The Heartbreaker by Vicki Lewis Thompson Read Free Book Online

interference.”
    But if you get out of the hospital bed, Mike will think he’s not needed and take off for the Amazon again .
    â€œYou’re right. But if somebody doesn’t keep an eye on those kids, they’ll screw things up again. We already have an injury.”
    If I know you, you’ll think of something.
    â€œI’ll tell you this much, Pete. I’d think better if I had a real cigar instead of this damn rubber one.”
    Â 
    BETH CLOSED UP the studio at ten minutes before noon. Business hadn’t been very good so far that day, but then summers were traditionally slow, and she usually ended up in debt. Selling the cutters was designed to fix the seasonal slump problem, among others. If sales took off, her income wouldn’t depend on her selling stained glass. She could eliminate the exhausting production of small sun-catchers that satisfied the tourist trade and concentrate on big installations that challenged her creativity.
    She walked through a narrow side street to the public parking lot where she kept her truck. Ernie’s shop was located in Warren, a small community adjacent to Bisbee, and it was too far to walk. As kids she, Mike and Alana had ridden there on their bikes many times, but Beth hadn’t been on a bike in years.
    A bike ride might have been more comfortable, she thought as she unlocked the truck. A hot morning after the night’s downpour had left Bisbee steaming, and the cab was like an oven, even after she rolled down the windows and opened the vents. Although the truck’s air conditioner had died the previous summer, she hadn’t gotten it fixed because she was pumping all her spare money into the cutter project.
    By the time she arrived at Tremayne’s metal shop, she felt as if she’d just spent fifteen minutes in a sauna. Rummaging in the glove compartment, she found a scrunchy and enough hairpins to secure her damp, unruly hair on top of her head.
    Mike had driven his dad’s old truck to the shop, Beth noticed. She opened the front door and stepped into the air-conditioned interior with a sigh of relief. Mike wasn’t out in the customer area. She called his name as she rounded the counter and headed into the rear of the building.
    She found him sitting at his dad’s bench, his back to her. Something about the set of his shoulders told her to go slow. “Mike, it’s me.”
    He didn’t turn around. “I’ve never been in this place when he wasn’t here.”
    â€œOh, Mike.” Instinct overrode caution as she went to him and put her hands on his shoulders. He shuddered beneath her touch, and she knew his grief was very close to the surface. “I know,” she murmured. “I’d never been in the studio without Dad being there, either. It’s a shock, the first time.”
    â€œI’ve been such a fool, Beth. I thought he’d go on forever.”
    She massaged his shoulders gently. Touching him felt so sinfully right. “He’s made it through this crisis,” she said. “He’s got a lot of years left, Mike. He’s tough.”
    â€œI know he’s tough, but I’ve lost that fantasy that he’ll always be there. This has forced me to face something I haven’t wanted to think about. Someday he’ll be gone...and he’s all I’ve got.”
    â€œAll? What about the time you’ve spent in Brazil? Surely you’ve made friends who are important to you.”
    â€œA few.” He allowed his head to fall forward as he absorbed the massage. “I’m even an honorary member of a tribe.”
    â€œThe ones that live like children, with no worries?”
    â€œYeah. They’re terrific people, and I care what happens to them, but I don’t really belong there. I’m still a vagabond in Brazil, a rolling stone that gathers no moss, and all that crap.”
    â€œIsn’t that what you wanted?”
    He sighed.