Forbidden Dreams by Judy Griffith; Gill Read Free Book Online Page B

mama.
    She opened her eyes and found Jase still gazing at her. She forced a smile. Inside, a clamoring voice asked if he remembered her mother, too, and if he had, as he matured, become aware of exactly who it was he remembered? And if so, what did he intend to do with the knowledge?
    Panic rippled through her as she searched his face. She found nothing there to say her fears were rational, but nothing, either, to say they weren’t. Oh, heaven help her—even if he hadn’t yet realized the significance of his recalling that summer, he might in time, and then what? Could he be trusted?
    How strange that he was the first person to come out of her childhood like this. How protected she—they—had been the past twenty years, how secure they’d become, thinking they had only to guard against the obvious dangers. And now, because one man remembered a summertime friend from long ago, was all the fine security they’d built in danger of coming apart?
    “Imagine,” she said, “your remembering me and my crabs all these years.”
    “Imagine my remembering your saying you’d marry me.” His dark eyes danced. “Of course, that was the first time a woman ever proposed marriage to me. I guess that’s not something a guy forgets.”
    “How many women have proposed marriage to you since?”
    He shrugged. “No so very many.”
    “I’m sure a few have wanted to.” Oh! How gauche! Shell would have given a lot to be able to recall those words.
    He looked away, and the name Sharba suddenly hung between them like a piece of soiled laundry, ruining the mood of camaraderie they’d been building with their memories. Had Sharba proposed marriage to him? Shell wondered. Had he proposed marriage to her? Why had Sharba left, and if she ever came back, would Jason O’Keefe reach out to her as he had the night before, clinging to her as if he’d hold her forever? And, dammit, what did it matter?
    “You know,” she said, breaking the uncomfortable silence, “it’s funny, but when you first arrived last night, I thought there was something familiar about you. It drove me crazy, especially once I knew your name and still couldn’t make the link between a vaguely familiar face and the reality of a man named Jason O’Keefe. How could we have been such good friends and known so little about each other—such as last names?”
    “I knew yours, but maybe you never needed to know mine because we were kids, and children are very accepting of one another. They don’t require details. For instance, I had no idea that summer that I was playing with a little heiress.”
    Though his face became slyly thoughtful, his eyes laughed secretly as he said, “Hmm, now that I think of it, maybe I should demand my rights as your affianced husband. After all, if you refuse, it could be considered breach of promise. Might be worth a great deal.”
    Her jaw tensed. “I’d say that no court in the land would expect me to uphold a promise I’d made before I was old enough to cross the street alone.”
    He laughed. “Yeah. Worse luck.” He waggled his brows. “Damn. I’ve never tried blackmail as a means of courting a lady.”
    She relaxed. He might think of her as an heiress, but she sensed he wasn’t after money. “No? Why, you poor, deprived man.” As if poking a sore tooth, she added, “We’ll have to find you one with something to hide.”
    Her words elicited not a glimmer of secret knowledge on his face, or guilt, or even a spark of suspicion that maybe she could have something to hide. Either he was a superb actor or he truly did suspect nothing about her mother’s identity.
    Shell breathed much easier. It really was all right, she told herself. Leaning forward, she folded her arms on the table. “So, tell me where you’ve been since we were children. What kinds of exciting things have you done? You wanted to be an explorer, if I remember correctly. Tell me about your life.”
    He shrugged. “I’ve been lots of places, done lots of