Read Online What Might Have Been by Kira Sinclair - Free Book Online Page A

come?”
    She wanted the escape, more desperately than she’d realized until it was offered. But she was worried about leaving Gran and they only had three hours before they needed to be at the funeral home for the viewing.
    â€œGran’s sleeping. I left her a note and asked Mitch to check in on her in case she wakes up before we get back. I don’t expect she will, though. Come on, Ainsley. It’ll do you good to get away from here for a little while.”
    It was precisely what she needed to hear. There was so much to be done—early summer was one of their busiestseasons. But they had excellent people working for them and Mitch, their operational manager, and his men knew what they were doing. They could survive without her for an hour or two.
    Without really answering Luke, she got up from the table, set her half-filled cup into the sink and walked to the front of the house. She felt a little guilty for leaving the dirty cup there. But she knew it would wait for her. Right now she needed an escape from this place, from the weight of the loss of Pops and from the memories that Luke’s presence had stirred up.
    Besides, it had been weeks since she’d been to town just because. Summer was a busy time on the orchard and with Pops’s illness and death…
    She could hear the tread of Luke’s feet behind her, heavy and close. He kept bouncing his keys in a way that made her want to whip around and snatch them from his hand.
    The ride into town was uneventful. He drove fast, faster than she’d have liked but even she couldn’t deny the burst of adrenaline through her body as they’d zoomed away from the house and the responsibilities waiting for her there.
    While part of her fought against the panic that always came with driving fast down country roads, she could tell from the way Luke handled the wheel that he knew what he was doing.
    But then, she’d thought Logan had, as well.
    And he would have been fine, if they hadn’t beenarguing. It was the one and only time they’d ever fought. And that day it’d been over Luke.
    Over whether she should tell him about Alex. They’d only found out where Luke was a few days earlier. Until then the option had been closed to her.
    Logan had wanted her to let Luke know about the baby, but she hadn’t been ready to change the way she’d built up the pregnancy and raising her child in her mind. Without Luke. She wasn’t prepared to let him back in. Not after he’d left her so easily. Not then.
    And after that it had no longer mattered.
    Luke pulled up in front of the county courthouse. She wasn’t sure why it hadn’t occurred to her, but she’d never imagined this was his destination.
    â€œI need to run inside. Do you want to come?”
    She most certainly did not. Whatever he was doing most likely had to do with the sale of the orchard, and while she’d resigned herself to the inevitable, that didn’t mean she’d support him on the decision.
    â€œNo. I’ll pop into a couple of the stores down the street.”
    He just nodded and walked away.
    She wandered, allowing the early-afternoon sunshine to warm her bare shoulders and the top of her head. She spent quite a bit of her time outdoors, but usually she had an agenda. Right now, she had no responsibilities, no pressures, no expectations to meet. She felt liberated and a little anxious, not quite sure what to do with herself.
    There were several quaint little shops along the strip.Old brick buildings with as much history as the farmhouse.
    There were antique stores, an elegant-looking interior design firm, a photography studio and the cutest toy store she’d ever seen.
    She stood outside the display window, watching the toys. There was a model train set up, complete with moving drawbridge, tiny houses and miniature trees. Off to one side, they’d even erected a peach orchard, paying homage to the area’s