Secrets Gone South (Crimson Romance) Read Online Free PDF

dumplings and two spoons. But first, would you please bring some carrots and green beans? I need to get him to eat that first.”
    “Ah, that’s no problem, is it, pal?” The tone Will took when speaking to Avery was light and intended for a child but not condescending. “Vegetables are good. I had carrots and green beans too. Plus, pinto beans and salad.”
    Avery didn’t reply. The space was getting a little crowded for him—for Arabelle too. But he did cock his head to the side and give Will a shy smile.
    “Will loves vegetables,” Lou Anne said. “He almost always gets the vegetable plate but somehow I can’t resist bringing him a pork chop or some country fried steak anyway. Don’t let it get out.”
    Will just smiled and shrugged.
    Lou Anne bustled off and Will said, “It was nice to see you again. I should—”
    He almost said
go
. He would have gone then, for sure. But Avery pulled on Arabelle’s arm and said, “Hat off!”
    “Sorry, baby.” She undid the tie under his chin. His coat had a hood but it didn’t fit close enough to keep his head warm. She pulled the knit cap off and absentmindedly tried to smooth Avery’s cowlick.
    “It was nice to see you again too, Will,” she said and was about to slide into goodbye.
    But when she looked up, she saw that something had changed. He was staring at Avery and he wasn’t smiling. The dreamy serenity in his eyes had left and a storm was moving in.
    Her mouth went dry. Her first thought was
I should have never moved here.
Then she chastised herself. It was only fear that made her have such wild thoughts. Will had no reason to suspect anything, especially after seeing Avery’s blond hair, so unlike theirs. True, his eyes were blue like her own, but lots of people had blue eyes. There was surely a statistic on that. She might look it up when she got home, just to know …
    Will put his hands in the pockets of his denim jacket and sat down across from them without speaking. He never stopped looking at Avery.
    Don’t panic. Don’t jump to conclusions. He probably just wants a cup of coffee.
    “Would you like some coffee, Will?” she asked calmly. “I know you’ve eaten, but maybe some dessert?”
    Will finally moved his eyes from Avery to her but he didn’t change expressions. And where was the sweetness that always seemed to emit from him like rays from the sun? Gone. In seconds, a hard edge had taken up residence, chasing away the gentleness.
    Finally, he spoke in a shaky voice. “How old is he, Arabelle?”
    Oh, God. “Two,” she said vaguely.
    “Two, is it?” He nodded his head. “Is he exactly two, as in today is his second birthday? Or are you rounding up? Or down?”
    “Rounding up,” she admitted. “Just a little.”
    “How much?”
    “A few weeks.”
    “How few? When is his birthday?”
    There was no way out of answering that direct question. Still, it didn’t prove anything.
    She called on her strong voice. “March 8.”
    Will turned his lips inward a bit and closed his eyes. Counting.
    “So, he’s twenty-two months. Barely that.” He opened his eyes and nodded. “I see.” And though she would deny it with her last breath, she believed he did.
    Somewhere along the way, all the color had drained from his face.
    “Yes,” Arabelle said. “He is, at that.”
    “Have you ever wondered why I wear my hair this way?” he asked. “Why I have never updated my haircut?”
    What? They were going to talk about his hair now? Well, it was better than talking about Avery.
    “Because it suits you?” she said. And it did.
    “Maybe it does or maybe it doesn’t,” Will said. “But Shine Sipes and I determined long ago that the only way to tame this horrendous cowlick in the front of my head is to have enough hair to put behind my ears. That, or shave my head, and I don’t want a shaved head.” He lifted the hair above his right eye to prove he had a cowlick.
    So what? She shrugged. The silence between the two of them was so