Going to the Chapel by Debra Webb Read Free Book Online

at something
deep inside her. She wanted to close her eyes against the scene
before her, but couldn’t. She had to look. To see the fruits of
Chase’s short-lived marriage to another woman.
    ...when he was supposed to
have married Caroline.
    Chase looked up at her.
“This is Shane,” he told her, fatherly pride evident in his voice,
on his handsome face. His gaze held hers when she would have looked
away. “My son,” he finished, the words echoing all the way to the
farthest recesses of her soul.
    Caroline pushed a smile
into place and extended her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,
Shane.” It wasn’t the child’s fault his father had been unfaithful
to the woman he was supposed to have loved. Something shifted near
her heart when little fingers closed around hers and gave her hand
an exaggerated shake. A pair of Garrett blue eyes assessed her with
unguarded fascination. Shane was a beautiful little boy, she
acknowledged.
    “ I’m seven years old,” he
piped up. His little face suddenly scrunched in confusion. “I don’t
think I know you.”
    “ This is Dr. Gregory,”
Chase explained quickly. “She grew up in Lucy’s Branch.” He flicked
an unreadable glance at Caroline. “But she’s been gone a really
long time. She’ll be visiting with us a couple of days.”
    The child eyed her
suspiciously. “You don’t give shots, do ya?”
    Caroline smiled then. She
couldn’t help herself. “Not unless it’s absolutely
necessary.”
    He nodded slowly as if
considering her answer, then suddenly bolted toward the steps.
“I’ll tell Aunt Henri we gots company!”
    Caroline stared after the
little boy for a long moment following his disappearance into the
house. Weariness weighed down on her like a wet wool coat. Whatever
energy and resolve she’d had left evaporated the instant she laid
eyes on Chase’s son. The whole morning had been one emotional
rollercoaster ride. The chapel, the town, Chase—she met the
concerned gaze now leveled on her—had resurrected memories and
emotions buried for more than eight years.
    How would she ever survive
the weekend without Chase seeing exactly how badly he had hurt her?
How long would it take him to figure out that her great escape all
those years ago had not taken her where she wanted to
go?
    Yet, she amended as she
squared her shoulders. She wasn’t about to give up just yet on her
own version of happily ever after. Renewed determination rallied.
Nothing about her future happiness depended upon this man or his
town.
    Absolutely
nothing.
    Caroline Gregory was a
survivor. Several times over, she added morosely. Sure, being back
in Lucy’s Branch was unsettling, and seeing Chase again was
unnerving, but she could deal with it. She was long over him. There
was no reason for her to feel even remotely
uncomfortable.
     
    ~*~
     
    Caroline turned around
slowly in the quiet guestroom. White lace curtains fluttered in the
breeze from the open window. A matching spread draped an antique
four-poster bed. She closed her eyes. Her newly shored up fortitude
crumbled. This was entirely too much. How could she be here in this
house...with Chase, and trying to pretend that it didn’t matter?
She shook her head slowly from side to side. She could probably
snag an appearance on Dr. Phil with this twisted tale of infidelity
and lost love. Wouldn’t Tristan and his wealthy friends get a kick
out of that sordid story?
    The thought ushered a
genuine smile to her lips. Tristan would have a cerebral hemorrhage
if he discovered the extent of the damage she had done to his new
toy. If Caroline were lucky, Zac could make all the necessary
repairs in a timely manner. The last thing she wanted was a
confrontation with Tristan about his stupid little car. Though it
might be somewhat amusing to watch him cry over the twisted and
bent hunk of foreign metal, she was no glutton for punishment.
Especially if she was the one on the receiving end of the
reckoning. Legally she was responsible for