Read Online Wild Flower by Abbie Williams - Free Book Online Page A

not at all,” prompting Rae to promise, “But if they do, Daddy, I’ll kiss them for you.”
    Justin had been so self-conscious of his scars that it had almost ended our relationship before it even fully began; it had taken some damn hard convincing on my part that they didn’t bother me at all, that he didn’t look like a monster. I realized that other people might not share this opinion; I bore witness to the way people who did not know him, out-of-towners in Landon for example, would do a double-take when they caught sight of his face. I saw only the man I loved, the sexy, stubborn, passionate and incredibly loving man who’d staked a claim in my heart back when we were little kids. An accident in his repair shop had led to the red, rope-like scars that crisscrossed the right side of his face and continued down along his neck. But as I’d told him years ago, it was this accident that eventually led us to one another.
    I breathed deeply of the fresh morning air, smelling the lake in the near-distance, a scent as dear and familiar to me as almost any I knew. I didn’t want to let the thought of Aubrey Pritchard ruin the morning in even a small way, but she intruded into my mind even so. I acknowledged that if Justin’s face had never been scarred, he may very well still be married to Aubrey; even though they’d had problems in their marriage prior to the accident, it been the catalyst that had finally ended their relationship, when Aubrey left him for another man.
    God, Jilly, you’re being completely ridiculous, I told myself. It’s not like you to get so ruffled.
    But just the thought of Justin still belonging to that smirking snake of a woman made me feel slightly nauseous. Thankfully Shore Leave came into view then, through the trees, and Rae darted ahead.
    â€œDon’t run into the parking lot!” I yelled after her, even though the café wasn’t open. Other than Dodge, who stopped out every morning for coffee, only Mom, Aunt Ellen, Camille and Millie Jo would be around and about, but still. Supply trucks often rumbled through the lot on early Monday mornings like this. Rae changed course and trotted back to me as I continued at a more sedate pace past Mom and Aunt Ellen’s house, the one in which I’d been raised, and then the detached garage where Clint and I had moved when he was just a toddler, shortly after Chris died.
    â€œC’mon, Mama!” Rae ordered, standing with hands on hips. She was wearing a pair of sunburst-yellow shorts and a lime-green tank top with matching polka dots. I smiled and wondered if any child, ever, had looked so adorable.
    â€œMama’s coming,” I assured her, catching her hand back into mine as we reached the café, Flickertail Lake a muted indigo blue, still mostly in shade as the sun slowly crested the trees on the eastern shore. Mathias’s truck was the only one in the lot at the moment. I heard Mom and Aunt Ellen through the open window, and then Millie Jo raced through the screen door, her dark curls streaming behind her.
    â€œRae!” she squealed, wrapping my daughter into a hug.
    I loved how they always acted as though they were being reunited after months apart. The door sang on its aging hinges as I entered the warm space, smelling coffee and cinnamon rolls, just as I’d been hoping.
    â€œHi, sweetie,” Aunt Ellen said, from where she and Mom were sitting at table three.
    â€œJillian, Dodge told us about Aubrey’s car,” Mom said without preamble.
    Dammit . It was the last thing I wanted to talk about, but in our family nothing was ever a secret for long.
    â€œYeah, how stupid, huh?” I asked, joining them, trying for a self-deprecating tone.
    â€œJilly, you know I don’t insure that damn old truck,” Mom said. “Why ever did you drive it into town?”
    â€œMy trunk’s full,” I explained shortly, gladly accepting the mug Aunt