Read Online At Home in Stone Creek (Silhouette Special Edition) by Linda Lael Miller - Free Book Online

graduation, he’d enlisted in the Navy. After a few letters and phone calls, he’d simply dropped out of her life.
    She’d gotten her BA in liberal arts.
    Melissa had gone on to law school, Ashley had returned to Stone Creek, bought the B&B with Brad’s help and tried to convince herself that she was happy.
    Then, just before Christmas, two years earlier, Jack had returned. She’d been a first-class fool to get involved with him a second time, to believe it would last. He came and went, called often when he was away, showed up again and made soul-wrenching love to her just when she’d made up her mind to end the affair.
    â€œI haven’t been hibernating, you know,” she said stiffly, turning the bacon, pushing down the lever on the toaster and sliding his perfectly cooked eggs off the burner. “I date.”
    Right. Melissa had fixed her up twice, with guys she knew from law school, and she’d gone out to dinner once, with Melvin Royce, whose father owned the Stone Creek Funeral Home. Melvin had spent the whole evening telling her that death was a beautifulthing—not to mention lucrative—cremation was the way to go, and corpses weren’t at all scary, once you got used to them.
    She hadn’t gone out with anyone since.
    Oh, yes, she was a regular party girl. If she didn’t watch out, she’d end up as tabloid fodder.
    Not. The tabloids were Brad’s territory, and he was welcome to them, as far as she was concerned.
    â€œI’m sorry, Ashley,” Jack said quietly, when they’d both been silent for a long time. She couldn’t help noticing that his hand shook slightly as he took a sip of his coffee and set the mug down again.
    â€œFor what?”
    â€œFor everything.” He thrust splayed fingers through his hair, and his jaw tightened briefly, under the blue-black stubble of his beard.
    â€œEverything? That covers a lot of ground,” Ashley said, sliding his breakfast onto a plate and setting it down in front of him with an annoyed flourish.
    Jack sighed. “Leaving you. It was a dumb thing to do. But maybe coming back is even dumber.”
    The remark stung Ashley, made her cheeks burn, and she turned away quickly, hoping Jack hadn’t noticed. “You arrived in an ambulance,” she said. “Feel free to leave in one.”
    â€œWill you sit down and talk to me? Please?”
    Ashley faced him, lest she be thought a coward.
    Mrs. Wiggins, the little traitor, started up Jack’s right pant leg and settled in his lap for a snooze. He picked up his fork, broke the yolk on one of his eggs, but his eyes were fastened on Ashley.
    â€œWhat happened to you?” Ashley asked, without planning to speak at all. There it was again, the Jack Phenomenon. She wasn’t normally an impulsive person.
    Jack didn’t look away, but several long moments passed before he answered. “The theory is,” he said, “that a guy I tangled with on a job injected me with something.”
    Ashley’s heart stopped, started again. She joined Jack at the table, but only because she was afraid her knees wouldn’t support her if she remained standing. “A job? What kind of job?”
    â€œYou know I’m in security,” Jack hedged, avoiding her eyes now, concentrating on his breakfast. He ate slowly, deliberately.
    â€œSecurity,” Ashley repeated. All she really knew about Jack was that he traveled, made a lot of money and was often in danger. These were not things he’d actually told her—she’d gleaned them from telephone conversations she’d overheard, stories Sophie and Olivia had told her, comments Tanner had made.
    â€œI’ve got to leave again, Ashley,” Jack said. “But this time, I want you to know why.”
    She wanted Jack to leave. So why did she feel as though a trapdoor had just opened under her chair, and she was about to fall down the rabbit hole?