Where the Heart Leads Read Online Free Page B

since Colin died.
    He had brought so much darkness into her life—darkness and pain.
    *  *  *
    After liberating Astrid’s foam mattress from the pile in the garage, Moira took the lead and walked backward up the garage steps into the kitchen.
    “So what’s Bosque Bend like?” Astrid called out as they maneuvered the mattress through the door. “I didn’t get much of a glimpse of it when we drove in yesterday evening.”
    “Not as sleepy as Johnny described it. The courthouse has a square of quaint old storefronts around it, but the rest of the town seems to be hustle-bustling to join the modern world. There’s a nice park on this side of the river and a lineup of flashy restaurants across the bridge. According to a Chamber of Commerce brochure I picked up at the museum office, Bosque Bend now has all the necessities of modern living—Walmart, Office Depot, Home Depot, FedEx, Starbucks, a small hospital…doctors, lawyers, and Indian chiefs.”
    They dropped the mattress on the bedroom floor and went back to the garage for its frame.
    Astrid gave her a questioning look. “The museum office? What were you doing in a museum?”
    “It’s a repurposed high school. The civic theater has been using its stage for its productions.” Moira hefted one end of the frame and started walking it toward the steps. “I met with the board in a practice room across the hall from the auditorium.”
    “What did you find out? When do they want the show to open?”
    “The first weekend of December. It’ll be a three-week run, Thursday, Friday, Saturday only. No Sunday performance. This is a churchgoing town.”
    They turned the bed frame to fit through the kitchen door, then tottered it down the hall.
    “Doesn’t give you much time for auditions.”
    Moira shrugged. “No need. The parts have already been cast, and the accompanist will play through the score for me tomorrow morning. I have no idea who the costumers and scenery people are, but I’ll call a meeting of the adult actors Monday evening. The play requires a large cast of children too so that means I’ll have to set up a meeting with them—and their parents—probably on Tuesday evening. And I’ll also have to deal with—never mind…”
    Astrid lifted a suspicious eyebrow. “You didn’t finish what you were saying, Moira. What else will you have to deal with?”
    Crap. She hadn’t meant to say anything about Big Red. Rafe McAllister was just a passing hormonal fancy that her good sense would soon convince her was bad news.
    Or it damn well better. No way she was getting involved with a married man—or any man at this point.
    She tried for careless flippancy. “The chairman of the board made a pass at me, and I think he’s got me in his crosshairs.”
    “Killer!” Her sister gave her a wide smile as they pushed the frame into her bedroom. “You need to start dating. And don’t try to tell me you’re still in mourning for Colin. I don’t know what happened between you two, but it wasn’t good.” They lifted the mattress into place, and Astrid took a sheet out of the stack of linens in the corner of the room and flapped it open. “What’s this guy look like?”
    “He’s a redheaded cowboy with gorgeous eyes, but it doesn’t matter. He’s not available, and I’m not interested. End of story.” Except for the sudden rush of heat she refused to acknowledge. Damnit! Had her libido no sense of decency?
    Her cell phone buzzed, and she raced back to the kitchen, then stared at the caller ID.
    Rafe McAllister.
    “Moira?”
    Every nerve in her body vibrated to the sound of his voice.
    “We need to talk business, and I thought we might as well get somethin’ to eat along with it. How about I drop by your place at six thirty and take you to Good Times. It’s our local honky-tonk. Best ribs in Texas. That work for you?”
    She could scarcely refuse the chairman of the board, and he knew it. Looked like she’d be going out for drinks with Red Rafe