My Stubborn Heart Read Online Free PDF

America ?”
    Peg nodded. “That’s right.”
    â€œOf course, she’d completed her reign by the time they met and married,” Velma said. “Can’t remember what her cause was now. Blind people, maybe? Anyway, she and Matt had a big society wedding down where she was from. Georgia, wasn’t it?”
    â€œYes. There were pictures of it in People magazine,” Peg said.
    â€œAt the time it was a big to-do. Ritzy, you know.” Velma popped a section of cookie into her mouth, chewed. “Anyway, they were only married a couple of years. And the last six months or so of that Beth was very sick.”
    â€œSick with what?” Gran asked worriedly.
    â€œWith brain cancer,” Velma answered. “Poor thing. It was awful. Here’s this beautiful young girl with so much to live for, and she’s diagnosed with brain cancer. She was only twenty-seven years old when she died.”
    â€œI’m so sorry to hear that,” Gran murmured.
    Kate’s heart sank for Matt. She’d wanted to uncover his secrets, to know what had caused the tragedy she’d seen in his eyes. But now that she did know, she was sorry she knew, and terribly, terribly sorry about what he’d been through. She couldn’t believe she’d had the gall yesterday to tease him for not smiling, for being so serious.
    â€œWhen she died, Matt quit playing hockey,” Velma said. “Right there at the top of his career. Nobody knows why. Most people thought he’d want to keep playing even harder afterward, you know, to take his mind off things. But nope. He just left it. Then he came back to Redbud, I think, because he knew nobody here would bother him.”
    â€œHe’s not seen much around town,” Peg said. “He concentrates on his work.”
    â€œBut he must not need to work.” Kate was struggling to understand. “He must have a fortune.”
    â€œOh, indeed,” Peg answered. “A fortune.”
    Velma made a tsk ing sound. “For all the happiness it’s brought him. I wouldn’t want to speculate. . . . Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll speculate. I think he needs something to do with himself. He likes fixing up old houses, so he works.”
    Silence descended over the ladies like spring rain. They were all somber faced, considering Matt and his young and lovely dead wife.
    Kate looked at her tea and the remains of her cookie.
    She no longer felt like eating.

    Ordinarily, Antiques Roadshow and an open bag of peppermint taffy cured all Kate’s ills. But not tonight.
    She lay sprawled on her bed wearing a tank and drawstring pajama bottoms, watching the only TV in the house. It had been loaned to her by Peg, and thanks to today’s visit from the cable company, both it and the Internet connection on her laptop were up and running.
    She’d seen this Roadshow episode before. They were in Tucson ooh ing and ahh ing over Native American finds.
    She tapped the brass footboard with her big toe and popped another taffy into her mouth, trying hard to find enjoyment in it. Her romantic’s soul was still reeling with sadness for Matt and his wife. Imagining the realities of what losing his wife must have been like for him made her shiver with sorrow.
    The longer she contemplated his grief, the more it mingled into her own personal grief. If he, of all people, wasn’t enjoying happily-ever-after with someone, then what earthly chance did she have?
    Over the years, she’d developed a pretty thick skin. People’s comments about her singlehood ordinarily rolled right off her back. But Velma’s words from earlier today hadn’t.
    â€œLook fast, because if you ever want to have children you need to find someone soon.”
    Velma had merely stated the obvious fact that Kate, and everyone else in the world, already knew. At thirty-one she wasn’t old, not by a long shot. But she, her ovaries, and her eggs were