The Best Bride. Сьюзен Мэллери

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СКАЧАТЬ hugged her back. The other woman’s perfume was a clingy Oriental scent that somehow suited her perfectly. Louise stepped back and waved, then left the kitchen. The back door banged shut behind her and the kitchen was silent.

      Elizabeth stared around the empty room, wishing the digital clock would tick so there would be some sound. She was completely and totally alone. She wasn’t afraid to be on her own. It was the questions that came to her, making her wonder if she’d made the right decisions for herself, and more importantly, for Mandy. Had she had other options and not realized it? Would she ever know how many clues she’d missed? She’d been worse than a fool.

      The timer on the oven clicked down another minute. She thought about Louise who had offered to be a friend. Elizabeth knew that she needed to make some friends. She desperately needed someone to talk to and have fun with. Louise was a little offbeat, but that didn’t matter. The reason Elizabeth couldn’t reach out to her was because of herself, not because of the other woman. She couldn’t dare be friends with anyone. She would always have to hold some part of herself back, be it from Louise or Travis.

      Thank God he hadn’t guessed the truth. She leaned back in the chair and sighed. Every time she thought she’d put it all behind her, something happened to remind her again.

      She tried to think about nothing more complicated than whether or not she had the strength to frost the cupcakes. In the end, she decided she didn’t and pulled the muffin pans from the oven and left them to cool. She lay down on her bed and closed her eyes, but she couldn’t escape her past even there. So she tried thinking about other things. About the kiss.

      Her eyes flew open. Not that. But now that she’d remembered it, she found it hard to forget the soft brush of his lips on hers yesterday. Today, when he’d sat next to her on the sofa and they’d shaken hands, for a moment she’d thought he might kiss her. Softly, tenderly, holding her close in those strong arms.

      He carried her so easily, but that was an impersonal gesture made to aid an invalid. She wanted to be held close by a man who needed to hold a woman. She wanted to know if Travis could make her feel safe and secure in his embrace, if he could loan her a little of his strength and confidence. Foolish dreams. She hadn’t answered all his questions. They both knew that. He might believe that she hadn’t broken any laws, but she’d seen the look in his eyes. He was reserving judgment on her until he knew the truth. Imagine what he would think of her then.

      The back door opened and she heard Mandy’s laughter as she came into the kitchen.

      “Mommy, Mommy, where are you?”

      “In here,” she called, sitting up slowly and leaning against the headboard.

      Mandy flew into the room. She had several papers in one hand and her bear in the other.

      “How was your first day of school?” Elizabeth asked, holding out her arms.

      Her daughter scrambled onto the bed and threw herself into her embrace. Elizabeth held her close. Even the pain in her side didn’t matter, she thought, as she stroked her daughter’s hair.

      Mandy leaned back and knelt on the bed. “I had fun.”

      “Did you?”

      Mandy nodded. “Miss Brickman says we’re going to learn to read.”

      Elizabeth touched Mandy’s paint-smudged cheek. Her dress was wrinkled, her ribbons loose and coming undone, but there was a bright glow of happiness in her child’s eyes that made her heart lighten. Maybe she had made the right decision after all.

      “You already know how to read.”

      “I know.” Mandy grinned. “She said she’d help me learn better. And we’re going to do counting, too. Here.” She thrust out her papers. “I did these.”

      Elizabeth looked at the drawing of what she was pretty sure was supposed to be this large house, a sheet with Mandy’s name painstakingly spelled out in a childish scrawl, and a note from Miss Brickman outlining the homework schedule for the first half of the year.

      “You’re supposed to sign this one,” Mandy said, pointing at the note from the teacher. “We’re going to have homework, just like the big kids.” She sounded delighted. Elizabeth wondered how long that would last.

      “Someone’s been busy.”

      She looked up and saw Travis standing in the doorway. He held a tray containing a plate with several chocolate cupcakes and two glasses of milk.

      Mandy’s blue eyes got big. “Mommy, you made cupcakes for me.”

      “I thought you weren’t supposed to get out of bed,” Travis said.

      “Louise did all the work.”

      “Why don’t I believe that?”

      “Don’t ask me, because she did.”

      “Sure.” He put the tray down on her nightstand, then pulled Mandy off the bed. “Maybe you should change into play clothes before you get crumbs all over that dress. What do you think?”

      Mandy looked at her mother, who nodded, then sighed. “Okay, but don’t eat all the cupcakes before I get back.”

      “We won’t,” Elizabeth said and watched her daughter scamper out of the room. She glanced at the cupcakes and saw they’d been iced. “Thank you,” she said. “I meant to get back to that, but I must have dozed off.”

      “Hey, I opened a can. How hard could it be?” He perched on the edge of the bed. “You’re not overdoing it, are you?”

      Exhaustion overwhelmed her with all the subtlety of being hit by a large truck. She tried to smile, but suddenly she was too tired. “Maybe just a little.”

      He leaned forward. For a second she thought he was going to kiss her. She found out she had just enough energy left to get excited by the thought, then was disappointed when all he did was lay his hand against her forehead.

      “No fever,” he said, “but you should stay in bed for the rest of the day. The last thing you need is to land yourself back in the hospital.”

      “I know.” She picked at the bed cover, then looked at him. He’d shaved that morning, but the shadowy darkness of his beard highlighted his strong jaw. He had dark eyes framed by thick lashes. A firm mouth that was threatening to curve into a smile. Nothing in his expression reminded her of the questions he’d asked that morning. Yet that conversation sat in the room like a rather large intrusive elephant.

      “I’m sorry,” she said.

      His expression hardened, and his mouth pulled into a straight line. “You don’t have to apologize.”

      “I want to. You’ve been very kind to me.”

      “This is a full-service community.”

      She chuckled, then clutched her side. “Travis, don’t make me laugh. It still hurts.”

      “Okay, I’ll be serious.”

      He leaned closer, bracing one hand on the far side of her body. She wanted to reach СКАЧАТЬ