A Tender Touch: A Donnelley Brother's Novel (Logan Point Book 4) Read Online Free
Author: Alannah Carbonneau
to tell you I filled your fridge and pantry with everything you like to eat. And I got you that shampoo you like and a toothbrush, just in case you forgot to pack those things yourself. And...”
I interrupted her. “Thank you, Kami. Please, I don’t want you to worry about me.”
She leaned her head against the door, pressing her temple to the wood. “I know you’re struggling. I can see that much, Ember.” She paused as though to gather her thoughts. “But you’ve got a new start here at the Ranch. Take it. Stop holding onto past pains, Em, because if you never let it go, you’ll never be able to move on.”
I felt the salty warmth of tears sting the back of my eyes. “I’m trying.”
She nodded somberly. “I know. You’ll get there.”
“Yeah.” I agreed. “I’ll get there.”
“Kay.” Kami pulled herself from the door. “Sweet dreams.”
I didn’t have time to reply before the door was closed and Kami was gone. Sighing deeply, I moved slowly to the door. After twisting the bolt lock on the door, I moved back through the cabin to the bedroom where I stripped down from my clothing. I felt sticky and uncomfortable from my long, uninterrupted drive out to the Ranch. Before I went to bed, I wanted to be fresh.
Kami was right; I was here at the Ranch. I had everything I needed for a new beginning - all I had to do now was grip the reins and navigate my new beginning into the direction I desired to travel. Bitterly, I thought, right into Cinderella’s fucking sunset.
Chapter 3
The sound of the shower water pulsing from the showerhead echoed into the small space of the bathroom around me, but I still hadn’t stepped beneath its stream. Instead, I was standing before the mirror. I’d caught sight of my naked body in the mirror, and I couldn’t help but study my image.
I’m pretty in that unconventional way. I’m not tall, but I’m not short either. I’m average. At five foot five, I don’t know another way to describe my height - but average. My skin is creamy and pale pink. Every inch of my flesh is scattered in pale, barely-there freckles.
I have long thick red hair that reaches to the center of my back. It’s straight and glossy - healthy. My brilliant red hair is the one thing I have from my father.
I hate my hair, but I’ve never changed it. As stupid as it is, it’s the one thing my absent father gave to me that he can’t take away.
My eyes move slowly down to connect with their reflection in the mirror, and like so many who meet my eyes with their own, my breath catches. I have beautiful, startlingly beautiful eyes. They’re blue - a bright, deep blue. I’ve heard that red hair and blue eyes is the rarest combination in all the world. That thought makes me smirk humorlessly into the mirror. It is that fact that proves to me that I am everything that wasn’t supposed to be.
I am recessive.
I never should have been born.
I was a mistake. I was one night of carelessness and every day that I looked into my reflection, I saw proof of that fact in my image.
I am recessive. My mother’s black hair is dominant over my father’s red - yet I have red hair.
My father’s amber eyes are dominant over my mother’s brilliant blue - yet I have my mother’s eyes.
I was never meant to be. Again, I am recessive. I am an abomination. It pains my heart, as I realize, not for the first time in my life, that I was never meant to be. Yet, here I stand.
As my eyes take in the round shape of my head, the defined line of my jaw, the full shape of my lips, the slope of my neck into small shoulders and thin arms, the steam swirling in the room closes over my image, leaving me with the sight of all that I am, all that wasn’t supposed to be, burned into my mind.
***
As I pull up to the cafeteria in the morning, I take a deep breath to calm the nervous beating of my heart. I’m a cheery person, so I need to do what Kami says and let all the bad go. I’m in a new place and it’s my chance,
I interrupted her. “Thank you, Kami. Please, I don’t want you to worry about me.”
She leaned her head against the door, pressing her temple to the wood. “I know you’re struggling. I can see that much, Ember.” She paused as though to gather her thoughts. “But you’ve got a new start here at the Ranch. Take it. Stop holding onto past pains, Em, because if you never let it go, you’ll never be able to move on.”
I felt the salty warmth of tears sting the back of my eyes. “I’m trying.”
She nodded somberly. “I know. You’ll get there.”
“Yeah.” I agreed. “I’ll get there.”
“Kay.” Kami pulled herself from the door. “Sweet dreams.”
I didn’t have time to reply before the door was closed and Kami was gone. Sighing deeply, I moved slowly to the door. After twisting the bolt lock on the door, I moved back through the cabin to the bedroom where I stripped down from my clothing. I felt sticky and uncomfortable from my long, uninterrupted drive out to the Ranch. Before I went to bed, I wanted to be fresh.
Kami was right; I was here at the Ranch. I had everything I needed for a new beginning - all I had to do now was grip the reins and navigate my new beginning into the direction I desired to travel. Bitterly, I thought, right into Cinderella’s fucking sunset.
Chapter 3
The sound of the shower water pulsing from the showerhead echoed into the small space of the bathroom around me, but I still hadn’t stepped beneath its stream. Instead, I was standing before the mirror. I’d caught sight of my naked body in the mirror, and I couldn’t help but study my image.
I’m pretty in that unconventional way. I’m not tall, but I’m not short either. I’m average. At five foot five, I don’t know another way to describe my height - but average. My skin is creamy and pale pink. Every inch of my flesh is scattered in pale, barely-there freckles.
I have long thick red hair that reaches to the center of my back. It’s straight and glossy - healthy. My brilliant red hair is the one thing I have from my father.
I hate my hair, but I’ve never changed it. As stupid as it is, it’s the one thing my absent father gave to me that he can’t take away.
My eyes move slowly down to connect with their reflection in the mirror, and like so many who meet my eyes with their own, my breath catches. I have beautiful, startlingly beautiful eyes. They’re blue - a bright, deep blue. I’ve heard that red hair and blue eyes is the rarest combination in all the world. That thought makes me smirk humorlessly into the mirror. It is that fact that proves to me that I am everything that wasn’t supposed to be.
I am recessive.
I never should have been born.
I was a mistake. I was one night of carelessness and every day that I looked into my reflection, I saw proof of that fact in my image.
I am recessive. My mother’s black hair is dominant over my father’s red - yet I have red hair.
My father’s amber eyes are dominant over my mother’s brilliant blue - yet I have my mother’s eyes.
I was never meant to be. Again, I am recessive. I am an abomination. It pains my heart, as I realize, not for the first time in my life, that I was never meant to be. Yet, here I stand.
As my eyes take in the round shape of my head, the defined line of my jaw, the full shape of my lips, the slope of my neck into small shoulders and thin arms, the steam swirling in the room closes over my image, leaving me with the sight of all that I am, all that wasn’t supposed to be, burned into my mind.
***
As I pull up to the cafeteria in the morning, I take a deep breath to calm the nervous beating of my heart. I’m a cheery person, so I need to do what Kami says and let all the bad go. I’m in a new place and it’s my chance,
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