Chloe's Secret Read Online Free Page B

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause an accident. I just wanted to ask you something.”
    “Ask away.” He looked nervous, or maybe hopeful, I wasn’t sure which.
    “Do you know an elderly woman named Chloe?” If he did, then the story his grandmother had confided wasn’t a secret. And perhaps her love triangle was well known also?
    He looked surprised. “No. Can’t say that I do.” He looked across the lot at the men watching them. “Why do you ask? Should I?”
    Well, what do you know? That old woman did have a secret. And now more than ever, I had to know the rest of it. The story she’d obviously not shared with him. The story I couldn’t in good conscience spill either.
    “Uh, I just wondered. You kind of remind me of her.” What else was I supposed to say? I was never very good at thinking on my feet and that was the first thing I could come up with. Ridiculous? Yes. I just told this big bulky man on a bike that he looked like an old woman I know. Stupid.
    The guys across the lot seemed pretty interested in our discussion and stared. Colton looked confused, but waved at them. “Well, you’ll have to tell me more about that. Later. I have to go. I have a pet emergency at my clinic. See ya next weekend.”
    “Next weekend,” I repeated, forgetting why I’d see him then.
    “For your last day of riding and your safety test. Right here.” He touched a gloved hand to his forehead in salute and maneuvered the bike around her, gunning it to leave. “You can bring the bagels.”

Chapter 5
    The fact that Colton didn’t know about his grandmother’s alternative lifestyle made it all the more critical that I learn of it myself. She was comfortable enough with me to confide something so personal and that warranted respect. Not to mention the angst she must have gone through during the years of hiding it. I felt as if a gift had been dropped on me and I had to unwrap it to know the full beauty of what was inside. Obviously, it had so affected this woman that she needed to talk about it. To a random stranger. I wondered if this was a story she told to anyone who entered her carriage, or only to a select few, or maybe only me. And whatever the audience, why didn’t she tell her family?
    So, on Wednesday after two and a half long days of work that equated in hours to three, I decided to take my lunch hour with her once again. This old woman, whose name I didn’t know, who had divulged her deep passions, was a book I had to read. This time, I wasn’t boarding the carriage to escape from work-related stress. My intensity to know about her secret world prodded me on. It was still an escape, this need to know, but more of a need to feel the passion that had driven her. To understand the conflict and emotions she wanted to talk through after all these years.
    Her smile was as warm as ever, yet there was fragility behind her eyes. I felt a need to hug her when I arrived, yet I knew it would be too personal.
    “Nice to see you. So, did your boss turn over a new leaf, or did you have to kick some sense into him?”
    I laughed and wrapped her thick blanket around my legs. I kind of liked the horsy smell. The wind was stronger today and fall definitely reminded us to keep warm. “Neither actually, but there’s still hope.”
    “Hope he’ll change, or that you’ll get the opportunity to kick him into next year?”
    “Hmmm, I don’t know. I can hope for change but it’s unlikely. I’m really leaning toward the kicking part. My name is Tess, by the way. Tess Garner.”
    The woman’s graying hair refused to stay under the knitted cap on her head, flitting frantically around her rosy cheeks. She nodded. “Mona.”
    Good. A name to tie to the face. Normally, I had no time for old people, especially batty old women, but this was different. I looked at the backside of the horse pulling us and was curious. “Different horse today?”
    “Yes, this is Goliad. He’s a real flirt, so don’t be surprised if he stops