Lorraine Heath by Always To Remember Read Free Book Online

sunshine vanishing as a dark cloud passes before the sun. His chest heaving from his efforts, he released his hold, and the child splashed into the water.
    She dismounted and walked to the edge of the riverbank. “I need to speak with you.”
    “You boys, stay here,” he ordered as he plowed through the river.
    “Heck fire! We ain’t got no choice!” one twin yelled. “You swim in your clothes?” she asked as he neared the muddy bank.
    He offered her an uncertain smile. “They unexpectedly lured me in.” He stepped onto the grass.
    “You didn’t even take your socks off?”
    “I don’t like the way mud feels between my toes.” Absently, he combed his fingers through his wet hair, lifting it off his brow. “You wanted to talk?”
    She lifted the pouch. “About this.”
    He nodded as though her words came as no surprise, then jerked his head to the side. “Mind if we sit on the boulder so I can dry in the sun and keep an eye on the twins?”
    “That’ll be fine.”
    She followed as his long legs ate up the short distance. He hoisted himself with ease onto the large boulder at the river’s edge. Then he reached down to help her.
    Ignoring his hand, she waited until he withdrew it and scooted to the far edge of the rock. Hampered by her skirt, she awkwardly scrambled until she gained her seat. She hadn’t bothered to change into suitable riding clothes. She’d just wanted to find him as soon as she could and get this dreaded confrontation over with.
    She wiggled her bottom on the rough, warm surface until she was as comfortable as she thought possible. Then she turned her attention to Clay. As he stared at the river, his face resembled the rock, hard and implacable. She cleared her throat. He didn’t give her the courtesy of an acknowledgment, and she refused to call him by name.
    “This is Kirk’s bag,” she finally said, not disguising the irritation in her voice. “I know that.”
    “I want to know how
you
came to have it!” she spat, her anger rising to the surface.
    He snapped his head around, his brown eyes dark and stormy. “I tried to tell you the other day when you came to the farm, but you gave me holy hell because I dared to mention your precious husband’s name.”
    It seemed to surprise him as much as it did her to hear the crack of her palm against his cheek. Then the astonishment changed into a deep sadness before he turned his face away from her.
    “Your husband brought it to me a few months before he was killed,” he said quietly.
    She balled up her hand, still throbbing from the blow she’d delivered. “Why?”
    “Said he had a premonition, didn’t think he was gonna make it home. He was afraid in the chaos the letters would get lost. He thought they’d be safe with me.”
    “Because there wasn’t a chance in hell that you’d be killed, was there?” she asked, contempt adding a sharp edge to her words. “Can you even begin to understand how much courage it took for them to march onto that battlefield knowing they
might
be killed? How could you not stand by their side?”
    “If you have to ask, there isn’t any explanation in the world I can give you that would satisfy you.”
    Shaking her bowed head, she clutched the pouch to her breast. “I don’t understand why he wasn’t revolted by the thought of your hands touching these precious letters.”
    “Because he understood.”
    Swiveling her head, she scrutinized his profile, stark against the blue sky. “He understood what?”
    Slowly, he turned his intense gaze on her. “Why I wouldn’t fight.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    He rolled his slender shoulders into a careless shrug. “Believe what you want. That’s what everybody around here does anyway.”
    She lowered the pouch to her lap and peered at him, dreading his answer. “Did you touch them?” She watched as truth warred against deception, and she knew the answer even before his eyes filled with regret.
    “Yes.”
    She squeezed her eyes shut as