Where the Heart Leads Read Online Free Page B

gesture. The skies opened up and rain hit the ground like bullets, drenching them both to the skin in seconds. As if they hadn’t been wet enough.
    So much for a romantic second date.
    “I knew I shouldn’t have worn the pink bonnet.” Aumaleigh sailed up to him, lovelier somehow with the rain in her hair. “You did warn me.”
    “I tried to.” He rescued the dainty bonnet from Sully’s teeth. “Bad horse. I’ll beat you later.”
    “Yeah, right.” Aumaleigh came in close to him, her slender fingers curling around the hat brim. The way her lips hitched in the corners made a man wonder what they would feel like pressed against his. Her chin went up. “Clearly your horses are terribly abused.”
    “I try.”
    And then they were laughing and the entire world disappeared—the rain, the wind, the thunder—all of it. There was only the wild beat of his heart slamming against his chest and the quiet hope soft in her eyes.
    Oh, he wanted to be that hope for her. To give her every last one of her dreams.
    He leaned in without thinking, following the whispers of his heart. Her eyes widened with realization as he moved in but she didn’t move away. Then their mouths were touching, his lips caressing hers in the gentlest of kisses.
    Did she feel the reverence he felt for her? The adoration? He sure hoped so.
    And then he felt her lips relax against his, softening in acquiescence, and he took her in his arms, kissing her without ever wanting to stop. Her hands lighted on his shoulders, such a sweet touch—
    “Gabe?” Josslyn poked her head up into the loft, shattering his thoughts. She climbed up and headed his way. “Leigh almost has supper ready. That’s one stubborn girl you’ve got there. She refused to let me help. Just shoved me right out of the kitchen.”
    “Yes. I think she may have gotten her stubbornness from our side of the family, especially from you.”
    “I do have a gift.” Joss shook her head, her gaze darting out into the storm. “Interesting. You have a perfect view of Aumaleigh’s house.”
    “I’m watching the storm.” It was easier to admit that than the truth. It had been hard seeing how much Aumaleigh disliked him. It had been clear and stark in her eyes.
    Which was a problem. Because the love he’d had for her had never completely died.

Chapter Three

     
    Aumaleigh held up her wine goblet in the McPhee Mansion’s stately dining room and smiled at all the lovely faces surrounding her at the supper table. They had grown to be quite a crowd. “To Seth and Rose. May you two have a life of dreams.”
    “And infinite happiness.” Iris raised her wine glass.
    “Happily-ever-after,” Daisy added, lifting her glass.
    “A storybook life,” Magnolia chimed in, giving her wine a sip.
    “And a fairy tale love.” Verbena lifted her wine goblet full of milk to finish the toast. “Welcome to the family, Seth.”
    As “welcomes” rang out and wine glasses clanked, Aumaleigh noticed that Daisy took only a small celebratory sip of her wine before setting it down. Her plate was largely untouched, and she looked unusually pale. Was the girl just tired? Or perhaps it was something more?
    Aumaleigh remembered when Laura, the girls’ mother, was pregnant with Daisy, she’d had evening instead of morning sickness.
    “I’m going to bring out dessert.” Iris rose and began taking the plates from the little girls seated beside her. “Sally and Sadie. Do you want chocolate cake?”
    “Yes!” Sally answered. “And Mitsy too!”
    “And Bitsy too!” Hailie gave a sweet, little girl smile and leaned against her stepmother, Daisy.
    “I know that baby dragons like chocolate cake.” Aumaleigh stood and began gathering plates too. “But do they like chocolate frosting too?”
    “Yes!” the little girls chorused.
    “Especially with the frosting flowers,” Sally added, crooking one eyebrow hopefully.
    “You’re in luck.” Iris brushed a kiss on the top of the girl’s head as she moved