Desert Bound (Cambio Springs) Read Online Free PDF Page A

would be fed into a man-made grotto, continually renewed by pipes carefully concealed beneath the ground. The runoff from the grotto would feed down into a cooler lake shaded by acacias and palms. Clusters of white bungalows would dot the property, following the traditional clean lines of Southwestern architecture that allowed the landscape and vistas to take center stage. The rock left over from clearing the land would be used to build winding paths interspersed with locally sourced tile. There would be hiking paths and yoga classes. Spa treatments in a beautiful building with views of the mesa. A restaurant that Alex and Jena both hoped would draw raves.
    It would be beautiful. It would provide jobs and opportunities for the town to grow. 
    It might even make Alex some money, if they could stay on schedule. 
    He wondered what Ted would think of it. 
    Then he decided not to torture himself. He walked up the hill back to his truck and headed back to his parents’ house, deciding to go into the diner to speak to Jena about renting tomorrow.

Chapter Three
     
     
     
     
    “Well, mamá , looks like you’re all clear.”
    Little Allie, sitting on the edge of Ted’s examining table, let out a sigh of relief. It hadn’t been the easiest conversation she’d ever had, broaching the subject of getting tested for STIs, but as Allie’s doctor, Ted couldn’t ignore the chance that Joe had been cheating on her and might have had unprotected sex that could infect his wife. 
    It had set Allie off on yet another rant about her husband. She kept strict control around the kids, but when she had a moment alone with either Jena or Ted, the truth came out.
    “Well,” she said, dark humor coating her voice, “score one for me. One for me and ninety-nine for the asshole.”
    To say Joe had been emotionally abusive would be an understatement. The bright confident woman that had charmed the world was a very thin facade over a woman wracked with insecurities planted by a thousand cutting comments and cruel words. Ted berated herself for not looking closer.  For not seeing the depression that was lurking beneath Allie’s happy smile.
    “You’re going to be okay. All this shit? It’s just going to make you stronger.”
    “I don’t have a choice, do I? The kids need at least one parent who doesn’t check out.”
    “You need to take care of yourself, too. Not just the kids. How are you sleeping?” Ted has slept like shit for a full year after she and Alex had broken up.
    Allie shrugged. “Okay, I guess.”
    “Don’t miss him?”
    “Not… not really. That’s sad isn’t it?”
    “I don’t know. Is it?”
    Allie blinked back tears. “Part of me is angry he left us, and the other part of me is glad he’s not making me miserable anymore. Then I feel guilty for being glad, because the kids are so torn up.”
    “He wasn’t an asshole to them. That seems pretty normal to me. Don’t feel guilty.”
    She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning back on the paper-covered exam table.
    “Know what I really want?”
    “What?” Ted smiled and began cleaning up her exam room. Allie was her last appointment before lunch.
    “I want to have really amazing sex, then shift to my fox and hide in a cozy den for about a month.”
    Ted blinked. “Um…”
    “He stopped touching me months ago,” she whispered.
    Ted said nothing. It was a special kind of torture to deny their animal natures that way. Foxes, especially, had voracious sexual appetites and were some of the most affectionate shifters in the Springs. So for Joe to deny his wife physical touch was cruel, and he would have known it.
    “That’s stupid, right?”
    Ted shook her head. “No, not stupid.”
    “I didn’t even like him, but I still missed being with him.”
    “If it was the only thing he gave you, then it’s not weird to miss it, Allie.”
    “I guess so.”
    “Don’t beat yourself up for being a normal woman. And a normal fox.” Ted nudged Allie off the