A Breath of Heaven: El Camino Real by Sable Hunter Read Free Book Online Page A

walls were thin. Cade could
hear her moving around. This could be fun…
    “Shoot, shoot, shoot,” Abby grumbled. How
in the world was she going to survive this week? She loved Christmas, but it
was stressful even at the best of times. Heck, she didn’t even have her tree
yet. Add the wedding to the typical holiday madness, spike it with her extreme
dislike of Jase’s choice of bride…why, she’d be lucky if her hair didn’t fall
out from sheer nerves. And now that Cade was in the picture and underfoot,
insanity sure to be just around the corner. It was obvious he was going to do
everything in his power to torment her.
    Jerking her sweater off, she shed her
jeans and underwear as she walked. Abby stalked into the bathroom and turned on
the shower. Turning to pick up a towel, she caught a glimpse of her body in the
full length mirror on the back of the door. A spike of shame and sorrow pierced
her heart. Most of the time she could forget, but Cade made her feel things
she’d spent years trying to bury.
    Needless things. Things she could never
have. Like a husband, a family and a sex life.
    “Don’t even go there,” she chastised
herself. “There’s no use.” Quickly, she went through her bedtime routine. To
get her mind off what couldn’t be, she went over her schedule for the next day.
Bryce Adams was bringing his prize stallion to mate with one of Chris
Farnsworth’s mares. Many breeders were using artificial insemination, but Bryce
preferred the old fashioned way. He thought letting nature take its course kept
his stock healthier and happier. Abby couldn’t help but agree. She knew she’d
be healthier and happier if she let nature take its course, but she couldn’t—she
just couldn’t. Cade must never know she pushed him away because she couldn’t
afford to pull him close.
    Sighing, she got out of the shower,
toweled dry, and went to her chest of drawers, pulling out a pair of sleep
shorts and a night shirt. Straightening what remained, her fingers touched a
framed photo. When he’d been asking where his picture was, she hadn’t told the
truth…it was here in her room – in her dresser, so she could take it out and
look at it anytime she wanted to. Many night she’d slept with it beneath her
pillow or held close to her heart. Pulling out the eight by ten, she held it
up, running her fingers over his image. It was a shot he’d given her mother.
Abby had stolen it, not that Amelia was fooled. She knew her daughter too well.
She knew what Abby had given up and exactly how she felt about Cade. Smiling
sadly, she studied his face. He was so handsome, so dear. “God, help me,” she
sighed. “You’ll never know how much I love you.” Tenderly, she kissed the
glass, leaving yet another smudge, for she did this often – most every night.
    Replacing the photograph carefully, she
covered it up, then pulled on a pair of sleep shorts and a nightshirt. Padding
to the bed, she glanced at the clock. It was only ten, a little early to go to
sleep, but she could read a while or…something. Spending another moment with
Cade when he was in such an aggravating mood was impossible. Throwing back the
covers, she plumped her pillow and yawned. Crawling on all fours to the middle
of the bed, she plopped down and stared at the ceiling.
    Then she heard it.
    “Abby Grace…Abby Grace…”
    Cade’s slightly sing-song saying of her
name made her jerk.
    “Abby?”
    She pinched her lips together and pulled
the pillow over her head.
    “Abby, I can hear every move you make…from
you slapping the pillow, to the bed creaking, to those sweet little sighs you
make as you nestle down into the covers.”
    Abby turned over. If she ignored him,
maybe he’d go away.
    “Abby, can you hear me?”
    “No!”
    “Oh, okay.”
    She heard him chuckle.
    “Go to sleep, Cade.”
    “I’d rather talk to you.” She heard his
bed creak. “Let’s play a game.”
    Oh, Lord. “What kind of game?”
    “Let’s have phone sex without