The Kissing Stars Read Online Free PDF Page A

interested in scientific research had turned his attention to studying crime for a living.
    Gabe shifted uncomfortably and answered Mrs. Hanford. “I’m happy doing what I’m doing, ma’am.”
    The older child, Jim, interrupted with a question about the kegs of gunpowder Jimmy Wayne Bodine had positioned around the schoolhouse. The younger boy asked to see Gabe’s scar from where Jimmy Wayne shot him.
    “John David!” his mother exclaimed in a scandalized voice. “Don’t be rude. Mr. Montana here isn’t a fair exhibit.”
    “Now that I’m not so certain about,” Gabe replied with a grin.
    The Hanfords fawned over him a few more minutes before excusing themselves to find seats for the outdoor puppet show due to start soon. The slight relaxing of her husband’s shoulders as he reclaimed his seat tipped Tess off to his relief, and reminded her of the young man she’d married. He’d shunned attention back then, too. Still, he deserved to be honored for his heroics.
    Tess waited until the family moved out of earshot before saying, “You did a fine thing in Cottonwood Hollow, Gabe. Saving so many young lives must be terribly gratifying.”
    “Having to save those lives was terrible, period. It never should have gone that far. That’s the kind of mess you get when you put churnheads in charge.” He lifted his glass to his mouth, tilted up his head, and took a long swallow of lemonade.
    Tess watched the movement of his throat and was surprised by a memory flash of her tongue tracing along its contours. She had so loved the taste of him. As heat flushed her body, she pushed to her feet. “I must go. It’s almost time for my speech. I need to prepare.”
    “Wait a minute.” He grasped her arm. “We really need to talk. You never said…I don’t know…” He grimaced and muttered a low curse. “Shouldn’t I have received a copy of the divorce papers? Your father told me he would see to the legalities, so I expect it’s long been taken care of. But shouldn’t I have signed a paper or two, or was your signature enough?”
    Divorce papers? Tess sank back into her seat. Her stomach dropped clear to her ankles. “My father said he’d arrange a divorce? When did this happen?” Suddenly, Gabe’s earlier remarks about remarriage and a daughter made an ugly sort of sense.
    Gabe’s expression grew wary. He set down his glass on the table. “A few months after the fire. He had Rangers track me to the ranch south of Houston where I was working cattle. He sent a note.” After a moment’s pause, he added, “I wasn’t surprised you wanted to divorce me, but it’s always sort of bothered me because I never saw any papers. I guess I’ve never felt it was finished.”
    Tess’s mind whirled with the ramifications of Gabe’s revelations. The old, bitter ache washed through her. Her father and his damnable revenge. Even years after his death, Stanford Rawlins had managed to reach out from the grave to wound.
    She cleared her throat. “So you’ve gone along all these years assuming our marriage had ended without ever checking into it?”
    “Honey,” he drawled, his eyes narrowing. “We haven’t seen each other in a dozen years. Our marriage did end.”
    Tess set her own glass down with a bang. “But you never talked to me about it. How could you let this happen without talking to me?”
    Gabe’s jaw hardened. “You told me you never wanted to see me again, Tess. I took you at your word.”
    “Why?” She shoved to her feet. “I was seventeen years old, Gabe. I was distraught with grief. You should have known people say things they don’t mean when they are grief-stricken. How could you let my father do this to us?”
    He didn’t answer her right away. Tess stared at him, seeing the muscles working in his jaw, watching those gray eyes go cold. Controlled anger . She remembered that about Gabe.
    His voice was low and dangerous when he spoke. “Maybe I felt the same way. Maybe I didn’t want to see you