Free Love Song by Sharon Gillenwater Page A

through the first song before I passed out.”
    “So Kyle didn’t push you to do the show?”
    “No. He told me to do whatever I needed to do. He was in Los Angeles so he couldn’t see how bad I was. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in any shape to make a coherent decision. I’d been too tired to think straight for over a month.
    “He took the first flight out of Los Angeles when he heard I was in the hospital. I didn’t wake up until late the next day, and he was there in my room, napping in a chair. I’d never been in a hospital. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”
    Wade’s low opinion of the man raised considerably, even as his jealousy increased.
    “I was on oxygen, hooked up to I don’t know how many monitors, and had all these tubes poking in me. I was so scared.” The sleeve of her blouse brushed against his arm when she shuddered.
    With only the moonlight and the soft, flickering light from the fire surrounding them, it seemed natural to step behind her and put his arms around her. He rested his cheek against her soft, fragrant hair and closed his eyes.
    She tensed, then relaxed, and covered his hands with hers. “They had trouble contacting my folks because they were on a trek across the Australian outback. By the time Kyle reached them, we knew I would be all right, so I told them not to come home. Dawn flew up to keep me company. Kyle needed to be in Los Angeles, so he left when she got there. He’d already sent the band and road crew home.”
    “I’m glad Dawn was there.” He tried to lighten her spirits. “If I’d known, I would have sent you flowers or maybe a giant bunch of balloons.”
    “That would have been sweet, although I don’t know where we would have put them. They wouldn’t let me have any flowers in the room at first. Later, there were so many, I wound up having Dawn take them to other patients.”
    “A lot of people love you.” Without thinking, he tightened his arms.
    “I know they do, and I appreciate it. I love them, too, in many ways.”
    “But?”
    She took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “I don’t know if I can explain it.”
    “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”
    She hesitated and her fingers pressed harder against his hands. “There are people who like my music, and some who care for me as a person, but I’m still lonely. I have been for a long time. I walk out on stage and the audience goes nuts. It pleases me to know they enjoy my music, but deep inside I feel so cold, so empty. When I’m with my family or friends, it’s a little better, but there is still something missing.” She turned in his arms, facing him, resting her hands against his chest. “I don’t want to be alone anymore. I don’t know if I can stand it.”
    Heart pounding, Wade looked down into her dark eyes, aching at the despair he saw there. Words of love sprang up in his heart, promises he barely kept from tumbling from his lips. Nothing on earth could keep him from lowering his head toward hers and try to take away her hurt in the gentleness of his kiss.
    He rejoiced as she welcomed him, accepting his tenderness as a soothing balm. Then without warning, in spite of his hard won restraint, the kiss took on a new urgency, a deeper fervor, as she sought more than solace.
    Sensing her desperation, he reluctantly raised his head and cradled her tenderly against him. She cared for him; he felt it in her touch. But she didn’t love him, not with the last-a-lifetime kind of love he had to have.
    And it was just as well. He could never be the kind of man she needed, traveling with the rodeo had taught him that. He needed to be on the ranch, working in the open country, not constantly moving from city to city. Trying to adapt to her lifestyle would be tantamount to throwing a rope around his neck and tightening the loop a little more each day until he suffocated.
    “I’d better go home.” She pushed lightly on his chest, and he released her. She shoved her hair back