Chill Factor by Sandra Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

completely engulfed in cloud. He’d come down just in time and was relieved to know that Lilly had been right behind him and was well on her way south to Atlanta by now. If she made good time, she could probably outrun the storm, arriving home before it caught up with her.
    He still thought of her constantly, of where she was, of what she was doing. It was a habit that no goddamn decree of divorcement could break. Remembering how she’d looked at him before he left the cabin created a weight in his chest as heavy as an anvil. She’d been afraid of him. Which wasnobody’s fault but his own. He’d given her reason to fear him.
    â€œHey, Chief!” Wes Hamer was shouting at him from the sidewalk just outside Ritt’s Drug Store. “Get over here. I’m a taxpaying citizen, and I’ve got a gripe.”
    Dutch pulled his Bronco out of the line of cars inching along Main Street and into the handicapped parking space in front of the drugstore. He lowered his window, letting in a blast of frigid air.
    Wes came toward him with the shoulder-rolling amble of a former football player. Both his knees and one hip were afflicted with osteoarthritis, but that wasn’t something Wes advertised. He would do damn near anything to keep from owning up to a weakness of any sort.
    â€œYou got a complaint, Coach?” Dutch deadpanned.
    â€œYou’re the number one peace officer around here. Can’t you clear the streets of these morons?”
    â€œI’d start with you.”
    Wes guffawed but immediately sensed Dutch’s dour mood and leaned in closer. “Hey, buddy, why the long face?”
    â€œI said good-bye to Lilly for the last time. Couple hours ago. Up at the cabin. She’s gone for good, Wes.”
    Wes turned away. “Scott, go warm up the car. I’ll be right there.” Scott, who’d been standing beneath the awning outside Ritt’s store, caught the set of car keys Wes tossed to him, raised his other hand in a farewell wave to Dutch, then sauntered off down the sidewalk.
    â€œHas he heard anything from Clemson yet?” Dutch asked.
    â€œWe can talk about that later. Let’s talk about your wife.”
    â€œEx-wife. Emphasis on the ex, which she made perfectly clear this afternoon.”
    â€œI thought you were going to talk to her.”
    â€œI did.”
    â€œNo go?”
    â€œNo go. She’s got her divorce and she’s happy about it. She wants nothing to do with me. It’s over.” He rubbed his brow with his gloved hand.
    â€œAre you gonna cry, or what? Jesus, Dutch, don’t make me ashamed to call you my best friend.”
    Dutch turned and looked at him. “Fuck you.”
    Unfazed, Wes continued. “The way you’re mewling around.” He shook his head over Dutch’s pathetic behavior. “Lilly didn’t know a good thing when she had it. So screw her. My opinion of her has always been—”
    â€œI don’t want to hear your opinion of her.”
    â€œShe thinks her shit don’t stink.”
    â€œI said I didn’t want to hear it, all right?”
    Wes held up both hands as though in surrender. “All right. But it isn’t like she holds me in high esteem.”
    â€œShe thinks you’re an asshole.”
    â€œLike I’m gonna lose sleep over what Ms. Lilly Martin Burton thinks of me.” Smiling crookedly, he clapped his hand on Dutch’s shoulder. “You’re taking this breakup way too hard. You lost your wife, not your manhood. Look around,” he said,gesturing expansively. “There are women everywhere.”
    â€œI’ve had women,” Dutch muttered.
    Wes tilted his head. “Yeah? All along or lately?”
    Both, Dutch thought. He’d lined up plenty of justifications for his first affair. He was under continual pressure at work. Lilly was preoccupied establishing her career. Their lovemaking had become predictable and