Free Hearts in Defiance (Romance in the Rockies Book 2) by Heather Blanton Page B

He
swallowed, as if forcing down tears. “The sound drifted over to me and I
realized …,” he shifted his gaze back to Hannah, “I realized I was never going
to hear my son laugh, unless I quit being a child myself.”
    Unexpectedly, a traitorous tear rolled down Hannah’s cheek. Billy
must have seen the gleam in the dim light. He walked over to her and gently
wiped it away with his thumb. He rubbed the moisture between his fingers and
sighed. “I am so sorry for the pain I’ve caused you, Hannah. Do you believe
that?”
    “Yes.”
    “Do you think you might give an old flame a second chance, maybe?”
Billy flashed a rakish grin, the kind that used to launch butterflies in her
stomach.
    Now, she found herself thinking of Emilio. His smile, the way he
doted on Little Billy, their changing friendship and the furtive glances of
late. She admired his knowledge of plants and the way he worked so hard all the
time. He was steady and, so far, trustworthy. And she knew for a fact that he had pushed back more than once against his domineering sister.
    She swallowed, but didn’t answer Billy’s question. She didn’t know
what to say. Part of her wanted to hug him and kiss him and tell him how
thrilled she was that he had come for her.
    Part of her wanted to shoot him. She was still angry with him, and
the revelation surprised her.
    The silence stretched on too long. Billy shoved his hands into his
pockets and lowered his head. He hunched his shoulders, bit his lip, rocked on
his feet—the actions of a man planning his next words. “Well, I didn’t come all
this way expecting you to throw yourself into my arms.” He peered up at her
through long brown lashes, that grin making another appearance. “That is,
however, something to work toward. I’ve got nothing but time now.”
    ~~~
     
     
    Resigned that this was going to be a long night, Naomi and Rebecca
sat by the fire, watching Matthew devour about half the party’s vittles. This
giant of a man ate just like his twin. Naomi nodded politely as he continued a
disjointed story of his early years in California, but her mind wasn’t on his
words.
    Looking at him only made her think of John, how she used to love
to hold those wide cheeks in her hands, or push his hat back and move strands
of straw-colored hair out of his eyes. She remembered how he could pick her up
with those tree-sized arms and carry her about as if she weighed no more than
an empty dress. Big and wide, with hands the size of bear paws, yet he could
hold her like she was as delicate as a china tea cup. Having John’s mirror
image sitting right in front of her made those memories too real.
    But Matthew wasn’t John. John was not sitting right in
front of her. God, please help me not to fall into confusion. He looks so
much like him . 
    “You two haven’t heard a word I’ve said.” Matthew stopped the
biscuit about halfway to his mouth and bounced his gaze back and forth between
the sisters. “Tell me. What am I missing?” When neither Naomi nor Rebecca
responded immediately, he set the biscuit back on his plate, set the meal on
the ground and addressed Naomi. “The last I heard from you, you despised this
place and its debauched citizenry, and all you wanted was to get out. I moved
heaven and hell to get here with the intention of relocating all of y’all to
California, sure I would be doing you a favor. I have a house waiting for you
with a maid. Now, I show up tonight and you’re having a pretty cozy little
party here. Pardon me for saying so, but you don’t exactly appear to be in
distress.”
    Relocating them? A house with a maid? Naomi made a miserable
connection. “You didn’t get my second letter?”
    “Nope. Wanna fill me in?”
    “Matthew, I never expected you to come after us.” A growing sense
of guilt blossomed in her. “I didn’t ask you to.”
    He snorted indignantly. “My sisters-in-law get stranded in one of
the roughest mining towns in the West and you didn’t