Strong Enough to Love by Victoria Dahl Read Free Book Online Page A

actually. No, I’m not okay.”
    “All right.” Grace scooted around the long counter and locked the door. Then she turned the sign to CLOSED.
    “What if we have a customer?”
    “It’s March. The only customers are locals. We’ll reopen in a few minutes and they’ll come back.”
    “Fine.” She followed Grace into the office and dropped resentfully into a chair.
    “What’s going on with you?” Grace demanded, then seemed to realize her tough-girl attitude was the wrong call and softened her voice. “I mean... What’s wrong?”
    Eve opened her mouth. And she closed it. She shouldn’t have admitted anything. She should have kept quiet. But the words pushed at her from the inside. She’d never been able to say anything to anyone. He was married. People had known his wife. Eve’s heart had been breaking, her dreams in turmoil, and all she’d ever done was keep working. Keep moving. Because if she’d ever stopped, it would have caught up with her.
    But now she wanted it out.
    “I fell in love with a married man,” she blurted, then pressed her fingers to her mouth to stop the sob of shock that followed her words.
    “Oh, sweetie, no.” Grace wrapped a hand around Eve’s elbow.
    “I didn’t mean to.”
    “Hey. Listen. Everybody screws up sometime, okay? It’s going to be all right. I swear.”
    Tears spilled over Eve’s cheeks and she ducked her head.
    “Don’t cry,” Grace urged as she scooted closer to wrap her arm around Eve’s shoulder. “Don’t cry.”
    “I can’t talk to anyone,” Eve sobbed.
    “You can talk to me. You know I won’t judge you. You didn’t judge me and that was one of the best gifts I ever got from anyone. You can talk to me, Eve. Please.”
    She shook her head, half because she was afraid to let it out and half because her throat was so tight, she couldn’t.
    “Are you still seeing him or did you break it off?”
    Eve shook her head again.
    “Oh, Eve, you’re not pregnant, are you?”
    “God, no!” Eve yelped. “No! It’s not like that. We never... That is... We never took it that far.”
    “Oh.” Grace looked slightly disgruntled when she sat back.
    “Oh, my God. Are you disappointed? ”
    “Of course not!” She cleared her throat. “But you know...if you’re going to be all heartbreak and longing over the guy, you should at least get sex.”
    “You’re terrible,” Eve scolded. But she also indulged in a watery laugh.
    Grace smiled. “I know. But you stopped crying. Now, tell me what happened with this married man you never had sex with.”
    So Eve did. Explaining how she’d left a lucrative, unsatisfying career in banking and moved to Jackson to take a year off. She’d skied and hiked and rediscovered her old love of photography. And then she’d met Brian. She’d worked for him in the gallery during the busy season. During the quiet months, he’d helped her relearn everything she’d forgotten about photography since college. Then he’d taught her more. And he’d become her best friend. Her companion. Her world.
    “I never said anything. I never did anything. He was married, and I didn’t want to be a mistake. I didn’t want to hurt him or anyone he loved. But I did wonder if he felt the same. I fantasized. I hoped. He and his wife were separated. She’d gone back to their old home in Raleigh two years before. So... I hoped. And then he told me he was leaving.”
    “Her?”
    “No. Me. He was going back to try with her again.”
    “God, Eve. I’m so sorry.” Grace squeezed her hand.
    “I tried to be supportive. I said the right things. But suddenly I was choked up and I couldn’t stop the tears. I ran out. I didn’t take his calls. I couldn’t. Because I loved him and I hated that he didn’t care. It hurt so much. And it was humiliating. So when I came back a few days later, I pretended nothing had happened. Nothing was wrong. And when he offered to sell me the gallery, I bought it, as if it were nothing but another business