Baby, Come Back by Erica Spindler Read Free Book Online Page B

over the tiniest bit of kindness or attention, even when offhand.
    â€œThat’s okay, Mr. Bradford,” she whispered. “It wasn’t your fault.”
    â€œIt was his fault, Sheri,” Jeff countered, furious. “He can’t stand that you and I have each other. He’d like nothing better than to drive a wedge between us. Isn’t that right, Attorney Bradford?”
    â€œI’ve had enough of this,” Hayes said, making a slicing motion with his right hand. “You’re my son. You live under my roof. I expect you home in thirty minutes.” He nodded at Sheri and Alice, then started for the door.
    â€œHey, Dad,” Jeff called. Hayes stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder at his son. “When I telephoned, didn’t you question why I was here? Did you think I’d just come to visit your old girlfriend, the one you dumped because you thought she was too much like Mom?”
    Hayes sucked in a quick, sharp breath, his son’s words ricocheting through him, making him feel as if he’d just been punched squarely in the gut. He shot a glance at Alice; she, too, looked as if she’d been slapped.
    He swore silently, battling for control. He didn’t want Alice hurt again. He didn’t want her dragged into his and Jeff’s problems. Unfortunately, Jeff didn’t have the same compunctions.
    Grasping the doorknob, he said, “Thirty minutes, son. No more.”
    Hayes let himself out. As he snapped the door shut behind him, he drew in a deep, painful breath. His son’s words had hurt. Just as Jeff had intended when he’d hurled them at him. His son had known just where to strike to inflict the deepest, bloodiest wound.
    Had Jeff learned that from him? Hayes wondered. Had his son watched him, listened and absorbed, just as he had with his own father? And would he end up in the same place at thirty-nine years old, alone save for an all-consuming career and a son who despised him?
    Emotion choking him, Hayes crossed the narrow gallery to its edge. Alice’s street, with it row of mostly restored cottages, faced the Tchefuncte river. The sleepy river wound its way through the community of Madisonville and beyond, lovely and wild. Hayes stared out at the quiet water, grateful for the dark, for the way the night enveloped him.
    He wasn’t losing Jeff.
    He’d lost him already.
    Hayes curved his hands around the gallery railing, fighting the emotion that raged inside him, just as he’d fought it all his life. Only this time he couldn’t control it. It barreled through him, leaving him feeling impotent, powerless to battle this thing happening between him and his son.
    Hayes heard the creak of the door a moment before the sliver of light fell across the porch, penetrating the darkness. Alice. He closed his eyes, drinking in the scent of her perfume, the cadence of her quiet breathing and the way both moved over him like warm water.
    â€œHayes?”
    He turned and met her gaze. She stood with the light behind her, her face in shadow. He sensed rather than saw the empathy in her eyes.
    She shut the door quietly and crossed the gallery. When she reached him, she caught his hand and laced their fingers. “Come.”
    She led him across the street, to the dark riverbank. For long moments they stood side by side, not speaking, listening to the gentle lap of the water against the shore.
    Alice tipped her face up to his. “I’m sorry. I know how much that must have hurt.”
    He touched his fingers to her cheek. Her skin was soft and warm. Real. He moved his hands to her hair, rubbing the silky strands between his fingers, remembering.
    They had shared only a matter of months of their past and yet in this moment he felt bound to her. Connected, as if Jeff had been theirs and they had shared all their lives. As if they had no secrets from each other.
    And it felt good. Damn good.
    He didn’t question the feeling,