Free A Love for All Time by Dorothy Garlock Page A

through fashion magazines, making notes and sketches. Now that she had a goal, the world looked brighter, and she was positive in time she wouldn’t even remember dark gray eyes, a square jaw, and a nose that leaned slightly to one side.
    The weekend tourists left and the town and beach were quiet once again. Casey was walking several miles a day by the middle of the week. Her self-esteem rose as the exercise and good food strengthened her body. She would survive this traumatic experience just as she and her mother had survived when Eddie left them and as she had survived her mother’s death when she was a confused teenager.
    On Friday she drove into town to stock up on groceries for the weekend. She bought a new novel by her favorite author and several magazines. As she watched the stores opening for the weekenders she felt increasingly confident that she could make a custom-made clothing shop pay off.
    In the evening after showering and preparing for bed, she slid her long slim body between the sheets and opened her new novel.
    She was so engrossed in the story that the soundof a sharp rap on the door startled her badly. She sat up in bed as the rap came again.
    “Yes. Who is it?” she called and reached for the robe on the end of the bed.
    “Phone call.” The voice was low and muffled and she wasn’t sure she’d heard those words.
    Casey belted her robe and glanced in the mirror to pull her bangs down over her forehead and to make sure her ear was covered.
    “Did you say phone call?”
    “Yes’m.”
    Something terrible must have happened for Judy to be calling at this time of night, she thought wildly and hurried to unbolt the door. She flung it open and the back of her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes became enormous, and a cold shiver crept down her spine.
    Dan stood on widespread legs, those long, muscular legs encased in faded jeans, his hands jammed in the pockets of a worn denim jacket. His dark eyes held hers and from his expression she thought he might grab her and shake her. But when he spoke, his voice was even, almost impersonal.
    “I just moved in next door and I’d like to borrow a cup of sugar.”

Five
    “D an,” Casey whispered , staring wide-eyed up into his face.
    “Casey, my darling. “There was a curiously soothing quality in his words, as if he were calming her, quieting her the way he had done on the night she woke with her eyes bandaged.
    Casey shook her head. “What are you doing here?”
    He came into the room, closed the door, and leaned against it. “I’ve come to get my Guinevere,” he said simply.
    “You’ve got to be out of your mind.”
    “You’re repeating yourself, sweetheart. You’ve told me that before.”
    “Dan, listen to me,” she pleaded, gazing up at him with anxious determination. “I’ve got enough worries in my life right now, trying to get my strength back, finding a job, starting a new life, without interference from you.” She was highly conscious of his physical strength and the patience in his eyes as they swept over her. “I have my life planned, Dan, and you’re not part of it.”
    He pushed himself away from the door. It hardly seemed that he had moved, but there he was looming over her. He appeared to be larger, more rugged, almost primitive.
    “What makes you so sure of that?” he asked with a hint of a smile.
    “I have my own life to live and it would never in a hundred years be compatible with yours.” He laughed and she wanted to hit him. “Stop laughing,” she snapped. Her eyes searched his face in puzzlement. “Why? Why are you pursuing this relationship? You hardly know me!”
    “Hardly know you?” He looked thoughtful for a moment while his fingers came up and fingered a strand of her hair. “It’s true that I haven’t known you for a long time. But it’s been long enough for me to know that you’re intelligent, witty, have a capricious personality, and that I would never be bored with you in a million years.” His