please state the nature of your emergency.“

“There’s a strange man doing some sort of work on my uncle’s cabin. He’s not supposed to be here and he won’t leave.“

“Ma’am, could you please give me your address and name? “

“My name’s Melissa Taylor, and I don’t know the exact address.  It’s a cabin up the road from the town a little ways. Green metal roof and wrap-around porch.“ Melissa couldn’t believe she had forgotten the address, of all the stupid things to do...“There’s a lake not far from here if that helps?“

“Ma’am, are you by any chance Charlie Taylor’s niece? “

“Yes! Yes, I am. Could you please send the police or somebody to make this man leave?“ 

Melissa had wrapped her arms around herself as she watched the man outside return to his task.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzz. Zzzzzz.

Turning her back on the sight, she continued, “He’s at it again.“

“Who’s at what again?“

“The strange man on the porch! Haven’t you been listening?! He’s using some sort of drill out there. I told him to stop, but he’s at it again!“ Melissa took another deep, slow breath. She was sounding hysterical even to her own ears. How must the person on the other end of the phone be interpreting her anxiety?

“Ma’am, Sheriff Brown is right here and would like to talk to you. Okay?“

Melissa felt a sense of relief to hear that an officer of the law was already aware of her predicament. “Sure, that’s fine. Please put him on.“

“Miss Taylor? Or is it Missus?“

“Miss Taylor is fine. Officer, there’s this strange man on my uncle’s porch. He woke me up with these loud drilling noises and...“

“Miss Taylor, calm down please. The man’s name is Robert Cooper, and believe it or not, it’s common for handymen around these parts to get started early in the morning.“

“I don’t really care what’s common, or what his name is for that matter, I just want him gone. I want to press trespassing charges. Now, come arrest him!“

“Well, Ma’am there might be a slight problem with your request.“

“Look here, I’m an attorney, and I know my rights. This man is trespassing and I want him arrested.“ Melissa couldn’t believe the sheriff was actually arguing with her over doing his sworn duty.  She would have to inform her uncle that someone else should be elected town sheriff when his term expired. The man was evidently lazy.

“Ma’am?  Do you own the cabin?  I was under the impression your Uncle Charlie was the property owner?“

“What’s that got to do with anything? I want this Robert person gone. Now!“

“Ma’am, according to a conversation I had with your uncle a few days ago, he hired Robert to do some repairs on the deck and cabin. He has every right to be there. I’m not going to waste my time arresting a man for doing what he was hired to do.“

“My uncle didn’t say anything about work being done on the cabin.“ Why hadn’t her uncle warned her there would be some stranger lurking around the cabin while she was staying her?

“You’ll just have to take that up with your uncle, Miss. Now, if that was everything, I’ll welcome you to town and bid you a good day.“  Not hearing a response, the sheriff disconnected the call.

Melissa heard the phone disconnect, and looked at it for a moment. The man had a right to be here. No way was this going to work. She would need to call her uncle and get things straightened out. Glancing at the clock as she began to dial her uncle’s number, she saw that it was only 6:55 a.m.; too early to wake him up. She would call him as soon as it reached 8 o’clock and then she would be able to start relaxing.