A Family to Come Home To (Saddle Falls) Read Online Free PDF Page A

nickname in twenty years, not since Jesse Ryan had disappeared.
    “J-Jesse?” she whispered, her voice so dry it came out like a croak. Her gaze went over him as he slowly removed his Stetson, allowing a tumble of rich, black hair to fall free, only emphasizing the beautiful shape and sculpture of his chiseled features.
    Ryan features.
    “Jesse,” she said again as her lids slid closed and her hand lifted to smother the sob that struggled for freedom. “Oh my God, Jesse.” It had been so long since she’d allowed herself to say or even think his name because she’d been unable to bear the tremendous pain and grief the mere thought of his disappearance brought on.
    Grief that, as a child, she hadn’t known how to handle or what to do with. How does a five-year-old cope with the knowledge that her best friend—her only friend—has disappeared and that she’ll never see him again?
    It had been too heavy a loss for someone so young to understand or to carry. So she’d buried the pain deep inside her heart, where it had been covered over by other losses, more grief from a life and a family that had not turned out as she’d wanted, expected or needed.
    “My God, Jesse, I can’t believe it.” Her voice was stronger now, but she couldn’t stop staring at him, tears streaming down her face as her pulse raced like a runaway train.
    “Please don’t cry,” he said gently, taking a step closer and tenderly wiping a tear from her cheek. Stunned by her reaction to his slight touch, Hannah let her lids lower as she savored the feelings storming through her. When he’d touched her, she’d felt a tingle of electricity strong enough to light up six counties.
    With any other man such a reaction would have sent her running in the opposite direction as fast as her legs could carry her. But this was Jesse, she reminded herself. And Jesse had always been different, special to her.
    “Jesse, is it really you?” she asked. Stepping closer, Hannah knew she had to touch him, just to assure herself he was here and he was real.
    Through eyes blurred with tears she tipped her head back to look at him, then laid her hands on the broad expanse of his chest, feeling her pulse—and his heart—jump in response.
    Jesse sighed, a little off balance, a little frightened by the feelings, as well as the memories, swarming over him. Memories he never realized had been buried somewhere within and now could not be ignored or denied, a fact that only added to his emotional confusion.
    As did the sight and touch of this incredibly beautiful woman.
    “Yeah, darlin’, I reckon it’s really me.” He smiled at her and Hannah was certain someone had hitched the sun a notch. The world somehow seemed brighter. More beautiful.
    Hannah didn’t think, she couldn’t, she merely reacted, throwing her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest, holding on to him as if she could hold him to her forever.
    “Oh, Jesse, I thought I’d never see you again.”
    “I know, darlin’, sorta seemed that way, didn’t it?” he said, not knowing exactly how to respond to her. With her lush, curvy little body pressed against his, he found his own body reacting and responding in a way that shocked him. Since his mother’s death three months ago, he hadn’t felt anything, it was as if he’d gone cold and dead inside.
    Until now.
    Until he’d touched her.
    Unable to resist, he stroked his free hand down the long curtain of her hair simply to see if it was as soft as it looked. It was.
    She was close enough for her deliciously feminine scent to tease him. It was an erotically feminine mixture of heat, sun and woman. He inhaled deeply, wanting to brand the scent into his mind, his memory.
    “Welcome home, Jesse.” Hannah lifted her tear-stained face and gave him a big, watery smile. “Welcome home.”

Chapter Two
     
    H ome.
    It was as if she’d thrown a bucket of cold water on him. Instinctively, Jesse drew back from her, still watching her,