Free Lori Wilde - There Goes The Bride by Unknown Page A

but I’m planning on living my life exactly as I have been.”
    “Filling it up with what? Charity events and Pilates and spa dates with your friends?”
    “Why, yes.”
    “Where do I fit into your plans?”
    “What is it that you want from me?”
    I want you to love me the way you used to!
He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake some feeling into her. But you couldn’t force people to feel something for you if they didn’t.
    His chest constricted. “What happened, Honey? What happened to the girl I married? The one who had big dreams and an even bigger heart? The one who used to laugh at my jokes and let her hair down once in a while? The one who told me we were a team and as long as we were together, nothing could break us?”
    She reached across the bed and stroked his cheek with her index finger, the unexpected tenderness in her eyes cutting straight to his heart. “Delaney’s grown now. We’re in our mid-fifties. What’s past is past. I can’t be something I no longer am, and I can’t bring Skylar back. Now please, can we just go to bed?”
    He wanted to shout. He wanted to throw something against the wall. Anything to get her attention.
    But he did not.
    Jim Bob put the crossword puzzle aside, turned out the light, and slid down in bed. He reached for Honey and pulled her into his embrace. She did not resist, but she held her body so stiffly against him, he could take no comfort in her arms.
    She was an ice queen. Beautiful, but untouchable. Impossible to know even after thirty-four years of marriage.
    There was no getting through to her. He’d been trying for years. She had her idea of the way things were supposed to be, and Honey refused to budge. The terrible thing was, much as he still loved her, Jim Bob didn’t know if he could live with that anymore.
    Divorce was an ugly word, but he was almost ready to say it.
    When Honey had finally fallen asleep, Jim Bob got up, went to the closet, took out the wedding veil, and put it back underneath his daughter’s bed.
    Someone in this family damn well deserved to hold on to their dreams.
    On Monday, after seeing Evan off at the airport, Delaney guided her silver Acura south toward Galveston Island to meet Lucia Vinetti. Her mind wandered during the fifty-minute drive and for some inexplicable reason, she found herself thinking about the man she’d thrown the tarp over outside Evan’s office. The man from her mysterious vision.
    Why did she keep thinking about him?
    She liked well-groomed, well-bred men. Not scruffy, tough guys who stared at her as if they could see every thought that passed through her head.
    Even now, just recalling the way his dark eyes had stared at her caused Delaney’s body to tingle.
    She shivered. She didn’t like feeling this way. It upset her equilibrium. And she had spent her life putting on a calm face. Passive nonresistance had taken her this far in life, and she was sticking with it.
    Forget the guy. He’s just an illusion. An image of masculine perfection you’ve conjured in your own mind. Focus on the job at hand. This is what you want. Your own base of clients and referrals, so you can prove to your mother that you don’t need her interfering in your life.
    Although it was just a small step, this new project represented the freedom she’d longed for, but had just been too afraid to reach out and grab. Winning this contract was a huge deal for her, and she wasn’t going to let the memory of some studly guy she’d briefly brushed up against distract her from her goal.
    She longed to make her business something special. Something that was hers alone, but until now she’d been floating along, just letting her mother make things happen for her. Taking the path of least resistance. It was her pattern.
    Delaney crossed the bridge onto Galveston Island and traveled the main thoroughfare. At the next red light, she consulted her notes for the correct address. Lucia’s place was several blocks north of the