Whispered Promises Read Online Free Page A

had met Caitlin.
    His mind reflected on their first meeting. He’d fallen in love with her the first time he’d seen her that day in the restaurant. Her beauty had nearly taken his breath away. She had eyes the color of dark coffee. Her face, burnished bronze in color, had sharp, high cheekbones, a perfectly shaped mouth and a flawlessly aligned nose. Silken strands of jet-black hair had fallen in soft curls around her shoulders. Each attribute had added radiance to her warm unblemished features.
    The timing had been awful. He was to leave the country within three weeks. Besides, she was young—eleven years his junior. But those things hadn’t kept him from wanting her, from loving her.
    In the beginning, for the first couple of days after she’d come to work at his uncle Jake’s ranch, he’d kept his distance. Then Clayton had arrived and had immediately set his sights on their uncle’s newest employee.
    Convincing himself he was saving Caitlin from the clutches of his womanizing younger brother, Dex began pursuing her himself. It was only later that he’d discovered Clayton had somehow picked up on his intense but unacknowledged attraction for Caitlin, and had played devil’s advocate, propelling Dex into action. What followed had been a whirlwind romance between him and Caitlin.
    After spending time with her, he had felt that although she was eleven years younger than him, she was a young woman who knew her mind. She had acted more mature than her twenty-one years. The more time he had spent with her, the more he became sure that he wanted her as the woman in his life—forever. He couldn’t handle the thought of going to Australia and leaving her behind. There were a number of good universities in Australia where she could obtain the additional education she wanted to pursue. When he had asked her to marry him, she had readily accepted.
    Within two weeks they were married in a rushed ceremony at Whispering Pines ranch with just his uncle and Clayton present. It was only when they were on their way to meet each other’s families, that he had an opportunity to dwell on her reluctance to notify her father about their marriage.
    Although surprised by his unexpected marriage, his parents and siblings accepted Caitlin into the family with open arms. But nothing, Dex thought, could have prepared him for the horrible scene they’d encountered upon arriving at Caitlin’s home and announcing their marriage and her plans to accompany him to Australia.
    Halston Parker had gone into a rage, which subsequently doubled him over clutching his chest. After he was rushed to the hospital, Caitlin had been told he’d suffered a mild heart attack.
    She had been upset and besieged with guilt. Dex had spent his last day in the States pacing the waiting room of the hospital with her. He’d somehow managed to convince her to come back to the hotel with him. Once there, she had found comfort in his arms. He’d made love to her to erase her fears. The next morning he had felt her withdraw from him, and wondered if their newfound love could withstand the external pressures.
    Before catching a cab for the airport, he had literally begged her to join him in Australia as soon as her father recovered. She had promised him she would.
    As the weeks passed and she’d begun avoiding his nightly phone calls, he’d made arrangements to return to the States on an emergency leave. The day he was to depart, he received the divorce papers and Caitlin’s wedding ring. She wanted out of their marriage.
    According to the brief letter she’d enclosed with her ring, she claimed she loved him, but her father needed her more and she couldn’t leave him. She thought it best they end their marriage.
    The impact of her decision had hurt deeply. Deeper than any pain was supposed to hurt. He had always known and understood the internal war he had fought since Greg’s suicide. He had