Always Remember Read Online Free Page A

always avoided the house when it was empty — a quirk left over from the early days after Jessie had left and his life had irrevocably changed.
    Within months, he’d lost Jessie, lost his father, then been saddled with a baby. Oh yeah, he’d been hell on wheels that first year. Startled awake twice a night by the hungry cries of his new baby daughter. Struggling to keep a failing ranch afloat. His heart breaking at every turn.
    But he’d gotten over Jessie, or so he’d thought. Now, he found her in the kitchen, leaning against the front of the stove, staring at the floor as though mesmerized by the pristine whiteness of the tiles.
    “Jess?” She didn’t respond. As Nate felt his anger drain away, something far too dangerous to ignore took its place. Tenderness and affection. Once she’d been the center of his world. Why did he have to remember that now? “You okay?”
    She turned her gaze on him. Eyes dull with pain, she reminded him of one of his mares just before he’d had to put the animal down, betrayed by those she’d trusted to take care of her. Jeez, what a hell of an image to conjure up now.
    He closed the distance between them, conscious of her gaze on his face and the familiarity of having her in his home. Reaching into the cupboard over her head, careful not to touch her, he breathed in the scent of her hair as he pulled out a bottle. “I’ve still got your favorite brew. Want a drink?”
    Hormones he thought he’d left behind with his youth flared to life. His attention dropped to her face, to the smoothness of her skin, to the remembered pleasures of exploring her mouth with his. She wrinkled her nose at him.
    Find her and offer her a shoulder to cry on. Not seduce her.
    “Is that your dad’s whiskey?”
    He blinked and shifted away to the cupboard over the sink, hoping she might have missed his tiny lapse of control. “Want some?”
    “You know I hate that stuff.”
    “But you used to drink it anyway, didn’t you?”
    She turned her head away, the curtain of her hair hiding her expression. But nothing could hide the wistful tone of her voice. “Those were good times, weren’t they?”
    Too good.
    He glanced at the bottle in his hand. The last thing either of them needed was a drink. He’d probably end up thinking about all the times they’d made love instead of concentrating on the reason she’d come home. Nate closed the cupboard door and retraced his steps, setting the bottle away. He looked down at the top of her head and the next thing he knew, he felt the softness of her hair against his palm. She stilled, turned her face up to him, her eyes wide with surprise, alive with vitality when only moments before they’d been bruised with hurt.
    He dropped his hand to his side, but didn’t move back. “You upset Sam.”
    “I didn’t mean to. They just got so old. When did they get so old?”
    “You’ve been gone a long time.”
    “I know, but...” She shook her head. “Did you come to drag me back?”
    “You’re off the hook for tonight, but I promised Sam I wouldn’t let you leave.” His voice came out firm, determined, but how far would he really go to keep her here? And why? For Sam and Maude, or for himself?
    He caught back the thought, but couldn’t avoid the intensity of her gaze. The memory of all they’d shared, all they’d been to one another, flared up inside him. How many times had they made love? How many times had he kept her out till the sun came up? He’d have to half drag, half carry her back to her parents’ house before they’d wake up because Jessie would be too tired to make it on her own.
    Damn lucky Sam had never caught them. He’d have taken that old shotgun he kept above the fireplace and filled Nate’s backside with lead.
    “I’m sorry I didn’t come home for your dad’s funeral, Nate. By the time I found out, it was weeks later and—”
    The phone rang. Her voice drifted away, her gaze shifting from his face to the wall behind him. She