Read Online Rocky Mountain Hero (To Love Again Book 3) by Kate Fargo - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kate Fargo
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understood Isabel. And he knew what the problem was. She was scared.
Good old fashioned fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of taking a chance. Fear of falling in love again. He’d like to get his hands on her ex-husband Chet. Chet the cheat. He’d obviously wounded her more than she was willing to let on. Why else would a woman like Isabel insulate herself for the last three years?
Her career was important, and she’d needed time to raise her kids, but it didn’t add up. She was a warm, loving, responsive woman – not the type of woman that should choose to live her life alone.
He dug through his briefcase and fished out a couple of text books. With exams in the next few days, he might as well start studying now. He flipped through the pages, seeing nothing, the highlighter left unused on the table.
All his courses in psychology. He should have known better. Isabel had been like a deer in the headlights when he’d tried to reveal his feelings for her. He’d seen the signs and charged ahead anyway. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Now, he may have lost all chance with her.
She seemed like a woman who, once her mind was made up, wouldn’t change it easily. In one painful, quick moment she’d cut him out of her life.
Not that he had ever been in her life, but they had come through a lot in just a few days. He felt closer to her than any woman he’d ever met, and he knew – he just knew – that she felt the same.
A part of him even understood her reluctance. He’d also been overwhelmed by the intensity of his feelings, but the chance to be with her made it worth risking it all. He’d been ready to leap off the cliff, leap into the unknown. Leap into what he wanted his reality to look like. He should have taken more time trying to figure out where Isabel had been on the cliff. She, apparently, was not even near the edge.
She’d been so accepting of him, now he would have to return that gift. If she needed time, he would give her time. If she never came back, he would have to respect her decision and learn to live with that, too.
Pushing his books to the side, he stood abruptly and grabbed his running jacket from the back of the door. Dawn was just breaking over the horizon as he stepped into the street and broke into a run. Like a man chased by demons, he sprinted away from his home.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Dr. Cormier on line two, Dr. Chapel.” Heidi’s voice echoed across the intercom. Isabel stared at the phone, she hadn’t heard from Ned since one of his referrals had walked out of her office after only one session. Just yesterday she’d met with another couple he had referred to her. She picked up the phone slowly, certain they were to be his last referrals.
She quickly replayed the session in her mind. They’d come in with the usual kit of problems, but by the end of the session they were feeling positive. She’d given them a series of exercises to try and felt she’d built a rapport with them.
Since that long weekend with Tray almost a month ago, she’d felt on top of her game. Confident, in touch with her clients. The old Isabel. Surely she hadn’t totally misread the Carnes.
“Ned, what a surprise,” she said, with a cheer she didn’t feel, into the phone.
“Isabel, what are you doing over there?”
“Wh-wh-what?”
“The Carnes called me this morning, they couldn’t get over their session with you.”
“Oh, Ned, I’m so sorry, I-”
“Sorry? They praised you up and down and couldn’t thank me enough for the referral. Have you created some new rocket science over there?”
Her laugh rang through the telephone line, a wave of relief sweeping through her. “It’s just my usual charming approach.”
“I don’t mind telling you Isabel, I was a little worried after I referred the Smiths to you. They actually called me afterward asking for another referral.”
“I don’t know what to say Ned.”
“Yes you do. Things don’t always work. Clients don’t always click with
Good old fashioned fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of taking a chance. Fear of falling in love again. He’d like to get his hands on her ex-husband Chet. Chet the cheat. He’d obviously wounded her more than she was willing to let on. Why else would a woman like Isabel insulate herself for the last three years?
Her career was important, and she’d needed time to raise her kids, but it didn’t add up. She was a warm, loving, responsive woman – not the type of woman that should choose to live her life alone.
He dug through his briefcase and fished out a couple of text books. With exams in the next few days, he might as well start studying now. He flipped through the pages, seeing nothing, the highlighter left unused on the table.
All his courses in psychology. He should have known better. Isabel had been like a deer in the headlights when he’d tried to reveal his feelings for her. He’d seen the signs and charged ahead anyway. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Now, he may have lost all chance with her.
She seemed like a woman who, once her mind was made up, wouldn’t change it easily. In one painful, quick moment she’d cut him out of her life.
Not that he had ever been in her life, but they had come through a lot in just a few days. He felt closer to her than any woman he’d ever met, and he knew – he just knew – that she felt the same.
A part of him even understood her reluctance. He’d also been overwhelmed by the intensity of his feelings, but the chance to be with her made it worth risking it all. He’d been ready to leap off the cliff, leap into the unknown. Leap into what he wanted his reality to look like. He should have taken more time trying to figure out where Isabel had been on the cliff. She, apparently, was not even near the edge.
She’d been so accepting of him, now he would have to return that gift. If she needed time, he would give her time. If she never came back, he would have to respect her decision and learn to live with that, too.
Pushing his books to the side, he stood abruptly and grabbed his running jacket from the back of the door. Dawn was just breaking over the horizon as he stepped into the street and broke into a run. Like a man chased by demons, he sprinted away from his home.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Dr. Cormier on line two, Dr. Chapel.” Heidi’s voice echoed across the intercom. Isabel stared at the phone, she hadn’t heard from Ned since one of his referrals had walked out of her office after only one session. Just yesterday she’d met with another couple he had referred to her. She picked up the phone slowly, certain they were to be his last referrals.
She quickly replayed the session in her mind. They’d come in with the usual kit of problems, but by the end of the session they were feeling positive. She’d given them a series of exercises to try and felt she’d built a rapport with them.
Since that long weekend with Tray almost a month ago, she’d felt on top of her game. Confident, in touch with her clients. The old Isabel. Surely she hadn’t totally misread the Carnes.
“Ned, what a surprise,” she said, with a cheer she didn’t feel, into the phone.
“Isabel, what are you doing over there?”
“Wh-wh-what?”
“The Carnes called me this morning, they couldn’t get over their session with you.”
“Oh, Ned, I’m so sorry, I-”
“Sorry? They praised you up and down and couldn’t thank me enough for the referral. Have you created some new rocket science over there?”
Her laugh rang through the telephone line, a wave of relief sweeping through her. “It’s just my usual charming approach.”
“I don’t mind telling you Isabel, I was a little worried after I referred the Smiths to you. They actually called me afterward asking for another referral.”
“I don’t know what to say Ned.”
“Yes you do. Things don’t always work. Clients don’t always click with
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