Journey to Yesterday by Madeline Baker Read Free Book Online

hand on his shoulder in
a gesture that managed to be both casual and possessive as she bent over to
whisper something in his ear, revealing a generous expanse of powdered flesh.
    He laughed and waved the woman away. And then he looked up,
and his gaze met hers. There was a flicker of recognition, of disbelief. He
spoke to one of the men, then laid his cards face down on the table. Rising, he
walked toward her, a predatory gleam in his dark, dark eyes.
    Her heart began to pound with fear, trepidation, excitement…
     
    “Shaye, if you’re awake, breakfast is almost ready.”
    The soft spoken words woke her with a start. She closed her
eyes, wanting to go back to the dream, but it was gone.
    With a sigh, she sat up. “Thanks, Clark, I’ll be right out.”
    She dressed quickly in a pair of white shorts and a black
Jekyll and Hyde tee shirt, brushed her teeth, stuffed her dirty clothes in her
overnight bag, made the bed, then went into the kitchen. A glance out the
window showed it was going to be a beautiful day.
    “Morning,” Clark said. “I hope you’re hungry.”
    She didn’t usually eat breakfast, but today she was
starving. “I am. Anything I can do to help?”
    He shook his head. “Want some coffee?”
    “Please.”
    She sat down, thinking how nice it was to have a man wait on
her. Josh wouldn’t have thought of fixing her breakfast any more than he would
have thought of making the bed. She had always wondered why making the bed was
her job. After all, he had slept in it, too. She pushed his memory from her
mind. It was over and done. She was never going to give a man the power to hurt
her again.
    “Hey?”
    She looked up. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”
    He laughed softly. “Your breakfast is getting cold.”
    “What?” She looked down at the plate in front of her. “I’m
sorry.”
    “Where were you this time? Back in the past again?”
    “Yes,” she admitted. “But this time it was my past.”
    He grunted softly. “Do you want to talk about it?”
    “Not really.”
    “I’m a good listener.”
    Suddenly, she did want to talk about it. “Are you married?”
    “Not any more.”
    “Divorced?”
    Clark nodded. “Three years.”
    “Me, too. I guess no one stays married anymore. Why did you
get divorced?”
    “No reason. Lots of reasons. Heck, I don’t know. We got
along fine until we got married, and then it was just one fight after another.
We split up for awhile and found out we were both happier that way, so…” He
shook his head. “I guess some people just can’t live together.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “What about you?”
    “I was away on an assignment. I came home early, and found
him in bed with a friend of mine.”
    “That’s rough.”
    She shrugged, as if it wasn’t important. “It was my own
fault. I should have seen it coming. He hated my job. He wanted me to quit. He
thought I should stay home and be a housewife, like his mother.”
    Clark sat back, his expression thoughtful. “No, I can’t
picture you doing that.”
    “I couldn’t either.”
    “So, you divorced him?”
    She nodded. “He married her a week after the divorce was
final. They had a baby six months later.”
    “Are you sorry you left him?”
    “No!” She stared down at the eggs, now cold, on her plate.
She wasn’t sorry she had left Josh. She could never stay with a man who had
been unfaithful to her. And contrary to what had Josh believed, she did want a
home and a family. But they had both been young. She hadn’t wanted to get
pregnant until she could stay home with the baby, and she hadn’t been ready to
quit her job. It was fun, exciting work, and she loved it. Maybe she had loved
it too much. Maybe she hadn’t loved Josh enough. “I don’t know,” she said with
a sigh. “Maybe it was my fault.”
    “If I’ve learned anything, it’s that it takes two to make a
marriage,” he remarked.
    “I suppose.”
    “Do you want me to warm those eggs up for you?”
    “No, thank you. I