Her Risk To Take by Toni Anderson Read Free Book Online Page A

wished they’d get snowed in forever. “Yup.” He went inside the horse barn and dumped the bag in the feed room.
    Nat followed him, blocked his way out. “She cried all night—right up until she snuck out to go to your cottage only to discover you never came home last night.”
    Cal closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the cold wall. “I never wanted to hurt her.”
    “So why are you?” asked Nat.
    He clamped his jaws together, refusing to talk about it.
    “Figure it the fuck out,” Nat bit out. They went back out to the truck to haul more supplies. “She’s loved you since you first came out that summer before we started high school.”
    Cal swallowed and nodded. It had been the best summer of his life. Even having the twins follow them everywhere had been kind of cute. He’d seen a real family in action that summer, learned the value of hard work, and discovered he liked it. Nat had stood by him during the trial and afterward. Nat’s father, Jake, had even vouched for his character in court. Cal owed these people everything, and right now was doing nothing but causing them trouble.
    “She’s my kid sister.” Nat pushed his hat to the back of his head. “I can’t stand to see her hurting. Not when she’s been through so much. Not when I know how you feel about her.”
    Cal made a decision. It would be like driving nails through his skull, but he was doing it. He was leaving the Triple H and a woman who could have any man she wanted.
    A huge ball of emotion clogged his throat. After a few months she’d forget all about him.
    “Gotta go feed the horses.” He turned his back on his best friend and fought a surge of emotion that made him want to weep. He wanted to stay here. With every cell in his body he wanted to be part of this family, to love Sarah and raise babies together. But he’d seen how easy it was to hurt a woman. He knew Eliza had already suffered brutality at the hands of another man. He couldn’t increase the danger they faced. No man worth his salt would bring trouble to good people.
    The only thing he could do to guarantee their safety was to leave.
    *     *     *
    Cal hadn’t come home last night. Sarah ground her teeth. When she’d passed him on the highway he’d been wearing the same shirt he’d had on yesterday. She could only assume he’d slept in the truck rather than be anywhere near her, or gotten blind drunk, or—her heart gave a squeeze—spent the night with some other woman just to prove how little she meant to him.
    To think she’d gone to the cabin, swallowed her pride, determined to talk—and knew with a feeling of shame that she’d have settled for sex just to feel close to him, just to feel like they weren’t actually over.
    God.
    She was pathetic.
    Love sucked .
    She pulled up in the parking lot of the hospital, forced a cheery voice as she spoke to the three-year-old cherub in the rear seat. “Here we are! Is Santa coming to daycare today, Tabby?”
    The little blonde girl virtually quivered with excitement. She’d just begun to understand what Christmas was all about and was hitting the holiday fuelled with anticipation, excitement, and an overdose of silver glitter. Sarah got out of the car and opened the back door to unclip Tabby from her car seat. She lifted the little girl down. She looked so cute in her pink boots, tights and dress. She wore a white jacket with a fur collar and looked so much like her mother it brought a vicious ache to Sarah’s throat. She should stop feeling sorry for herself. Her love life was a train wreck, but so what? Becky had been her best friend in high school. At some point, the other girl had started spending as much time with Ryan as she had with Sarah and, although she’d been a little slow on the uptake, Sarah had eventually figured they were an item and she was the third wheel. Becky and Ryan had dated throughout the rest of high school and then they’d both attended Montana State. They’d