Whispered Promises Read Online Free

I’m so glad you came…”

    By the time Dex crawled into bed that night, he was bone tired. Before returning home from the restaurant, he’d stopped by his office, and he and his project foreman and good friend, Trevor Grant, had worked well past midnight going over an important job proposal.
    The ringing of the telephone interrupted what he’d hoped to be the beginning of a good night’s sleep. Reaching over to the nightstand, he picked up the phone.
    â€œYeah?” When Dex didn’t get a response but heard the faint sound of breathing on the other end, he became annoyed. “Who the hell is this? State your business or hang up.”
    â€œDex?”
    Dex frowned, trying to recognize the voice. “Who wants to know?”
    There was a pause. “It’s Caitlin, Dex.”
    The words were a hard blow to Dex’s firm stomach. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, finding himself drenched first with disbelief, then a surge of renewed anger. There was a tightness in his throat. “What do you want, Caitlin?” His words were clipped and devoid of any emotion except one. Bitterness.
    â€œI’m calling for my dad. He’s very ill and wants to see you. I don’t know why, but he’s asking for you. Please come, Dex.”
    Dex’s jaw stiffened and his eyes hardened like ice. The urge to tell her father where he could go—in not so nice words—was on the tip of his tongue, but he hesitated. He wasn’t that heartless. Besides, Caitlin sounded scared and he heard the pain and anguish in her voice.
    â€œWhat’s wrong with your old man this time, Caitlin? The last time I saw him he wasn’t doing so hot, either. If my memory serves me correctly, it was the news of our sudden marriage that sent him to the hospital with a heart attack. Have you decided to marry again and Daddy Dearest can’t handle it?”
    â€œDex, please. Don’t. My—my father is dying of cancer and wants to see you.”
    â€œI’m sorry to hear that. However, he and I aren’t the best of friends. What’s this all about?”
    â€œI don’t know. But he wants to see you. Please come see him. P-please.” Her tearful plea came through the phone lines.
    A tightness squeezed Dex’s chest and instead of his anger intensifying, he found his heart losing some of its hardness with her plea. He loathed himself for allowing her to get next to him after all this time—after she had turned her back on him and his love. But something was happening to him he hadn’t counted on, something he didn’t understand. Even after four years of hurt, she could still arouse a degree of protectiveness in him.
    A natural instinct to protect her from any type of pain kept his bitterness in check. Her words penetrated his mind. Her father was dying? Then he could just imagine the depth of her agony. He, of all people, knew just how much the old man meant to her. He hesitated briefly before answering. “Where is he?”
    â€œBaptist Memorial Hospital, the eighth floor.”
    Dex took a deep breath. “I’m on my way.”
    After hanging up the phone he let his head fall back against the pillow. He stared at the ceiling. Could he handle seeing Caitlin again? He didn’t love her anymore, but the pain she’d caused him was like a wound that wouldn’t heal. Her decision to end their marriage before giving it a chance was an act he could never forgive her for.
    His heart felt like it was ready to explode in his chest. In a short space of time she had become his life, his very reason for existing.
    He should never have let it get to that point. After all, he had seen firsthand what falling head-over-heels in love with a woman could do. His best friend, Greg, had taken his own life over a woman while they were in college at Morehouse. Dex had vowed never to become a victim of love to that extreme. And he had kept his vow—until he