Read Online Dare To Love by Trisha Fuentes - Free Book Online Page B

happened…what the hell was he
doing…what the hell was he thinking? His hands were shaking that’s
for certain. He looked down at them shuddering when he overheard
someone clear their throat. Whirling his head around, he found
Henry Barton, his confidant and employee for years. “Oh Henry,
still here?”
     
    “Yes, but I am about to depart in a few
moments,” Henry spurted, walking over to his friend and patting him
on his back. “You don’t look so good.”
     
    Thomas poured himself another drink. “I don’t
feel so good either.”
     
    “She is quite lovely,” Henry disclosed,
peering out the window, glaring at Katrina.
     
    Thomas doesn’t look at his friend, but rather
stared at one particular statue solidly gaping back at him.
“Yes—yes, she is.”
     
    Henry continued to stare out the pane. “I was
speaking about your fiancée, Thomas; did you forget that you had
one?”
     
    Thomas closed his eyes, “No Henry, I have
not.”
     
    “You know Thomas, Devin confessed to me that
Katrina had had her pick of prospective husbands. You weren’t the
only one who proposed marriage. Katrina was the reigning belle of
the season.”
     
    He should have been absolutely livid over
that remark, should have felt vigilant, should have guarded her
from Henry’s unremitting interest, but all Thomas felt at that
moment was reluctance. “She was at that.”
     
    “Can I ask you something Thomas? And you can
perjure yourself if you feel you must.”
     
    Thomas closed his eyes and tried to get
Gwendolyn’s face out of his consideration, “Yes, certainly, what is
it?”
     
    “What do you feel when you see her?”
     
    Thomas whipped his head around to find Henry
heading out the door. “Feel?”
     
    “Yes…feel, sense, experience when your eyes
meet hers.”
     
    “Katrina…or Gwendolyn?”
     
    “The one I believe that’s occupying your
thoughts at the moment.”
     
    Thomas acknowledged his friend and his
straightforwardness. “Uncertainty,” he uttered evenly. “I once
cared for her deeply, Henry. I believed she was gone, therefore, I
carried out my life and I am certain she had done the same. We are
different people now,” he tried to explain away reasons for him
thinking of her entirely too much at this point, “With dissimilar
opinions. We are both mature and set in our ways. She’s probably
overcame her appalling habits of slurping her soup, or sneezing
into her skirts. The girl I once knew was sixteen Henry, sixteen,
that woman upstairs is unrecognizable, and yet,” he faltered,
perplexed by his fate, “She still fascinates me.”
     
    “So what is the solution then?”
     
    “Execute the divorce decree and keep my
distance, Henry, the farther away, the better.”
     
    “What are you thinking, Gwendolyn?” Phyllis
asked guardedly, observing her pace the room muttering to oneself;
she was so concerned for the poor girl.
     
    “It appears that my marriage contract is
still binding, Phyllis.” “Unbelievable…why your Great-Aunt is
probably turning over in her grave as we speak to have you in such
a predicament.” “I wish she was here,” Gwendolyn cried, burying her
face within her hands, spurting into tears. “She would know what to
do.” Phyllis motioned for Gwendolyn to stop her tread and come and
sit down next to her. To her surprise, Gwendolyn rushed to her side
immediately and lovingly embraced her. The feeling was so
overwhelming; it brought a tear to her eye. “What is there to do
child? You have been apart for ten winters dear. He has obviously
moved forward, and so have you.”
     
    Tears continued to rush down her face. “He is
so mature Phyllis and it makes me wonder…I keep thinking of all the
what ifs? What if we had survived that horrible day? What if we
were still together, would we have been devoted? Would we have been
content? Would we have had more children? And what of my child now?
What if Mary would have known her father? What kind of child would
she have