Free to Love Read Online Free Page A

that wrapped around a square oak table. “Sit down. We need to talk.”
    “About what?”
    “About what really matters. It’s high time we got past the small talk.”
    Hesitating, she did as he said.
    He slipped in across from her, his expression intent as he folded his long legs under the table. “So it sounds as if life has been pretty unbearable these past months...”
    She poked at a crumb. “Uh-huh. Worse than unbearable. It’s been a nightmare, really.” She lifted her gaze to his and spied the flecks of gold in his warm brown eyes. The slanting rays of the early evening sun shimmered through the window behind him.
    “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked in a low voice. “I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t call often enough. But believe me, I would’ve checked in more if I’d only known.”
    “I... I... thought I was strong. I thought I could handle my grief alone.” She averted her gaze. “Some people might accuse me of running away, moving to Southport like this, but... I had no choice.”
    He shook his head decisively. “I believe in constructive running away as long as you aren’t trying to escape from reality. After all, that’s the route my folks took too. They completely uprooted themselves to devote their lives to public service. For them, that has been a powerful healing.”
    “I’m afraid my escape wasn’t nearly so noble,” she answered softly, half apologetically. “It was the memories, Austin, not only my desire to come back to the coast, or because I have an aunt living here. The memories were making me crazy.”
    He hesitated, rubbing his chin. “I understand. Mom and Dad have their memories, too, twenty-seven years’ worth. The house in Seattle where they raised us, Kyle’s model car collection, his rubber tire swing still hanging from the giant maple in our backyard...” His voice trailed off. “And not a day passes that I don’t think of my brother also.”
    “Oh, Austin...” She back-handed the tears coursing down her cheek. Tears of grief. Tears of release. For these past empty months, she’d felt as if no one who’d ever walked the earth could understand her emptiness.
    Now her feelings gushed forth like released water from a fractured dyke. “Kyle and I... we were so in love. It just wasn’t fair... that he should die. He was much too young, too good, and full of life. We had too many dreams. Kids. A nice home. Building our careers together. And afterwards... after that horrible night, everywhere I turned, there was something to remind me of him. I thought, in time, the feeling would go away. But it didn’t . It only tormented me more.” She choked back another sob, yet it nevertheless escaped from her lips. “Sometimes at night, sometimes when I couldn’t sleep, which was most always, I’d get dressed and drive over to the house where the fire broke out. I’d park on the far side of the street, not wanting to get too close, just sitting there looking at that dreadful, charred monster, wondering what Kyle’s last thoughts might’ve been, wondering whether he suffered.”
    Austin let out a low groan as he lunged to his feet and captured her hand, pulling her up to him. “Poor Jo... how awful. How incredibly awful.”
    In an instant, his arms encompassed her, and she felt herself melting against his broad chest. The silence stretched between them as they rocked gently, consolingly, sharing their mutual loss. His embrace brought reassurance... and a sense of wonder. This man. So big. So strong just like Kyle.
    Austin’s voice rumbled against her ear as he continued to hold her. “There’s something you should know, Jo. Something that perhaps Kyle never mentioned.” Then he pulled back allowing a full arm’s length between them.
    “What?” she asked.
    Hands clasped tightly behind his back, he started to pace, his eyes downcast. “It may be true that Kyle and I look a lot alike,” he began tersely, “but that’s really where our resemblance