Love, Lies and High Heels by DEBBY CONRAD Read Free Book Online

overnight, he hadn’t packed a bag. He didn’t have a toothbrush or any clean underwear either, but wasn’t about to mention it. Somehow, he’d make do.
    Getting to his feet, he said, “Give me five minutes.”
    She didn’t so much as look at him. In fact, he swore she was avoiding looking at him altogether. Had she remembered sleeping in his arms the night before, too? And the way her body had fit perfectly against his? It didn’t much matter if she remembered or not, he supposed. Because Little Miss Hoity-Toity wasn’t the type to admit it if she had. Blowing out a frustrated breath, he padded to the bathroom in his bare feet.
    The freak snowstorm, which had taken Kentucky and parts of Ohio by surprise, had quieted down during the night after dumping a foot of the pearly white stuff on the ground. But the airlines were back on schedule this morning, and Rusty and Galloway had flown from St. Louis to the Greater Cincinnati Airport which served both southern Ohio and northern Kentucky.
    Galloway drove the black pick-up truck he’d left at the airport terminal the day before. He said they had a two hour drive to Red Ridge. They’d exited the interstate nearly thirty minutes ago, and the longer they drove, the more anxious Rusty felt.
    As she gazed about the rolling countryside hills with waist-high snow drifts, she thought about Sam. She still didn’t refer to him as Dad or Father. Nor had she referred to Natalie as Mother. After she’d been ditched in that first boarding school and ignored for nearly a year, Rusty had disowned them both in her mind. They were no longer her parents. They were simply Natalie and Sam. Just two people she’d once known.
    And although Natalie and she had seen each other throughout the years, Rusty had learned to keep her distance. Because as soon as she’d entertain the idea that she and her mother would undoubtedly be close some day, it was back to boarding school for her, and off with a new lover for Natalie. Natalie’s love life had always been more important to her than Rusty had. And as far as Sam had been concerned … well, she wasn’t quite sure why Sam had neglected her all those years. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
    He didn’t have much time left. And rather than let bitterness and anger intrude in their time together, she had to learn to let the past go. It didn’t matter why he’d never tried to call or write. He’d sent for her, hadn’t he? He wanted her by his side now. And by his side, she’d be.
    Her warm breath formed a steamy circle on the icy, cold, passenger window. She touched her finger to the circle of steam and traced around it in a circular motion. Somewhere in the back of her mind a childhood memory popped up. She’d been about six years old at the time. Sam had been driving. And she’d steamed the pick-up truck’s window with her breath. Then, she’d carefully drawn a heart with her finger and sketched the words “I love Daddy” in the center. For weeks, every time they’d rode in that truck, she’d seen the precious heart she’d drawn and smiled.
    Tears stung her eyes at the memory. Because for years she’d told herself she hated Sam.
    “You’ve been awfully quiet since our plane landed,” Galloway said, concern etching his voice. “Are you okay? You’re not sick or anything, are you?”
    Her feet felt like icicles, and her fingers were numb. If it weren’t for Luke’s warm sheepskin lined coat, she would have frozen to death by now. And she was starving. She hadn’t eaten anything the day before or this morning. “No, I’m not sick. Thank you for asking. I was trying to remember some things. Like all of this empty land. As a little girl, I should have felt lost and frightened with all that openness. Yet, I don’t quite remember feeling that way. I think I liked visiting the farm. I know that sounds silly. Natalie always condemned the place.” She turned to face him more fully. “Is it really awful?”
    He frowned.