At Home in Stone Creek (Silhouette Special Edition) by Linda Lael Miller Read Free Book Online

then settled into its normal pace again. “You didn’t hate her?” she asked, stunned.
    â€œShe was my mother,” Brad said. “Of course I didn’t hate her.”
    â€œThings might have been so different—”
    â€œAshley,” Brad broke in, “things weren’t different. That’s the point. Delia’s gone, for good this time. You’ve got to let go.”
    â€œWhat if I can’t?” Ashley whispered.
    â€œYou don’t have a choice, Button.”
    Button . Their grandfather had called both her and Melissa by that nickname; like most twins, they were used to sharing things. “Do you miss Big John as much as I do?” she asked.
    â€œYes,” Brad answered, without hesitation, his voice still gruff. He looked down at his coffee mug for a second or so, then raised his gaze to meet Ashley’s again. “Same thing,” he said. “He’s gone. And letting go is something I have to do about three times a day.”
    Ashley got up, suddenly unable to sit still. She brought the coffee carafe to the table and refilled Brad’s cup. She spoke very quietly. “But it was a one-time thing, letting go of Mom?”
    â€œYeah,” Brad said. “And it happened a long, long time ago. I remember it distinctly—it was the night my high school basketball team took the state championship. I was sure she’d be in the bleachers, clapping and cheering like everybody else. She wasn’t, of course, and that was when I got it through my head that she wasn’t coming back—ever.”
    Ashley’s heart ached. Brad was her big brother; he’d always been strong. Why hadn’t she realized that he’d been hurt, too?
    â€œBig John stayed , Ashley,” he went on, while she sat there gulping. “He stuck around, through good times and bad. Even after he’d buried his only son, he kept on keeping on. Mom caught the afternoon bus out of town and couldn’t be bothered to call or even send a postcard. I did my mourning long before she died.”
    Ashley could only nod.
    Brad was quiet for a while, pondering, taking the occasional sip from his coffee mug. Then he spoke again. “Here’s the thing,” he said. “When the chips were down, I basically did the same thing as Mom—got on a bus and left Big John to take care of the ranch and raise the three of you all by himself—so I’m in no position to judge anybody else. Bottom line, Ash? People are what they are, and they do what they do, and you have to decide either to accept that or walk away without looking back.”
    Ashley managed a wobbly smile. Sniffled once. “I’m sorry I’m late on the mortgage payments,” she said.
    Brad rolled his eyes. “Like I’m worried,” he replied, his body making the subtle shifts that meant he’d be leaving soon. With one arm, he gestured to indicate the B&B. “Why won’t you just let me sign the place over to you?”
    â€œWould you do that,” Ashley challenged reasonably, “if our situations were reversed?”
    He flushed slightly, got to his feet. “No,” he admitted, “but—”
    â€œBut what?”
    Brad grinned sheepishly, and his powerful shoulders shifted slightly under his shirt.
    â€œBut you’re a man?” Ashley finished for him, when he didn’t speak. “Is that what you were going to say?”
    â€œWell, yeah,” Brad said.
    â€œYou’ll have the mortgage payments as soon as I get a chance to run Jack’s credit card,” she told her brother, rising to walk him to the back door. Color suffused her cheeks. “Thanks for coming into town,” she added. “I feel like a fool for panicking.”
    In the midst of pulling on his jacket, Brad paused. “I’m a big brother,” he said, somewhat gruffly. “It’s what we do.”
    â€œAre you and Meg going to the