Heart of a Soldier. Belle Calhoune

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ in his tracks as a feeling of unease came over him. He didn’t know if he was being paranoid, but her actions had been a little strange. Although she seemed to radiate a good vibe, she’d been jumpy and nervous the entire time, even locking the door upon his departure. As he made his way to his car, he looked across the huge expanse of land that stretched out before him for miles and miles. Horseshoe Bend Ranch. He couldn’t imagine a more tranquil place to live. It didn’t seem the type of place where one had to bolt the door against intruders. What did he know about it anyway? Joy pulsed inside him as the realization hit him full force. He and Holly were now in the same zip code, and it wouldn’t be much longer until they could see each other.

      * * *

      Had she really just done that? Rather than come clean with Dylan, she’d introduced herself to him as Cassidy Blake, the name of her best friend. She watched from behind a living room curtain as Dylan made his way off the front porch. He was handsome. That was for sure. Way more good-looking than his pictures captured. Those green eyes of his sparkled and glittered like a flawless gem. He had a beautiful, pearly-white grin. His dark hair was cut into a short military style, which enhanced his masculine features. And he was tall, six feet she would guess, with brawny arms and shoulders. His physicality was hard to ignore. It jumped out at her, reminding her of everything that set them apart from one another. Several times she’d wanted to reach out and grab his hand or ask him about Leo, his bearded dragon. But that would have been a huge tip-off that she wasn’t who she was claiming to be. She’d sunk so low in hiding her disability from Dylan. Why hadn’t she just told him? Surely it would have been better than these feelings of dread and guilt gnawing at her conscience. Pain sliced through her, causing her to wrap her arms around her middle in an attempt to assuage the hurt she’d inflicted on herself.

       Lord, please make this pain go away. I’ve gotten so used to loss that I never knew it would hurt this much to lose Dylan before I truly had him. I try so hard to walk a righteous path, yet here I am withholding information and pretending to be somebody I’m not.

      Was it really so out of the question to admit the truth to him? She squeezed her eyes shut to block out random images flashing into her mind. Dylan’s shocked face as she introduced herself as the woman he’d been writing to over the past year. Dylan’s disappointed expression. The look of pity that would inevitably pass over his face.

      She covered her face with her hands. No, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t handle the pain that came with the knowledge that she would never be Dylan’s vision of what a partner should be. She was too flawed, too imperfect. He’d traveled all this way to see in person the woman he’d connected with during some of the darkest hours of his life. Never in a million years would Dylan be expecting a woman in a wheelchair. After all he’d been through in Afghanistan, she couldn’t deliver him yet another blow. She just couldn’t handle it.

      As soon as she saw Dylan’s truck zoom off into the distance, she picked up her cell phone and dialed the number of Cassidy Blake’s art gallery. After a few rings, she heard her best friend’s chirpy voice on the other end.

      “Hi, Holly. What’s up?”

      “Cassidy. I need you to come to the ranch as quick as you can get here.” She felt out of breath after she finished.

      “What is it? Are you okay?” Cassidy asked. Holly could hear the concern in her voice.

      “It’s not an emergency. I just need my best friend,” she explained, trying to convey the urgency without causing Cassidy panic.

      “Let me close up the gallery. I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Cassidy promised, quickly ending the phone call.

      For the next twenty minutes Holly fretted over her situation, wondering how she was going to tell Cassidy she’d impersonated her when Dylan had arrived at the ranch. Hopefully her best friend would understand the impossible position she was in. As soon as Holly heard the crunch of tires in the driveway, she made her way toward the door, opening it and greeting Cassidy as she quickly walked up the front steps.

      As usual, her best friend radiated an effortless, breezy look. With her strawberry-blond hair, green eyes and wholesome good looks, she’d always been a showstopper. Even in her simple T-shirt and flouncy skirt, she looked amazing.

      Holly couldn’t be happier about Cassidy’s engagement to her older brother, Tate. They’d all been through a lot together, most notably the terrible accident that had left Holly without the use of her legs. For many years Cassidy had stayed away from West Falls, torn apart by guilt and shame since she had been behind the wheel at the time of the accident. Last summer Cassidy had returned home to help her ailing mother, and in the process, she and Tate had fallen in love all over again.

      “You scared me with that phone call. What’s going on?” Cassidy asked as she stepped over the threshold. She held out Dylan’s letter to Holly. “You must have dropped this. I found it next to the mailbox.”

      Holly pushed the door closed and wheeled around so she could face Cassidy. She reached for the letter, stuffing it down into her skirt pocket. She took a deep breath.

      “Do you remember me telling you about Dylan? The soldier I write to?”

      “Of course. He’s stationed in Afghanistan, right?”

      Holly nodded. “Yes, he was. But he’s stateside now. He arrived in West Falls today.”

      “That’s amazing!” Cassidy squealed. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

      Holly stared blankly at her best friend. In her opinion there was absolutely nothing to celebrate, although Cassidy had no way of knowing it.

      Cassidy frowned, her eyes filled with concern. “What’s the matter? You look as if someone died. I thought you’d be celebrating instead of moping around the house.”

      Holly looked down, too overcome with shame to look Cassidy in the eye. “Cass, I messed up. I didn’t tell him about my being a paraplegic.”

      Cassidy’s eyes bulged, and she shook her head in disbelief. After a few seconds she said, “Tell me everything.”

      Holly quickly got Cassidy up to speed on Dylan’s unexpected visit and her pretense about being Cassidy.

      “But how could you pretend to be me? We don’t look anything alike. I thought you two sent pictures back and forth,” Cassidy asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

      “I kept meaning to send a photo, but I never did. It was difficult to send him a picture without having told him I’m a paraplegic.” Holly let out a bitter laugh. “Of course, when he showed up here he wasn’t expecting to see his pen pal confined to a wheelchair, since I conveniently left that part out.”

      Cassidy looked agitated. She bit her lip and ran her fingers through her long hair. “What are you going to do?”

      Holly was wringing her hands. She looked up at Cassidy, squashing down the spark of jealousy she felt as she gazed at her beautiful and able-bodied friend. Cassidy’s calves were shapely, while hers lacked any muscle tone whatsoever. What she wouldn’t give to be able to walk into a room under her own steam instead of always making an entrance by way of her wheelchair. She let out a deep sigh. What was the point of comparing herself to her best friend? She chided herself. Feeling envy wasn’t going to change a thing. It wouldn’t make her something she wasn’t or somebody she could never be.

      “I need you to pretend to be me, Cass. Just long enough so you can end things СКАЧАТЬ