Read Online His Heart to Have (Cowboys of Whispering Winds) by Renee Peterson - Free Book Online Page A

straight black and took a long sip. An ominous feeling was setting upon him. “Can it wait until later?” he asked. His body was suffering from his night of excessive drinking.
    “No. I need to say this before I lose my nerve.”
    The solemnness she spoke with caught his attention and he pulled out a chair. “What is it?” His hand went to his knee. Allie’s fingers drummed against her coffee cup.
    “I’m releasing you from this,” she told him, still not making eye contact.
    She may as well of slammed her fist to his gut. Yesterday hadn’t been handled well by either of them, but if they ended this now, he’d lose any chance of being with her.
    “I told you I’d do this for three months. One argument isn’t enough to make me break a commitment,” he replied, hoping she couldn’t hear how desperate the plea behind his words was.
    “It was wrong to ever ask you. Let’s just make a clean break and get on with our lives.”
    The floor creaked as he pushed his chair back, stood and moved to the chair next to Allie. Crooking a finger, he tipped her chin, forcing her to make eye contact. “Look at me, Allie. For whatever reason, pretending we meant to get married was important to you. Let’s forget about yesterday and move on.”
    “I thought you wanted out of this.  I thought I was a bad tattoo you couldn’t get rid of.”
    The corner of her eye glistened with unshed tears. Vague memories of some words he spoke while still in the truck last night came back to him. Had he really told her that? “My god, Allie. I was angry and hurt last night. Ignore anything I said. I was drunk and it doesn’t make it right, but I’m sorry.”
    “You may have been drunk, but it’s true. What have you ever gotten from our friendship? All this time it’s been a one way street, with me hogging the road.”
    “So I hopped in with you.”
    “You’re not making sense, Jase.”
    “That’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself.”  He should just tell her now that he loved her.  That her happiness was his sunlight.    But it wasn’t time- not until she could fully trust him. “Are we good now?” he asked.
    “Yeah, I guess. And for what it’s worth, I really am sorry for not trusting you yesterday. I don’t know what got into me.”
    “It’s in the past; let’s just leave it there.”
    Allie opened her mouth about to speak then closed it again. He watched her struggle to think of the right words she wanted to say until she seemed to discard them and moved to something else. “Do you realize that’s the first major argument we’ve ever had?” she asked him.
    “One argument in twenty some years is a pretty good record, don’t you think?”
    “You’re right.”  Allie became pensive again, and Jase wished he could read her like he used to be able to.
    “Talk to me, Allie Cat. Tell me what is going on in that overthinking head of yours.”
    She bit her lip, fear crossing her expression. “I used to think there was nothing that could shake our friendship. Every memory of my life’s important events, includes you. Last night, after we got home, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we wouldn’t come out of this unscathed.”
    “There is nothing that can tear our friendship apart. That, I can promise you.”
    “I’m scared, Jase. Yesterday was a wake-up call. I can’t lose what we have. Our friendship means everything to me.”
    “You’re not going to.”
    “What about when you go to the Triple M?”
    “Two decades of friendship can’t be defeated by five hundred miles.” What else could he say, when he wasn’t sure himself? He’d had the same doubts. Leaving for the Triple M would inevitably change the dynamic of their friendship. And if she couldn’t open her eyes to his love, then he had no choice but to leave. He wanted to believe their friendship could withstand anything; he just had to hold firmly onto that faith.
    “By the way, you pretty much announced our nuptials to the