Stonebrook Cottage Read Online Free PDF Page A

his upper arms, her chest constricting, her knees going out from under her. "What's happened? What's wrong? Henry and Lil-lian—they're okay, aren't they?"
    "Let's hope." His expression hardened, reminding her that he was forty-seven and childless, not a man who got along easily with children, even his only niece and nephew. "They took off on their own this afternoon. They're on the loose somewhere in Texas."
    Susanna Galway called Sam at home, waking him up, and invited him to dinner, refusing to take no for an answer. He didn't argue. Under the circumstances, showing up for dinner would be less provocative than not showing up. He buttoned his shirt, pulled on his boots and headed out.
    Dinner was hell. He hated hiding anything from his friends, but if Kara hadn't told her brother and sister-in-law about her weekend with Sam, he didn't feel it was his place to open his damn mouth. He was being a gentleman, he decided, not a coward. It wasn't as if he'd taken advantage of her. Kara Galway was in her thirties, and she'd wanted their night together as much as he had.
    Jack, his wife and their twin daughters didn't seem to notice he was suffering. Susanna was a slim, graceful, dark-haired, green-eyed financial whiz who'd tried to keep millions and a murderer showing up in her kitchen a secret from her Texas Ranger husband, not that there was keeping anything secret from Jack Galway, something that Sam knew he should keep in mind. Susanna was smart, and she liked her secrets. In her own way she was as protective of her family as Jack was. All four of them had come close to losing each other in a harrowing experience in the Adirondack woods six months ago. These days, Susanna seemed content with her work and her life in San Antonio. She was redecorating their suburban home and restoring a historic building downtown that nobody quite knew what she'd do with—including, apparently, her.
    The twins were getting ready to head to college in a few weeks. Maggie had decided on Harvard, following in her father's footsteps, Ellen on the University of Texas, which she liked to say was following in the footsteps of no one in her family.
    They didn't bring up the subject of Kara tonight, but Sam knew they all had welcomed her move back to Texas, teased her about losing some of her accent during her years up north. They expected her to take up with another lawyer or a University of Texas professor, maybe one of the artists who hung out at the Dunning Gallery. Not a Texas Ranger. Not Sam.
    He hadn't taken up with her, he reminded himself. He'd slept with her that one night and one morning two weeks ago.
    After dinner, Susanna and Jack made espresso using the espresso machine Maggie and Ellen had given their father for Christmas. The girls retreated to the family room to watch television. Whatever the lingering effects of their ordeal this past winter, the twins were handling them, just a couple of high-school graduates excited about college.
    Susanna handed Sam a tiny white cup and saucer and eased onto a chair at the new, glass-topped table. She smiled over the rim of her own steaming cup, which didn't look out of place in her slender fingers. "You look as if you're afraid you'll break the china. Relax, Sam. You like espresso, don't you?"
    "I can drink it."
    Jack downed his espresso in about two sips. He was one of the finest law enforcement officers Sam knew, a big, broad-shouldered man, a Harvard graduate, a dedicated Texas Ranger who tried to maintain a precarious balance between work and family. He was fifteen and his sister just nine when their mother was killed in a car accident. Sam knew some of the details. How mother and daughter had gone out shoe shopping and were hit broadside on the driver's side by a speeding delivery truck.
    Kara had had to sit still, covered in shattered glass, splattered with her dying mother's blood, until the paramedics could get her out. She'd suffered only minor physical injuries. After the accident, her