Read Online Winter Winds by Gayle Roper - Free Book Online Page A

you had kept your feelings under tight rein for years, then let them loose in one glorious weekend, only to have the sweet, fizzing wine of love turn sour before its time?
    “When?” Phil demanded.
    “When what? When did I fall in love with her, or when did I marry her?”
    “Both.”
    Trev looked at his disgruntled brother. “I realized I loved her when I was about fifteen.”
    Phil shuddered. “This creeps me out.”
    Trev leaned against the wall and crossed one foot over the other. “Yeah, I guess it does sound weird.”
    Suddenly Phil’s fists balled, and he leaned in Trev’s face. “Did you ever take advantage of her? Is that why she left?”
    Trev held up a hand in the sign of peace. “Easy, Phil. Relax. I never took advantage of her in any way. I might not have been a Christian back then, but I’d like to think that I still had some integrity. After all, Pop raised me.”
    “So when did you marry her?”
    “The weekend before she disappeared.”
    “That was six years ago!”
    “Close your mouth, Phil. Flies will get in.”
    Phil frowned. “You’re nuts.”
    “I know. Was, am, and always will be nuts about her.”
    “Then why in the world do you live in New Jersey and she lives in California?”
    “That’s the big question, Phil. And I don’t know the answer.”
    “You mean she’s never told you why she walked? Come on, Trev. You’re not dumb. You must know what you did.”
    Trev pushed himself off the wall and began to pace. “She told me I broke my vows to her.”
    “You were unfaithful? You? Mr. Squeaky-Clean Christian?”
    “I wasn’t a Christian then.”
    “Oh, yeah, you weren’t. You were the quintessential ladies’ man.”
    Trev eyed his brother. “Look who’s talking.”
    Phil shrugged, not denying he had a similar reputation. “But back to this Dori thing. If you were only married for one weekend, how’d you have time to be with another woman?”
    “I was never with another woman.”
    “Never?”
    “From that moment to this.”
    “Did you tell her that?”
    “Of course I told her, but she kept saying she knew what she knew, and what she knew was that I’d broken my vows. If I cared so little for her, I didn’t deserve her.”
    “And this makes sense to you?” Phil asked.
    “No!” Trev rubbed between his brows to ease the tension. “No,” he said more gently.
    “So when did you get your divorce?”
    Trev turned to him, startled. “We’re not divorced.”
    “What?”
    “We’re not divorced.”
    “You haven’t lived together for six years, but you’re still married?”
    Trev shrugged. He had no idea how to explain. All he knew was that he would never, ever institute divorce proceedings against Dori, and for some reason known only to her, she had never moved against him either.
    He’d talked about this strange situation with Dr. Quentin, his seminary professor and the man he considered his mentor.
    “I love her,” he’d told Dr. Quentin several times. “I want to be married to her. I want her with me.”
    Dr. Quentin nodded. “What if she doesn’t ever want to be with you?”
    “If she divorces me, there’s not much I can do about it, is there?” He heard the self-pity in his voice and flinched inside.
    “Probably not. But you do know that being divorced will affect your ministry, don’t you?”
    “Oh yes, I understand that.” And he did, all too well. There were many churches that wouldn’t even consider a divorced man for their pulpit. “I just keep praying that she comes back, and not just because of its effect on my ministry. I love her.”
    “Just be careful of that anger if she comes back.” Dr. Quentin smiled. “It could sink your love boat before you’re even out of port.”
    So he continued to hope that one day she’d come home, that one day she’d be willing to talk to him about whatever it was that was stuck in her craw, that one day they could straighten things out and have a marriage like Pop and Honey.
    An amused smile