Three Brides, No Groom Read Online Free PDF

her head
to investigate the damage. It wouldn’t have hurt to wait, she realized. In a
couple of days she would be home, and a trained professional could have cut it.
She could only guess how horrible she looked. Tears stung the back of her
eyes.
    “Give me the scissors,” Josh said gently.
    She still had them clenched in her fist. He took them from her
and sighed as he ran his fingers through the uneven tresses, his touch strangely
intimate.
    She swallowed tightly. “Roger insisted I keep it long,” she
whispered. Cutting it had been an act of defiance, a way of casting her former
fiancé from her life, but in doing so she’d only hurt herself.
    Josh took his time clipping away here and there. At last he
stood back to admire his handiwork. “Not bad,” he said with a slow smile. “Even
if I do say so myself.”
    Gretchen reached for her compact and flipped it open. With the
light from the fire and the moon, she could see that his touch had been
masterful. She barely recognized herself. She now wore a short pixielike cut
that flattered her cheekbones and deep blue eyes.
    Her gaze returned to Josh. “You’re a man of many talents. Thank
you,” she murmured.
    Her words appeared to please him. He reached for his knife and
the stick he’d been sharpening earlier. “I don’t know about you, but I’m
starved.”
    Gretchen couldn’t have eaten if her life depended on it. She
sat with her chin resting on her knees and studied the fire. “You go ahead. I’m
not hungry.”
    They sat side by side, surrounded by the sound of the ocean and
the crackle of the fire as he cooked himself a wiener.
    “Is it true what Roger said?” she wondered aloud. “About your
father being in prison?” She wasn’t sure what had prompted the question.
Probably she should never have asked.
    Josh stilled. “Yes.” But he didn’t elaborate, and she didn’t
question him further. Although he claimed to be hungry, he didn’t eat more than
one hot dog. For a long time afterward he sat cross-legged on the blanket he’d
brought, staring into the flames as though hypnotized.
    “Josh,” she whispered, after the uncomfortable silence grew too
long to bear. He didn’t look at her right away. She waited until he grudgingly
gave her his attention. “I’m sorry. I had no business asking you about your
father.”
    Without acknowledging her apology, he rose to his feet and
disappeared into the darkness. She watched him go, resisting the urge to go
after him and apologize again. Angry with herself, she pressed her forehead
against her knees and wondered how she could have been so insensitive to a man
who’d been nothing but kind and helpful.
    After the tumultuous events of the day, she was convinced she
would never be able to sleep. She stretched out on the blanket, covered herself
with a thick sweater and tucked her head against her bent arm. She was asleep
almost immediately, only to jerk awake a moment later. That happened several
more times before the physical demands of her body won out over the emotional
trauma of the day.
    Gretchen wasn’t sure at what point during the night Josh joined
her. Her eyes fluttered open to see that the fire had died down to glimmering
coals. She was on her back, and all she could see was the dense spattering of
stars above. She rolled her head to one side and found Josh asleep on the other
side of the blanket. Relieved that he was back, she rolled onto her side and
tucked her sweater more closely about her shoulders.
    The next thing she was aware of was the loud discordant cry of
a seagull. She opened her eyes to gray light. To her surprise, she felt warm and
cozy, although the fire had long since died out. She soon realized the source of
her comfort. Josh had placed his leather jacket over her shoulders. He sat
nearby, his hair apparently wet from a shower.
    “What time is it?” she asked, lazily stretching her arms above
her head and yawning.
    He grinned. “Morning.”
    “That much I guessed.”