AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It might help to talk about it,” she said into his neck.
“I’ve never really believed that.”
She sighed. “It seemed the right thing to say, and if you’re talking, I can focus on that and not the storm that could rip off the roof any second.”
“This house has been standing for years and through worse than this storm.”
“So you say.”
“So I know.”
Her hair was soft and silky to touch.
“I went through something big in college, and I kept it from my family. Nash found out and wanted the details. I told them tonight, and now he and Maggie are hurt and pissed with me.”
He tightened his grip as the thunder boomed and her body jerked.
“Your family loves each other, you’ll get past this.” She whispered the words into his neck, her breath warm on his skin.
“I hope so.”
“I know so. You have to make that happen, Ford. Family is important.”
“Is your family important to you?” He looked down at her, but she was still talking to his neck.
“My mom died when I was young, and my grandparents raised me. They were good people who loved me.”
He wasn’t sure why he felt she’d left something out of that description, but he did.
Pressing his nose to her hair, he sniffed and realized the scent of vanilla that had been in the air since he walked through the door was coming from her. He’d never thought much about vanilla in his lifetime but was fairly sure it could become a favorite scent of his.
“Where is your father?”
“I don’t know. I never knew his name.”
He couldn’t imagine what not knowing where you came from felt like. He’d always known where he was from and what he would do with his life.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t miss what you’ve never had.”
He thought that was a lie but didn’t call her on it.
“Will you tell me about ranching?”
“You want to be a rancher, Autumn?”
“Ha,” she said with no humor. “I like your voice. It helps me focus on something other than the storm.”
So he talked about his job and not about her family and the hell he’d created tonight in his. He told her about his life and what he loved about living it. He talked cattle-to-pasture ratios and what it felt like to get on his horse and ride for hours.
Autumn lay against him, a warm, sexy weight that had him both uncomfortable and comfortable, which was odd. He’d never felt this close to a woman before, not as aware. When her questions stopped and the thunder eased, he knew she’d fallen asleep. All the tension had seeped from her body, and she lay against him, relaxed. She snuffled against his neck, making him smile.
He’d lie here with her for a while longer and then put her to bed. Closing his eyes, he rested, suddenly tired from the day he’d had. The revelations and uncertainties of what tomorrow would bring. For now he’d sit here with this beautiful, sweet woman in his arms for a few minutes more and enjoy the peace she gave him.
When Ford woke,he knew instantly Autumn still lay curled in his lap. Her soft weight pinned him to the chair. Opening his eyes, he looked down at her. She’d moved. Her head was in the crook of his arm, her mouth open slightly.
The woman was sweet, no getting around that. Disturbing and so many other words his mind would remember when his head cleared. Looking to the drawn curtains, he saw the gray dawn light peeking through a crack.
