Seeing Red by Susan Crandall Read Free Book Online Page B

into his kiss, she searched for some hint of that kind of passion within herself, of the spark that said she could not live without this man’s kiss.
    It was nice. Pleasant. But her ears didn’t ring and her heart didn’t race.
    You’re expecting too much.
    Finally, she pulled away and patted his chest. “I’ll be fine. You know I don’t take chances.”
    Rory narrowed his eyes. “You went off without your cell phone.”
    “And I always learn from my mistakes. It won’t happen again.” She smiled confidently.
    He stood there looking doubtful.
    “Come on, you know me better than that.” She took a step backward. “Now promise me you won’t change your plans.” She held up a hand when he opened his mouth to interrupt her. “At least not yet. It’s been a shock. We’ll all get used to the idea that Alexander’s out of prison.” She stepped around him. “Now, I really need a shower.”
    “I’ll call and check on you later,” he called after her.
    “All right.”
    When she got inside and looked down to the driveway from her front sliding glass door, she saw Rory leaning on the fender of his car talking on his cell phone—no doubt reporting to her father.
    What more did she want? He fit in with her family. He loved her enough that he was willing to disappoint his beloved grandmother to stay with her. He’d kissed her with desire even though she smelled like a locker room, for heaven’s sake. Why had her love not grown?
    Because you’re not capable of more.
    She stripped off her damp clothes, dropping them on her bedroom floor as she headed to the shower. As she turned on the hot water, she hoped Rory would go to Martha’s Vineyard as planned. Maybe in his absence she’d be able to get herself figured out so she could stop hurting him.
    Rory snapped his phone closed, a tick developing in his overstressed jaw muscle. Ellis’s dad hadn’t been the well of support Rory had hoped for. Although Bill had agreed in principle that Ellis should go north with Rory, he had hedged when Rory had asked him to call and talk some sense into her.
    He got in his car and left Ellis’s driveway. How had things gotten so far off track between them? He’d thought Ellis wanted the same things he did. They got along great. They’d been dating for over three years. Still, when he’d proposed, she’d acted like the thought had never even crossed her mind. Worse, she seemed repulsed by the idea.
    A trip together would be his opportunity to get things straightened out and pointed back in the right direction.
    Somebody had to make Ellis see. Somebody had to make her understand. If Bill wasn’t going to help, Rory had to figure out a way to change her mind.

C HAPTER F OUR
     
    T he rain shower that had arrived just after dark had stopped. Ellis lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. She’d known sleep would elude her tonight. But she hadn’t known that Nate Vance would be the reason.
    She supposed it was natural to drift to the past with Alexander free, and after returning to the stables for the first time in years. She’d avoided the place fearing it would conjure only bad feelings. But the opposite had happened. The moments that played in her mind were the few good ones in a dark time. And they all centered around Nate. He’d handed her the reins of control when her life had felt like a roller coaster gone wild.
    June, sixteen years ago
    One week after Laura was attacked
     
    It had been seven days, and Laura had shown no signs of waking up. Ellis’s parents were keeping her locked up like a princess in a tower. She worried she might never have a drop of freedom again. Her mother cried almost as much as Aunt Jodi. Her dad had that expression, the one where his mouth was all hard and looked like it had parentheses around it, the one that said he was about to go batshit about something.
    The only place they went was to the hospital. Which wouldn’t be so bad if they’d let Ellis sit alone with Laura. She’d gotten