Sleigh Bells in Valentine Valley by Emma Cane Read Free Book Online Page A

it when you’ve both moved on.”
    â€œSo you’re saying you wouldn’t try to fix a friendship with Will if you’d had a problem?”
    â€œBut that’s Will.”
    â€œAnd you’re saying that’s not me?” she asked sharply. “Or not your sister?”
    He opened his mouth, blinked, and only said, “Never mind. You do what you want. You always do.”
    It was her turn to gape as he went past, and she felt herself heat with a blush. She turned away, struggling to make her expression serene. He’d spoken casually, not meanly, but she felt pricked just the same. Was he referring to the past they shared, or just to her friendships? It was maddening and defeatist to worry about such things, especially coming from a man she’d divorced nine years before. But she’d loved him once, and she shouldn’t have been surprised that his opinion still mattered.
    She turned and saw the moment when he greeted her brothers, their easy acceptance, how they handed him the beer he liked best. There was no mild disapproval from Walt, like she always vaguely felt from him. Nope, Tony might be divorced from her, but he still fit right into her family—maybe better than she did.
    Okay, that thought was a little childish and unnecessary, but she wasn’t feeling herself. And just to prove that theory, she had a brief time-travel thought, wondering what her life would have been like if she’d stayed married. Maybe she’d have been in town for Walt and Carmina’s Cucina after all; maybe she’d have had more kids, and Ethan wouldn’t have been an only child. Life was full of maybes, and she usually never second-guessed her choices. But this Thanksgiving wasn’t her usual holiday—it was the start of her exile.
    Reluctantly, her gaze was drawn to Tony, and she had the sudden memory of a weekend morning in bed reading the paper to each other, he, the sports section, she, the local crime report, then him pulling her newspaper away and pressing her down into the pillows.
    She turned her head away, as if someone could read her thoughts from her flushed face and wide eyes. Oh, she really was losing it. She hadn’t let herself think of Tony sexually in years. They’d never had a problem once they’d gotten into bed; it had been finding the time for it. Toward the end, their timing had always been horrible, and for that, she’d been mostly to blame.
    She gave herself a mental shake. This was Thanksgiving—time to be with her family in the present. She went to the kitchen island, where the appetizers were laid out and a dozen shoulders bumped each other as hungry appetites were fed. She watched her father, his face red as he laughed at something a cousin said, before he took another bite from his plateful of appetizers. She couldn’t imagine him being skinny, of course, as the owner and sometime chef of a fantastic restaurant, but she thought he’d put on a little weight recently. Maybe she could get him to go for a walk with her . . .
    There were other dads present, of course, and she found her gaze sliding to Tony, who stood with Ethan. Their son wasn’t yet as tall as his dad, but they could almost look each other in the eye. She wasn’t sure what they were talking about, although she thought she heard the word snowboard . They shared a love of sports, which kept Ethan active, and woodworking, which made her boy handy, and she was grateful. She was the homework and video game specialist. But it wasn’t the conversation between Tony and Ethan that mattered to her, it was their close relationship, for which she was truly grateful. With Ethan, Tony looked like the man she remembered—genial, easygoing, lighthearted, without the wary, distant look he reserved for her. Over the years, she hadn’t had much opportunity to see their relationship in action, but she’d always known that he was a wonderful dad; he had