Read Online Beyond the Storm (9780758276995) by Joseph Pittman - Free Book Online

Vanessa said, “Get your mind out of the—”
    â€œMud?”
    They shared a genuine laugh, awkwardness fading between them for the first time. It felt good, like a breath of fresh air.
    Still, Vanessa suddenly looked away, embarrassed by the heated, sexual connotation of not only what she’d said but also Adam’s quick reaction to it. Were her cheeks reddening? Could he feel a change in the air, in her? God she hated her lack of a poker face. Reva was always calling attention to it on those occasions when they gambled, either in the casinos of Europe or in the love department. She felt like Adam could read her mind right now, and that was not a good thing. Not now. Perhaps not ever.
    â€œReally, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean . . . it’s just . . . I didn’t mean to offend you.”
    â€œIt’s okay, Adam. You just caught me by surprise. I mean, given our past . . .”
    â€œVanessa, forget I said anything,” he said, making an attempt to touch her shoulder but pulling back at the last moment. The sweet gesture was intended to comfort her, and Vanessa decided to make nothing more of it than that. Adam didn’t give her the chance anyway. He was ready to spring into action, his ankle notwithstanding. “Come on, let’s focus on here and now, getting us out of this storm and into some dry clothes. I could go back and get my suitcase . . .”
    â€œWait a minute,” she said. “The farmhouse!”
    â€œOkay, you got me there. What farmhouse?”
    â€œAbout half a mile back, I noticed an old farmhouse situated up on the hill. A big house with a porch, a swing, expansive lawn. We can make it there, I’m sure, and ask the people who live there for help. Surely they have a phone. Not like it’s the eighteenth century. What do you say, your ankle up for a quick hike?”
    Thunder rumbled once more.
    Adam looked up; rain washed over his muddy, bloodied face, leaving streaks.
    â€œI hate thunderstorms.”
    â€œStorms always did me in too,” Vanessa said.
    â€œEvery summer in Danton Hill,” he said.
    â€œAlmost like every day during a Danton Hill summer.”
    Their shared memories had already begun.
    â€œOne storm ruined my swing set. I was five.”
    â€œYou’ve changed.”
    â€œGod, I hope so.”
    â€œThat farmhouse, it had a porch swing, I saw it, moving in the breeze.”
    â€œLead on,” he said. He smiled and she attempted one back.
    The two of them started forward down the stretch of road, sticking to the shoulder for safety’s sake but looking for any sign of a passing car. They walked side by side, not touching, not even attempting one . . . at least, not until she slipped on a rock and nearly fell in the ditch beside the road. Adam went to grab her. As their hands touched, she felt the spark between them give deeper heat to the humid night. She looked into his face and realized she was not in the company of the innocent young boy from her high school days but a handsome, strong man who produced within her something that had gone untouched for years. Almost a reawakening of something hidden deep inside her. Like she wasn’t even the woman she’d known these thirty-eight years. She felt a fleeting rush of emotion that had once existed between them flare up inside her, making a sudden return, and with such a sensation racking her body, she figured such heat could dry their clothes and possibly melt her heart too.
    Don’t get ahead of yourself.
    He doesn’t know everything. She wondered if he knew anything, about them.
    They forged on, together.
    Shelter awaited them just around the bend in the road. So too did the unforeseen.
    But hadn’t she lived with a notion of uncertainty for twenty years?

C HAPTER 4
    N OW
    T he farmhouse, with its wraparound porch and Old World–style cupola jutting up from its angled roof, turned out to be nearly a mile from the crash site. By