Soul Dreams Read Online Free Page B

schedule, nothing to do. She managed five days at her parents’ home, doing her best to ignore the cheerful decorations and the constant Christmas carols. But then she absolutely had to get away. From everything. It was all more than she could handle. They tried to talk her into staying, but she felt suddenly as if she were suffocating.
    “I’ll write, I’ll email, I’ll text,” she promised them. “But I have to make a new life for myself somewhere.”
    Reluctantly, they let her go, waving to her as she pulled out of their driveway. For the first week she drove aimlessly, no particular destination in mind. Scenery rushed past her in a blur. The only people she called were her parents, to assure them she was all right and hadn’t lost her mind. She did promise to spend at least a week with them as soon as she got where she was going—wherever that happened to be.
    She’d been driving for two weeks, doing her best to bury the pain and pondering what she’d do with the rest of her life, when she pulled into Freewill, Wyoming. It was noon, and the sun bathed the quaint town with a warm golden glow.
    Wyoming Eats seemed the place to find lunch, if the overflowing parking lot was any indication. Despite the crowd, she was able to find a table squeezed in near the window. Munching on her chicken salad sandwich and trying to figure out if she would ever decide where to put down roots again, she stared through the window beside her booth. Her gaze landed on a bookstore across the street. Since she never knew half the time if she’d have Wi-Fi at any of the places she stayed, and she needed a new supply of titles for her e-reader, she saw this as a good opportunity to add to her electronic library. Books had become her comfort and companion. Like many independent bookstores, Books and More might not be tied into e-book networks, but she could make do with print books. Anything in which she could lose herself.
    After paying her bill, she made her way across the street. When she opened the door to the shop, a bell jangled. The woman behind the counter looked up, a smile on her face.
    “Hi! I thought I knew everyone here. You must be new in town.” She came out from behind the counter. “Chessie Martin.”
    Nina couldn’t help but give an answering smile. The woman was so warm and friendly. As was the store, with its colorful displays, children’s reading nook, and conversation area with comfortable chairs and…wait! Did she actually see a plate of cookies?
    “In a small town, people drop in frequently to browse. Or sometimes all they want is to chat. My conversation area’s sold a lot of books for me.”
    “I’ll bet it has.” She shook the woman’s hand. “Nina Foster. And no, I’m not from here. At the moment, I’m not from anywhere. I guess I need a new place to put down new roots. Figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life.”
    Chessie cocked her head and studied Nina’s face. “You wouldn’t be interested in buying a bookstore, would you?”
     
    ***
     
    Present Day
    The late afternoon had already darkened, and snowflakes drifted down from a dull gray sky. Setting the car heater to full blast, Nina pulled out of the small parking lot behind the store. Even after five years, she hadn’t quite acclimated to the bitter cold of Wyoming winters. She wanted nothing more than to get home and sit in front of her fireplace with a glass of wine and a good book.
    She thought about Hawk’s words to her. Something as simple as why she’d chosen the house she had brought pain whooshing up like a tornado. Driving through the cold, crisp Wyoming twilight, the long ago pain emerged again. Not nearly as sharp as it had been five years ago, but the residual agony always simmered beneath the surface, ready to pounce at any time. She still recalled how shocked people had been when she’d up and left town without advance notice to anyone. Nate Forrester had called her cell so many times—not to mention the