Read Online Sleeping With The Enemy (A Stranger's Touch) by Mary Eason - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mary Eason
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didn’t speak—didn’t try to comfort him. He sat quietly waiting, until Alex looked at him again.
“Why did you marry my daughter, Alex? Would you have me believe all this display of emotion is because you really love Kate? If that’s the truth, if you truly love her, then you must let her go...” He held up a hand when he spotted the desperation Alex could no longer hide.
“...Or you’re going to need to be patient and wait. You can’t force her to come back to you, Alex. If you try, you will be doing it for all the wrong reasons. For your own happiness. Right now, you need to think about Kate’s.”
Alex never felt as helpless as he did at that moment. It was surprising to see more compassion than he deserved from Kate’s father.
“I can’t, don’t you see? I can’t just let her leave, thinking I married her out of some need for revenge. Nothing could be further from the truth. I love Kate! She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved. I won’t let her go because I’m so afraid I’ll never see her again.”
“You may not. I think that’s the gamble you took in choosing this path in the first place, don’t you? What did you really expect when you involved someone innocent like my daughter in your plans? You may have to accept the fact you will never see Kate again, at least not as your wife.”
“No! I won’t accept that—I can’t,” Alex said before picking up Robert’s phone. He tried Kate’s number once more without answer. But he knew she would call back. She worried about her father.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Alex felt as guilty as the look on Robert’s face told him he should by what he was doing. “I have to know where she’s going. Since she’s not talking to me and you won’t tell me where she’s gone, what else am I supposed to do? I know she’ll call you back. She cares about you.”
Robert got to his feet. The two men stood across the room from each other, locked in an emotional standoff; then Alex began pacing the room again.
“Well? Say it. You obviously don’t agree I should be doing everything I can to find her. Robert, Kate’s upset. She’s not thinking clearly. She might be in trouble. I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if anything happened to her.”
At the gentle pressure of the other man’s hand against his shoulder, Alex saw what he’d been too upset to notice before. Where Kate inherited those stunning green eyes of hers.
While Robert’s were just a faded picture of his wife’s, they reminded him enough of hers to make him struggle to fight back the tears clogging his throat.
“Come on, son. I think we both could do with something to eat and perhaps some good strong coffee. Help me make it, will you?”
Alex fought the urge to be angry with the man. The last thing he wanted to do was eat. He was a man of action, used to taking control of even the most critical of situations. The very thought that there was nothing he could do right now but wait, was like a form of mental torment.
But in the end, he followed quietly after the older man, too mentally weary to do anything else.
“Coffee’s in the cabinet over there to your right. You make the coffee, and I’ll fix the food. Sorry I don’t have anything nearly as fancy like what you’re accustomed to. You’ll have to do with just a sandwich. Take your coat off, son, unless of course you prefer to leave.”
Alex stared at the coffeemaker as if it were a foreign object. Then he sighed and spotted Robert standing with the refrigerator door open, watching him with concern and just a hint of wry amusement. Robert must be finding his fall to reality quite rewarding.
Quietly he removed his suit coat, and hung it on the back of one of the kitchen chairs, and then he rolled up his sleeves and began making coffee.
There was something therapeutic about doing such a simple, mindless task.
How long had it been since the simple things in life mattered to him? Even the coffeemaker
“Why did you marry my daughter, Alex? Would you have me believe all this display of emotion is because you really love Kate? If that’s the truth, if you truly love her, then you must let her go...” He held up a hand when he spotted the desperation Alex could no longer hide.
“...Or you’re going to need to be patient and wait. You can’t force her to come back to you, Alex. If you try, you will be doing it for all the wrong reasons. For your own happiness. Right now, you need to think about Kate’s.”
Alex never felt as helpless as he did at that moment. It was surprising to see more compassion than he deserved from Kate’s father.
“I can’t, don’t you see? I can’t just let her leave, thinking I married her out of some need for revenge. Nothing could be further from the truth. I love Kate! She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved. I won’t let her go because I’m so afraid I’ll never see her again.”
“You may not. I think that’s the gamble you took in choosing this path in the first place, don’t you? What did you really expect when you involved someone innocent like my daughter in your plans? You may have to accept the fact you will never see Kate again, at least not as your wife.”
“No! I won’t accept that—I can’t,” Alex said before picking up Robert’s phone. He tried Kate’s number once more without answer. But he knew she would call back. She worried about her father.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Alex felt as guilty as the look on Robert’s face told him he should by what he was doing. “I have to know where she’s going. Since she’s not talking to me and you won’t tell me where she’s gone, what else am I supposed to do? I know she’ll call you back. She cares about you.”
Robert got to his feet. The two men stood across the room from each other, locked in an emotional standoff; then Alex began pacing the room again.
“Well? Say it. You obviously don’t agree I should be doing everything I can to find her. Robert, Kate’s upset. She’s not thinking clearly. She might be in trouble. I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if anything happened to her.”
At the gentle pressure of the other man’s hand against his shoulder, Alex saw what he’d been too upset to notice before. Where Kate inherited those stunning green eyes of hers.
While Robert’s were just a faded picture of his wife’s, they reminded him enough of hers to make him struggle to fight back the tears clogging his throat.
“Come on, son. I think we both could do with something to eat and perhaps some good strong coffee. Help me make it, will you?”
Alex fought the urge to be angry with the man. The last thing he wanted to do was eat. He was a man of action, used to taking control of even the most critical of situations. The very thought that there was nothing he could do right now but wait, was like a form of mental torment.
But in the end, he followed quietly after the older man, too mentally weary to do anything else.
“Coffee’s in the cabinet over there to your right. You make the coffee, and I’ll fix the food. Sorry I don’t have anything nearly as fancy like what you’re accustomed to. You’ll have to do with just a sandwich. Take your coat off, son, unless of course you prefer to leave.”
Alex stared at the coffeemaker as if it were a foreign object. Then he sighed and spotted Robert standing with the refrigerator door open, watching him with concern and just a hint of wry amusement. Robert must be finding his fall to reality quite rewarding.
Quietly he removed his suit coat, and hung it on the back of one of the kitchen chairs, and then he rolled up his sleeves and began making coffee.
There was something therapeutic about doing such a simple, mindless task.
How long had it been since the simple things in life mattered to him? Even the coffeemaker
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