Remember Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

faith".
    "And she
helps out at the soup kitchen and visits the old folks’ home."
    A knot twisted in
Alec’s stomach at the thought of Katrina’s losses. Who had died? As far as he
knew, she only had her mom. Her dad died a few years after leaving his family.
    Alec’s attention
shifted to where she sat a few tables from him. He watched her eat, saw the
delicate bones of her wrist when she lifted her water for a drink. Mauve
shadows tinted the skin beneath her eyes and she didn’t smile, even though the
people around her laughed loudly.
    "Is Katrina
always so pale and quiet?" he asked, turning back to Mike.
    Mike looked over
at her, then back to Alec. "Not really, though it seems like she has off
days. The three year anniversary is coming up."
    Alec grimaced. "It
must be tough for her."
    "You’re
telling me," Mike answered, fleshy jaws chewing more meat. Around the
mouthful he said, "Manatee Bay hadn’t seen a tragedy like that in years.
If any of my kids died, I don’t know what I’d do. I can’t imagine anything worse."
The smile Mike had worn all evening seemed to disappear beneath a hard stare.
    Alec’s fork
stilled in midair. He set it slowly onto his plate. "Katrina had a child?"
    "Are you
acting like you don’t know about this?" Shock slackened Mike’s cheeks.
    "Of course I
didn’t," Alec snapped. He didn’t like the way Mike glared at him, as if the
whole thing were his fault.
    Mike’s jaw fell
open, then snapped shut. "Katrina’s mom and son died in a car accident. He
was only seven. It hit the town pretty hard. I can’t believe you didn’t know
this."
    Alec’s teeth
clenched. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the image of Katrina with a child,
struggled with disbelief. The thought of her building a life with another man
slammed into his senses and left him reeling. "Where’s the dad? Why is she
by herself?"
    "We all
thought you were the father." Mike’s ruddy features slowly drained of
color. "Most folks assumed you ditched her and the kid…" He cleared
his throat just as his cell phone rang. "Excuse me, Alec. I need to take
this." The table shuddered as he labored upwards and made an awkward exit.
     Alec felt his
face settling into grim lines. He set his fork down and stood. She’d let people
think he left his family? That he didn’t come to his own child’s funeral?
    Never. A memory crept
through his consciousness. Third grade. Mom crying, huddled on the bathroom
floor, alone, resenting her responsibility to buy him school clothes. Angry she
had to spend money on him. She'd raised the bottle to her lips and from his
place in the hallway, he'd vowed to never make a woman regret her child or the
demands placed on her because of that child.
    No, he would never
willingly leave his own son.
    Answers were
falling into place, making him wish he'd sought them sooner.
    She hadn’t told
him about the pregnancy because she’d betrayed him. Made love to another man
and left him slack-jawed at the altar because of it. And then had the nerve to
let people think he’d ignored his responsibilities. A heavy weight settled on
his chest. So now he knew. The plans he’d embraced, the desires to make amends
withered beneath the new information about Katrina’s son.
    The real question
was why hadn't she married the father of her child?
    *****
    "Alec is
making a hasty retreat," Rachel commented, her full lips pursed.
    "He’s
escaping." Katrina tried to ignore the tension in her belly. When he found
out about Joey, then what would he do? Try to take her business as some sort of
payback? Would he do such an immature thing? Was it even possible? Surely not.
    Rachel nudged
her. "I told you not to bite the insides of your cheeks. It ruins your
mouth."
    "I can’t
help it." Katrina took a deep breath and deliberately relaxed her
shoulders. "How much longer is this thing?"
    "We’re only
eating tonight, so as long as you want, I suppose." Rachel glanced down at
her glittering diamond watch. "Are you leaving