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.She’s the same old mama I remember, either making excuses for the old man or retreating to her room with one of her ‘sick headaches.’ But it couldn’t have helped that I abandoned her and Ian, and without me there to help deflect my father, my brother took off, too.Didn’t even wait till he was eighteen.We left her there alone with him.All by herself in that big house.”“Did—did your father hurt her, too?”“I never saw him touch her, but then I never saw any affection, either, just cold demands—and blame, too, for giving him a couple of sons who never measured up, let alone appreciated the Rayford legacy.” Zach shoved his plate away, his mouth curling as if a bitter taste had filled it.“I should’ve toughed it out awhile longer.Should’ve stayed for Ian and my mama, too.Could’ve stood up to the bastard.Could’ve made it stop.”“Your mother was an adult.You were an abused kid.” The thought of it had her aching for him.“She was the one responsible for taking care of you.”Zach shook his head.“I thought that for a long time, but I’m the eldest son.I should’ve found some way to help her—or tried harder to make peace once I’d gotten myself settled.It’s taken a toll on her, make no mistake about that.And now I’m about to go and break her heart again.Only if it costs her Eden, I don’t know if she’ll survive it.”“Are you sure about that? Or is that just what your mother’s wanting you to think? What she’s relying on to get you to let her have everything just the way she wants it?”“What do you mean? That she’s faking? Because if you ever saw the way that she gets with her headaches—the vomiting, the need for darkness, you’d see—”“So these are migraines, right? I’ve had a couple, and I wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemy.” Except for maybe Vivian, Jessie thought, still fuming over how neatly she’d been maneuvered—pushed into violating the no-compete clause in her contract so she could be threatened with a lawsuit if she didn’t go quietly.A lawsuit she couldn’t deal with, with her life crumbling around her.“But as horrible as they are, people don’t die from those.And they don’t die, either, from not getting their own way.”Zach grimaced.“But she cries.My mother cries, and I can’t stand it.”“Do you give Eden what she wants every time she turns on the tears?”At his chagrinned look, Jessie winced.“Oh, boy, do you ever have a lot to learn about women.”“I think maybe you could teach me,” he said, his voice as low and rough as the hiss of ice against the window, “all sorts of things about women.”“I’m thinking that’s not a good idea,” she said, no matter how sexy she found the blue eyes blazing above his stubbled jaw.A gust shuddered around the old house, and the lights flickered and went out.“These old power lines around here are no match for a really good blue norther,” Zach said as he rose and lit a pair of candles in brass holders sitting out on the buffet.“I only hope that Margie’s safe, wherever it is she went.”“I hope so, too,” Jessie managed, though she couldn’t take her eyes off the flickering light against his skin.Couldn’t get beyond what she saw whenever their eyes chanced to meet.Rising from her chair, she started stacking up the dishes.Without a word, Zach rose to help her, carrying the candles to the kitchen.There, the two of them took care of the cleanup so Margie wouldn’t have to deal with it on her return.Or maybe they were only stalling, immersed in the warmth of a companionable silence, with Jessie’s gloved hands down in the water, Zach’s big hands occupied with the linen towels he used to dry.Or so she thought, until she sensed his presence, close behind her.“Why don’t you let me finish here and you go on up to bed,” he murmured, the warmth of his breath stirring silky hairs that tickled her ear.“Your hands are barely moving, and your eyes keep sliding closed.”She jolted fully awake, awareness of his nearness crackling through her.“Maybe I don’t want to go to sleep,” she said.I want you to touch me.She shivered with the thought, and the desire shuddered through her body with the stark awareness of how long it had been since she had allowed herself to shed her worries, even for a little while, in a man’s arms.Her heartbeat revved, a feeling of panic tightening her stomach.She couldn’t afford to lose control here, not in Rusted Spur.Couldn’t afford to lose another piece of herself, with all she’d lost already.“I should check on Gretel.” She pulled the sink’s plug to drain the water.“Dr.Burton promised he’d call right away if there was any change.Besides, this storm’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” Zach said, still standing so close, she felt the heat of his body behind her.So close, that if she turned around and stood up on her toes, she could find out if what she’d felt in the barn office, what she was feeling whenever she heard him speak of family and duty, might be real.But she had family, too, and duty.A duty she could not ignore.Her jaw tightening, she rinsed away the last of the suds before pulling off the dishwashing gloves and laying them across the rack.He placed a hand on the curve between her neck and shoulder.“You’re all tensed up,” he noted as he began to knead the muscles.“Am I bothering you, Jessie? Because I can leave if you want, grab one of the cowboys and drop your SUV by later.”She shook her head, “It’s not that.It’s just—I was thinking about Haley out there somewhere, wondering how I’m ever going to bring her home.”Taking her shoulders in his strong hands, he turned her around to face him.“We’ll find her, and we’ll get answers,” he swore.“You see if we don’t.”And just like that, she felt the weight lift, knowing that this honorable man, a man willing to step up and return to a family that had brought him so much pain in his youth, had given her his promise.A promise she knew instinctively he would never willingly break.With his vow, the world seemed suddenly more bearable.especially while she stood at eye level with those sensuous-looking lips.Outside, the icy rain lashed at the windows, scouring away her memory of all the reasons that leaning forward would be unthinkable [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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