Free Gone to Her Grave (Rogue River Novella Book 2) by Melinda Leigh

anyone who cares if they’re fed. No one tucks them in at night. The most attention they might get in the course of a day is a backhand. And you know what’s really sick? They start craving the backhand because at least it’s something.”
    Seth should have quit while he was ahead. He was always pushing, wanting more, in a hurry. Patience was a virtue he clearly did not possess.
    “I know these kids need help, but why does it have to be you?”
    “Because I care.” The gaze she leveled at him was full of determination.
    “I know you do.” Seth turned. “I wish you cared about me and Brianna as much as you care about strangers.”
    “That’s not fair!” Anger lit her eyes.
    So much for having one conversation with no yelling.
    “Isn’t it?”
    “This is going nowhere, Seth.” She turned away from him. “Go get Brianna. Spend time with her. She misses you.”
    But Carly didn’t. She’d made that clear.
    “I miss her too,” he said.
    “You can drop her off at the main house when you’re done.” Carly fixed her gaze firmly on the meadow. “She wants to sleep over with my mom.”
    Seth spun and walked off the porch. The black clouds in the distance hung, ominous and unchanged, in the night sky. The storm needed to let loose and get the violence out of its system. When it blew away, the air would be clearer.
    If only his fight with Carly could blow over at the same speed. But it wouldn’t. He was a caveman who would likely never be truly civilized. Neither of them would yield, and the strife between them would linger until there was nothing left but anger and bitterness.
    Maybe she was right. They should give up and move on. But while life with Carly was difficult, life without her seemed empty and worthless.

    Carly knelt on the grass above her father’s grave. The camp lantern on the ground next to her cast a yellow glow across the smooth granite.
    “I really need to talk to you about Seth.” With her forefinger she traced his name engraved into the gray stone. Her eyes welled with tears.
    Clouds lingered in the sky, and humidity thickened the air with moisture and insects. In the darkness, below the tall hill of the cemetery, the Rogue River bubbled and rushed over rocks. If the moon had been out, its light would have gleamed on the turbulent current and highlighted the public park sprawled on the other side of the water. The small copse at the water’s edge had been one of Dad’s favorite fishing spots. He’d never cast from that bank again. Maybe it was best that Carly couldn’t see it.
    “Why do I love a man I can’t live with?” she asked him. A mosquito buzzed around her face, and she waved it away.
    “Am I interrupting?”
    “Of course not.” Carly swiped a hand across her cheek and looked up at her sister. In cutoffs, an In-N-Out Burger T-shirt, and flip-flops, Stevie didn’t look like a cop. “It’s not like he’s going to answer me.”
    “No,” Stevie said in a soft sigh.
    “I know it’s been six weeks, but I can’t get my mind around the fact that he’s never going to be here again.” Carly sniffed. “I could sure use him now.”
    “Rough day?”
    “Seth came by.”
    “I figured.” Stevie dropped on the grass and crossed her legs.
    “God, he can still make me feel like I’m eighteen. How do I stop that?”
    Stevie shrugged. “I’ve no idea.”
    “I’ve loved him since the first time we met.” Carly turned her head to stare at the second half of the stone. “I hate that Mom had her name and birth date engraved on the stone. It’s like she’s all ready to die.”
    “I know. I tried to talk her out of it, but she said she felt better knowing the spot next to him was marked for her.”
    “That’s all I ever wanted, to have what they had.”
    “Everyone wants what they had.”
    Carly glanced back at the headstone. She did know what it felt like to love someone enough to want it to be forever. Unfortunately she’d fallen for the wrong man. “Let’s blow