Read Online All I Ever Wanted by Francis Ray - Free Book Online

water. “You’ll have to find out on your own.”
    “Easier said than done, since she wants nothing to do with me.”
    Placing the phone between his shoulder and ear, Richard opened the bottle of water. “Since when have you let a no stop you?”
    Lance chuckled. “I knew there was a reason you were my favorite cousin.”
    “That’s because I’m your only cousin.”
    “There is that. ’Night.”
    “’Night.” Richard hung up and continued to the bedroom, and his solitary bed. He’d tried not to fantasize that Naomi was there with him, but it was impossible when he saw the wide expanse of the bed.
    Placing the bottle of water on the coaster on the nightstand, he unbuttoned his shirt and accepted that he’d probably dream of her again. The dreams were sweet, torrid, playful. He wanted to give her the pleasure of his body as much as he wanted to give her dreams without fear.
    One day, he promised as he pulled off his boots, he would.

Chapter 5
    Sunday afternoon, Naomi took Kayla to Fallon, who was going to babysit for her. Kayla was excited because they planned to go to the park. Still, Naomi had packed her new favorite book, The Guardian, a Finding Nemo DVD, and snacks before driving to the Women’s League office near downtown Santa Fe. After kissing Kayla good-bye, she got into her SUV. It was ten years old, but it had low gas mileage and maintenance records from the very first trip to the service center.
    She pampered the four-wheel-drive Toyota as if it were a Ferrari. She knew how dependent on others you were if you didn’t have a car. Plus she felt safe driving it no matter the weather. She hadn’t had to worry much about snow in San Antonio. She’d jumped at the opportunity to purchase the car from one of Richard’s clients. The car was one more step to independence, and best of all, she’d done it on her own. Richard hadn’t been pleased that she hadn’t let a mechanic look over the car, but she had trusted Mrs. Carson who was moving into a retirement home and didn’t need the car any longer. It felt good to trust.
    After parking, Naomi went up the curved walkway, past the blooming pink and red roses, the well-manicured lawn. If you didn’t know it, you wouldn’t think of the bricked building as a place where people with broken dreams came to begin to heal.
    Naomi had been one of those people. She pressed the buzzer to be let inside. Before the sound faded, she heard the click of the lock disengaging and opened the glass door. “Hi, Marie.”
    “Hi, Naomi. I heard you have a celebrity in the family.”
    Naomi smiled and stopped in front of the elegant French-inspired desk. The office looked beautiful and stylish, with large, healthy potted plants and artwork. Ruth said she wanted the people who came here to know they were valued and had worth. She’d achieved that and more. “Kayla is still walking on air.”
    “I would be, too, if I was spotlighted in a book.” Maria came to her feet. She was five feet of bubbling energy with an engaging smile. “My life is too dull for anyone to ever want to write about me.”
    Be thankful , Naomi almost said before she caught herself. “You have a wonderful husband and three beautiful children. I’d say your life is far from dull.”
    “They drive me crazy, but I’d be lost without them.” Maria opened the hardwood cabinet in the corner and removed her purse. “The oldest has a soccer game this afternoon. Her team hasn’t lost a game.”
    “I’d say you have some celebrating of your own to do,” Naomi said. “That’s wonderful.”
    “We kind of think so.” Maria shoved the thin leather strap over her slim shoulder. “Dan and the other two girls are picking me up on the way to the game.”
    “Have fun, and tell Paula I said good luck.”
    A car horn interrupted what Maria had been about to say. “That man. He used to drive my mama crazy honking that horn instead of coming in for me. He does it now just to get a rise out of me.”
    Since