The Bartender's Daughter Read Online Free

winked out at her. A small kitchenette, one bed, a miniscule bathroom, a couch, and an ancient television were all it boasted. Her father had kept up the maintenance over the last few years but it looked the same. God, she dreamed about this place all the time. But just like the bar, memories threatened to overtake her.
    “ What did you mean last night?” Lee’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
    Nausea churned in her stomach. She hadn ’t eaten breakfast, and now the emptiness in her stomach rumbled as the memories from that morning two years ago ran through her mind. “She told me all about it, Lee. I always knew you were hiding something, but I thought if you gave me every other bit of yourself, it wouldn’t matter if I knew about your parents or where you came from. How could I have known you’d shack up with both Pierce girls at the same time?”
    She wrapped her arms around her body and tried to contain the hurt. She couldn ’t even look at him. Sam grieved the man she’d imagined him to be years ago. Now he was nothing more than a gigolo, a con man out for only himself. She moved to stand but his hand stilled her.
    “ How could you think I’d ever do that to you?”
    She shook her head. Of course, he would deny it. “I tried to come up with some kind of reasonable explanation. Your nights off were so rare and that night you said you were too tired to meet me. I knew you were lying. Your car wasn’t at your apartment. Doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.”
    “ This is ridiculous. I loved you. I married you because I wanted a future with you. Why would I screw that up? Look at me.” His hand curled around her cheek and he turned her to face him. “I did not sleep with your sister.”
    Only sincerity shined in his blue eyes.
    She pulled out of his grasp. “Then why didn’t you come after me? I knew if you weren’t guilty, you’d find me. But you never did. I had hoped you would prove me wrong. I wanted to be wrong.”
    “ No, you didn’t. If you wanted to be wrong, you would have confronted me. You would have stayed and seen for yourself that your sister was lying. You just walked away.” He threw his hands down on to the sand. “How long did it take before you were off with Dylan? Hours? I was supposed to go after the two of you?” He jumped up to his feet and stalked off to the house. His fist connected with the cedar shingles before he turned around. “I loved you, Sam. We got married and you walked away like we meant nothing to you.”
    Tears streamed. She didn ’t attempt to hide them. “It meant everything. How can you say that? You’re the one that hid everything from me. You never talked about your childhood. I don’t even know if there’s anyone still living in your family. You’re the one that wanted to keep it all a big secret, so don’t talk to me about how important marriage is. That was never my problem.”
    She pulled her knees to her chest and sunk her head down onto her arms. She didn ’t know how long she cried. Each sob racked her body. Sobs for her father and for her dreams and for the boy she loved so much, she lost a part of herself when she walked away from him.
    When his arms came around her, she didn ’t resist the slight pressure to lean on him. “I screwed everything up and I’ll never be able to make it up to my father. I loved him so much and I just left him here. I should have come back. I should have known that he was sick. Maybe if I was here, he would have told me.”
    His hands smoothed over her hair as he pressed her into his chest. “You don’t know that. He didn’t tell anyone. Ray was a proud man. He didn’t want anyone to know. You can’t blame yourself. He wouldn’t want that for you. He was proud of everything you did. Everything. Even settling in the city gave him something to brag about.”
    He held her until the tears finally stopped. She didn ’t want to leave the comfort of his arms, but there was too much between them now to stay