Three Reasons To Wed. Helen Lacey

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ words should have warmed her. But they didn’t. Because there was a bucket load of resentment in them. Marissa pushed back her shoulders and stared at him. “Well, they’ll be able to see as much of me as they like from now on.”

      He tilted his hat back. “They will? Why is that?”

      “Because I’m staying.”

      “Staying?”

      Marissa experienced a tiny surge of triumph. He looked as if it was the last thing he wanted to hear. “Yes. I’m home...for good this time.”

      * * *

       I’m home for good.

      It wasn’t what Grady wanted to hear. Not ever. Marissa Ellis was the last person he wanted living in Cedar River. Or living next door!

      For a long time she’d been living in New York. Out of sight. Out of mind. Just how he liked it. She’d turn up every now and then and he would deal with it because he had to. When Liz was alive, it had been easy—while Marissa visited, he stayed out of the way. Now it wasn’t so simple. She was godmother to all three of his daughters and he’d promised Liz he wouldn’t cut Marissa out of their lives. But he struggled with that promise whenever she returned.

      Because once, long ago, he’d wanted to date her. Sure, it had been in high school. Before he was old enough to know better. She was dazzling back then...with blond hair and brown eyes and a captivating smile. At eighteen he’d been fueled by hormones and lusted after the most beautiful girl in school. But Liz had set him straight when he’d asked her if Marissa would go with him to prom. It was a roundabout way to ask for a date, but he was a guy with all the usual insecurities. Liz had made it clear that Marissa wasn’t interested. So he backed off and didn’t ask her, despite how much he’d wanted to. Then he’d started dating Liz. And once school finished, Marissa left for college and New York. She would return a couple of times every year for a visit and he’d completely put aside the niggling awareness he had whenever she was near. He married Liz, had a family and forgot about the fact that long ago he’d wanted to ask her out. Life had turned out exactly as it should have.

      Until his wife died.

      “For good?” He wondered if he sounded like the simpleton he felt.

      She nodded. “That’s right.”

      “The divorce is final, then?”

      “Yes. All done.”

      She’d been married for only a couple of years. Grady had met her ex-husband twice. Once at the small wedding that had taken place in New York, when he and Liz had left the girls with his mother and flown in and out of the city in just a couple of days. The next time, Marissa brought him to Cedar River for Christmas. He was a suit, as dull and stiff as they came, and had looked down his nose at the town and everyone in it. He hadn’t come with her the next time she came back for a visit. A year later they were separated. Grady didn’t know the details and hadn’t asked. Miss Violet hadn’t said anything about it, either, so he figured the less he knew, the better.

      “I’m sorry to hear it.”

      She frowned at his words, as if he’d said something he shouldn’t have. “Don’t be,” she said quietly. “I’m glad it’s over. And I’m glad to be home.”

      “I didn’t realize you still considered Cedar River home.”

      Her shoulders straightened some more. “I was born here...raised here...just like you. And you seem to have adjusted to calling it Cedar River.”

      He shrugged. “The merger is good for the town. And I know you were born here, Marissa...but I also know you left.”

      He saw her expression narrow, and the glasses on the bridge of her nose fell a little. Funny, he never knew she wore glasses. For some reason it pleased him. He couldn’t figure why. Maybe because it made her less perfect. Vulnerable. Because he always felt as though he was under a kind of microscope whenever they were together. As though she was looking for flaws, some reason to dislike him. In a way he couldn’t blame her. Their relationship had always been brittle, and for a long time he’d wondered if she knew he’d wanted to date her back in high school and disliked him for it. Liz swore she’d never said anything about it, and he certainly believed his wife. But there was something between them, a kind of mutual resentment that went deeper than simple dislike. Because it wasn’t that he didn’t like Marissa. He just didn’t like to be around her. She put him on edge. And he didn’t know why.

      For years he hadn’t thought about her as anything other than Liz’s friend. He’d loved his wife. They had been devoted to one another and their family. But now Liz was gone and Marissa...well, she wound him up in a way he couldn’t quite fathom. And he didn’t like the feeling. Not one bit.

      She crossed her arms and glared at him. “So, about this bull of yours?”

      “It’s because of Delilah.”

      She frowned and came down the steps. Grady caught the scent of her flowery perfume on the breeze and he tensed automatically. How long had it been since he’d noticed perfume? Years. Too long.

      “Delilah?”

      “Miss Violet’s Guernsey cow,” he explained and stepped closer. “She bought her a couple of months ago.”

      “I don’t understand what that means.”

      “Well, Earl has a hankering for Delilah,” he said and bit back a grin when he saw her frown deepen.

      “A hankering?” she echoed.

      “Yeah,” he replied quietly. “You know, when-a-boy-likes-a-girl kind of thing.”

      She didn’t look the least bit amused. “Right. So where is this cow now?”

      “Miss Violet would sometimes keep Delilah in the backyard, but a neighbor has been looking after her since your aunt went to the hospital.” Grady shrugged casually. “I guess Earl didn’t know that. He drops over from time to time.”

      “Can’t you keep him tied up or something?” she suggested. “I mean, how hard is it to keep him corralled or whatever it is you do with a bull?”

      “And stand in the way of true love?” Grady put a hand to his chest. “That’s not very neighborly.”

      “I’m not in the mood to be neighborly when the blasted animal is eating my aunt’s flower bed.”

      Grady smiled to himself. Marissa was so uptight she looked as though she was about to pop. “I’ll take him home,” he said easily and turned back toward the truck. By the time he’d opened the side door and extracted a halter and lead, Marissa was directly beside him. “You planning on helping?”

      “Not a chance,” she replied and peered inside the truck. “You’re the cowboy. Nice rig, by the way. New?”

      He nodded. “Yeah,” he said and immediately pushed down the irritation climbing up his spine.

      It sounded like a criticism, as if she had an opinion about him buying a new truck and horse trailer. And she wouldn’t be the first. He’d seen the same look on Liz’s father СКАЧАТЬ