Always Mine Read Online Free PDF Page B

no way could he forget that dress. Strapless. Spangled. Low cut in the cleavage area. High cut in the leg area.
    And fire-engine red.
    In Vegas you could rent just about anything, and he’d shelled out a couple of twenties for ten minutes with a poof of white stuff that she’d pinned in her hair as a veil and a bouquet of white roses she’d held in her hand while they repeated their vows. He remembered thinking she looked as sweet and spicy as peppermint candy, and his mouth had watered in anticipation of sampling her flavor.
    â€œMy dress, uh…” The next look she shot him snapped him out of his happy little reverie. Get me out of this, it said.
    He supposed she didn’t want to tell his mother she’d married him wearing a barely there dress and a pair of scarlet, spike-toed high heels that had made him swallow, hard, so he wouldn’t let out his groan of lust—or “approval,” as some others liked to term it.
    Owen cleared his throat. “Mom, that reminds me. Izzy wants you to tell her something. She was asking about what I was like as a kid, and I thought you’d be the best source for that.”
    Izzy latched onto the idea in a way that would have been flattering if he hadn’t known she just wanted to avoid the subject of their impromptu wedding. “I’d love to hear everything you can tell me about him.”
    Owen glanced at his father, now seated beside his mother on the couch. The older man wore a half-smile and sported an amused glint in his eyes. Nice dodge, he mouthed to Owen.
    You could fool some of the parents some of the time….
    And this time he’d succeeded in veering his mother onto a different track. He relaxed with his beer, letting her talk of his Little League years, then seasons of peewee football, followed by details of his high school endeavors.
    â€œSalutatorian,” his mother told Izzy. “He graduated second in his high school class. From there he went on to college where he was an economics major, heading for an MBA degree. Which I always considered a very useful field of study.”
    â€œUnlike how I’m employed today,” Owen couldn’t help put in, “because doing things like, I don’t know, saving property is just so…irrelevant.”
    His mother frowned. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
    She probably didn’t, but he still had a sharp chip on his shoulder left over from the discussions he’d had with his parents and grandfather years ago when he decided against a master’s degree and for a place in the fire academy instead. He watched Izzy rise from her chair to perch on the arm of his.
    â€œNot only property,” she said, touching his shoulder. “You save lives, too.”
    But not Jerry Palmer. That knowledge rushed in on Owen in a sudden, cold wave. Nausea churned his stomach and he felt clammy again.
    â€œOwen?” His father was looking at him with concern. “Are you all right, son?”
    Glancing around their small circle, he could see identical expressions on the faces of Izzy and his mom. “I’m fine,” he said, forcing a half-laugh into his voice. “Well, except for the fact that I’ll have to put off beating you at golf again for a few weeks, Dad. Though by the time you get back from your cruise I should be up to it.”
    When the other three continued to study him with narrowed eyes, he lifted his hands, even the casted one, and pasted on what he hoped was a grin. “What’s there to be upset about? I have an unexpected vacation, a fire in the fireplace, the company of a beautiful woman and my loving family.”
    Maybe his grin worked. His mother gave a little nod and then turned to Izzy again. “Speaking of family…I’d like to hear all about yours, too.”
    â€œWhat can I say?” Izzy’s smile looked as effortless as his had been difficult.
    What could she say? It occurred to