Heart of Grace (Return to Grace Trilogy #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

of looking at things.
“Angie.”
She stopped and turned, surprised to realize she had been
meandering and her thoughts had wandered so far. She reigned
them in and watched Cole in the dull, stormy light. He might
have been mistaken for his father with that same confident
smile. But Cole’s eyes were different from Doug’s. Same color,
perhaps, but different; wilder.
He looked at home here, against the backdrop of rugged
mountains, which pierced a sky that could, at times, be
impossibly blue. But there was little blue in the sky today, and
Cole’s eyes were as untamed as the whip of the wind that swept
out of those fat gray clouds.
He stopped in front of her, and Angela leaned against the
fencepost. “Nadine said I’d find you here. You’re working.”
Cole shrugged. “Yeah, but I could use a break.”
“Looks like you’ve already had one.” Angela pushed away
from the post and gestured to his injured arm. “What
happened?”
“My relief wasn’t where they were supposed to be. But
even if they were, they probably wouldn’t’ve got to me in time.
Bad luck. Shattered elbow, three fractures”
“So you’re really a rodeo cowboy.” She looked up at the
sky, then back at him. “That explains a lot.”
“What needed explaining?” Cole removed his hat and
riffled his hand through sweat soaked hair.
“You didn’t want to come back to Grace any more than I
did.”
“Grace is my home,” he said offhandedly, refusing to meet
her eyes. They took step together alongside the fence.
“How long are you back for?” she asked.
“As long as it takes to heal and to get the doc to clear me,”
Cole answered dryly. “Two months, maybe three.”
They fell silent. Other sounds filled the void – feet
shuffling on the grass, wind rustling through trees, a voice in
the distance, and the flutter of wings as birds raced for shelter
from the coming storm.
Angela
gathered her wind-whipped hair back
into a
ponytail, and then released it to flitter back into the wind. She
glanced at Cole. He stared straight ahead as they walked, his
eyes fixed on a spot the distance. There were so many things
to discuss. She was tempted to let it slide.
She took a breath and let it out slowly, sternly reminding
herself that she had come there to talk business. She opened
her mouth to speak, but he slipped his hand around the crook
of her elbow and veered her off course, down a sloping
meadow.
“Might want to take those shoes off,” he said when her
heels sunk into the moist ground and she stumbled.
“I’m fine.” And to prove it, she pulled out of his grip and
dislodged her feet from the soil. “Where are we going?”
“I want you to meet my girls.”
Angela stopped suddenly, further upsetting her balance.
She decided it wasn’t such a bad idea to remove her shoes, and
did so quickly. He had continued on without her. She caught
up with him at the bottom of the hill.
It never occurred to her that he might have children, a wife.
Nadine certainly hadn’t mentioned it. “Your girls?”
“Yep. Born this year. Came from my best stud.”
Of course, his horses! Her heart fluttered with relief. It
reminded her of the time she’d managed to get him alone at
the arena. She had used the excuse of needing his help with
tacking a horse. She’d stood close to him as he had set the
saddle and reins, desperately wishing he would kiss her. When
he had turned to her, she had entertained herself with the
notion that he just might.
Realizing she stood too close to him now, Angela angled
away. As he had done back then, he just kept on walking,
having no knowledge of the things he was doing to her heart.
Angela breathed in deeply and looked heavenward.
They’d come to a small fenced area just outside the main
stables, separate from the larger grazing field beyond. Cole
stopped by the gate and rested his good arm on the aging
wood. Over his shoulder two baby horses pranced excitedly.
Two full-grown horses that she presumed were their mothers,