Persuading Spring: A Sexy New Zealand Romance (The Four Seasons Book 4) Read Online Free

won’t be long.”
    “Take as long as you like. Mat and I
promise to save you some ice cream. Probably.”
    She gave a soft laugh. “Okay.” She walked
into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. He heard the sound of her
locking it, which didn’t surprise him.
    He blew out a breath and looked at his son,
who raised his eyebrows.
    “Why didn’t anyone else help her?” Mateo
wanted to know.
    “I don’t know. It makes me sad.”
    “When someone’s hurt you should always
help, shouldn’t you, Dad?”
    “I think so.”
    “What happened to her?”
    Aaron put his backpack on the counter, slid
the tub of ice cream into the tiny freezer compartment at the top of the
fridge, then retrieved a fresh towel from the cupboard. “She was supposed to
get married, but I don’t think her husband-to-be turned up.” He beckoned the
boy toward him and unzipped his jacket.
    Mateo shouldered it off and let his father
place it over a nearby chair. Even though he’d worn a hood, most of his hair
was wet. “Why not?”
    “I don’t know.” Aaron began to dry it with
the towel. “It was an awful thing to do though. That poor girl. She would have
felt an inch high.”
    “She must have spent a lot of money on her
dress and everything.”
    “Yes.”
    “Will she get it back?”
    “I doubt it.”
    “What church was it?”
    “It wasn’t a church, it was a registry
office.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know, there are lots of reasons.
People who aren’t religious don’t normally get married in a church.”
    “You were married in a church weren’t you,
Dad?”
    “Yes.” He turned the boy around and
directed him to the bed. “Put the TV on, and we’ll share the ice cream, shall
we?”
    “Okay.” Mateo climbed onto the bed. “Are
you religious then, Dad? Is that why you married in a church?”
    “No.” Aaron dried his own hair, then
unbuttoned his wet shirt. “But Mum is. She’s a Catholic. She wanted to get
married in church, and I agreed.”
    “Did she wear a white dress like Bridget’s?”
    “Yes, she looked very beautiful.” He tossed
the wet shirt into the kitchenette and then tugged on a fresh top. He didn’t
want to think about Nita now. “Okay, two spoons.” He retrieved them and took
out the ice cream.
    “We have to save some for Bridget, though,”
Mateo reminded him. “I hope she likes chocolate fudge brownie.”
    “All women like chocolate, mate. It’s a
good lesson to learn.”
    They sat on the bed against the pillows and
ate the ice cream while they watched a children’s program that involved two
brightly-colored, non-threatening monsters talking to each other while they made
cookies, covering the whole room and each other in batter.
    Aaron watched and chatted to his son, but
he kept seeing the image of Bridget’s large blue eyes, and her shy smile.
     

Chapter Three
    Bridget stood in front of the huge mirror
and studied her reflection. Jesus. She was surprised she hadn’t made the little
boy burst into tears at the sight of her.
    She looked down at her hands and held up
her left, fingers splayed. She still wore her engagement ring, although the
wide band that should have sat beneath it was still tucked into the best man’s
pocket, no doubt. Unless Mal had sold it already. She wouldn’t have put that
past him.
    Tugging off the engagement ring, she put it
on the edge of the sink. She should have thrown it into the sea.
    Part of her wanted to slide down the wall
and curl up on the floor. She didn’t want to see anyone or talk to anyone. She
didn’t want to deal with the after effects of what had happened today. She
wanted it all to go away.
    That wasn’t her though, was it? Birdie
Hitchcock, who ran the Four Seasons shop and who’d dated Mal since she was
twenty-one, was practical and sensible, and didn’t give in to violent displays
of emotion. Birdie would reason that it was better for Mal to have not turned
up than to have married her first and then changed his mind. Birdie