Everything but the marriage by Dallas Schulze Read Free Book Online Page A

seemed to have slammed the door on every other feeling. She sighed, scuffing her bare feet over the surface of the road, which was still damp from last night's rain.
    She'd seen the way Devlin Russell looked at her, sensed the puzzlement in his eyes. She couldn't blame

    him. Sometimes she felt a sort of puzzlement herself. She could remember another Annalise, someone who'd laughed much more than she cried, someone who'd thrown her arms open to life.
    She shook her head, pushing the memories away. That Annalise was gone. It was like remembering someone she'd known a long time ago. It was safer not to remember, not to feel.
    The mailbox was empty. Annalise stared at it for a moment before slowly closing the door. She pushed her hands into the pockets of the baggy sweatpants and looked up and down the empty road. Should she wait for the mail carrier or go back to the house?
    Before she could make a decision, a rustling in the tall grass beside the mailbox drew her attention. It seemed more than the light breeze could account for. She would have ignored the movement, as indifferent to it as she was to virtually everything else around her, but some small sound accompanied it. Not quite a whimper, nothing as demanding as a cry, it held a plaintive note that pierced straight to feelings Annalise had thought all but dead.
    She moved closer and crouched down, peering into the growth of weeds and grasses. It was impossible to see anything, nevertheless she knew the sound hadn't been a product of her imagination. She held out her hand, rubbing her fingers together coaxingly.
    "Hello in there," she whispered. She scooted closer. "Who are you?"
    There was silence and then a scratchy mew of inquiry.

    *'A cat, huh?" She rubbed her fingers together again. "Why don't you come out and let me take a look at you?"
    Another silence answered her. She waited patiently, aware that her heart was beating much too fast. She was prepared to kneel beside the road all day, if necessary. She hadn't thought she had it in her to care about anything anymore, but she could no more have walked away from the animal than she could have flapped her arms and taken flight.
    Aiiother hesitant inquiry, a Uttle louder this time, gave Annalise new hope. The grass stirred, and a pair of golden eyes peered unblinkingly out at her. There was something in that gaze, an almost human wariness that brought a tightness to her chest, as if a fist were squeezing at her heart. Or perhaps as if a terrible pressure were suddenly being eased.
    "Come here, kitty. I won't hurt you. Are you all alone out here?" She kept her hand extended and continued the soft patter.
    It seemed terribly important that the cat come to her. She couldn't have said quite why. Maybe something in that lonely little cry, in the need that underlay the animal's suspicious gaze, had spoken to some part of her that she'd thought numb forever.
    She'd felt a tiny crack in that wall this morning when she'd looked into Devlin Russell's eyes. He'd provided her with food, clothing and saved her life, even if she didn't recall that. He'd asked few questions, made no demands.
    The cat crept a few inches closer and Annalise felt the crack widen. She'd never been proof against

    someone else's need, whether that someone was human or animal. It was one of the things Bill had said he loved about her and part of what had eventually destroyed their marriage.
    But she didn't want to think about Bill right now. He was part of another life, part of the hurt she'd tried so hard to lock away. Right now, she was only concerned with the cat, with convincing it to trust her. Maybe she could help the cat even though she'd failed so miserably at helping herself.
    Devlin looked over his shoulder and saw Annalise walking back up the driveway. She'd been gone so long, he'd begun to wonder if she'd just kept walking. He'd told himself that it was fine with him if she didn't come back—it would certainly eliminate the problem of what to do