Read Online Still the One by Robin Wells - Free Book Online

surgery had been just five days ago. Her hair was different from the way she’d worn it when
     they were married. It was longer, and a lighter shade of blonde.
    She was lovely. It had always amazed him that a woman so beautiful had ever had anything to do with the likes of him.
    The way she stiffened against the pillow as he stepped closer made his heart squeeze. So did the wariness in her usually soft
     gray eyes. “Dave. What are you doing here?”
    The faint scent of his Aramis aftershave stirred up a hornet’s nest of emotions in Annette’s chest. Damn it—despite the fact
     he’d yanked out her heart and stomped all over it, Dave still made it skip. She tilted up her chin, determined not to let
     him know it.
    “I thought I’d come see how you’re doing,” he said.
    He hadn’t cared in years, Annette thought. Why should he care now? Probably because he was lonely now that the tramp he’d
     married had left him. It had been all over town when Linda had run off with the owner of that bar in Hammond a year ago. Annette
     had been living in New Orleans then, but she’d gotten eleven phone calls within four hours of Dave’s new wife picking up and
     moving on.
    She shouldn’t have cared. She’d told herself that she was over him and she was better off without him. She liked to think
     that she was the kind of person who didn’t harbor grudges or hold ill will, but God help her, she’d been glad.
Good
, she’d thought.
Let him find out what it feels like to be left.
Turnabout, after all, was fair play.
    “How are you feeling?” Dave asked.
    “Just fine,” she said stiffly.
    “I’m mighty glad to hear it.” He stretched his hand out and laid the bouquet on the tray. “I brought you roses.”
    Too little, too late. She could count on one hand the number of times he’d brought her flowers during their thirty-two years
     of marriage. Four times the first year, then once again after she’d given birth to Paul two years later. Of course, he’d deluged
     her with flowers after she’d caught him with his pants down, but those times didn’t count, because as far as she was concerned,
     the marriage had been already over.
    Still, she was a Southern lady, and her upbringing insisted that politeness be observed. “Thank you,” she said stiffly.
    “Do you want me to put them in water?” he asked.
    “I don’t have a vase.”
    His face fell. He rubbed his jaw. “I should have thought of that.”
    You should have thought of a lot of things.
Why was he here, tormenting her? She’d moved on. She was over him. She didn’t want him coming around, picking at scabs she’d
     thought had healed. She didn’t want him to know he still had the ability to affect her in any way. Her grandmother’s soft
     Southern drawl replayed in her mind:
A lady kills her foes with kindness.
Determined to follow the advice, she forced her voice into a modulated tone. “Maybe the staff has something.”
    Dave nodded. “I’ll check at the nurse’s desk when I leave.”
    Which couldn’t happen too soon, Annette thought darkly. Instead of heading for the door, though, Dave sat down in the faux-leather
     recliner beside the bed. “You look good, Annette.”
    Her hand flew to her hair before she could stop herself. Katie had washed and styled her hair yesterday, but Annette hadn’t
     combed it since this morning, and she wasn’t wearing any makeup. It annoyed her that Dave had caught her at less than her
     best, then it annoyed her even more that she cared. She lowered her hand and smoothed the sheet. “I’m sure I’m a vision of
     loveliness,” she said dryly.
    “Actually, you are.”
    “A little old for your tastes, apparently.” The words flew out before she could stop them. Damn it—she hated the bitterness
     in her voice, but she couldn’t help it. Aging wasn’t an option she’d selected. It was something happening to her without her
     permission. How could she compete with a woman twenty years younger? She