Wild Heat (Northern Fire) Read Online Free PDF Page B

plane for California to hunt down Kitty’s ex-husband to give him a well-earned beatdown he would never forget and might not walk away from.
    “If I could cleanse him from my memories, I would.” Kitty’s expression defied him to judge her for that.
    Like he would. Still, the bitterness lacing her tone was new. Kitty had never been bitter. Not even about her parents’ untimely deaths.
    Fury at the absent man bubbled under Tack’s fixed expression, his temper stirring dangerously again. “He must have been a piss-poor husband for you to feel that way.”
    Kitty flinched a little, as if Tack’s anger bothered her, but then her eyes narrowed, and for just a second he saw a reflection of the inner fire that used to fascinate him. “He was.”
    “He was a monster,” Miss Elspeth said with conviction.
    “Clearly damaged in the head to treat our Kitty the way he did,” Miz Alma opined. As the eldest, she expected her opinion to be taken as gospel too.
    Tack wasn’t going to disagree, though. He thought the sisters’ assessment of Barston was damn accurate.
    “Oh, Kitty,” Miz Moya said in a tear-filled voice.
    If he didn’t do something fast, the older women were going to drown Kitty in pity, and from the expression on her face, he didn’t think that was going to be beneficial for anyone concerned.
    “I thought dinner was at seven?” he asked with as much innocence as a twenty-eight-year-old man could muster.
    Miz Moya’s hands flew to her pink, round cheeks. “Oh my. With Kitty’s arrival, I forgot the roast.”
    She rushed off to the kitchen, Miss Elspeth following, saying she still needed to set the table, her hands all aflutter.
    It was early May and the first cruise ship hadn’t hit the harbor yet. There was only one guest room occupied, as Tack had been told that morning while he worked on the step. However, the fact that they only had two guests instead of eight wouldn’t diminish the sisters’ mortification at serving dinner late.
    The older couple might well be in the dining room, but they were conspicuous in their absence from the front parlor.
    Miz Alma gave Kitty and Tack a measuring look. “I had best make sure Elspeth doesn’t drop Grandmother Grant’s china in her dither. I’m stunned she was able to keep your upcoming arrival a secret, Kitty.”
    Everyone knew Miss Elspeth was not good at keeping secrets. Tack had to wonder why she’d been so committed to keeping this one.
    “She likes knowing something you don’t,” Kitty offered with a shrug that bothered Tack more than it should.
    Back in the day, she would have said the same thing with a sly smile and a wink. The lack of animation was not acceptable, but he wasn’t exactly sure what to do about it.
    Do something he would, though.
    It wasn’t in Tack’s nature to leave something broken that needed fixing. Not even people.
    “Yes, well…we’ll have dinner on the table in about five minutes.” With that, Miz Alma left the room.
    Tack didn’t bother to hide his continued perusal of Kitty. He would never admit to anyone else how hungry he was for the sight of the one woman he was determined never to give another chance at his heart.
    Color climbed her cheeks and she turned away, her hand reaching for one of the many photos on the fireplace mantel. It was of her and Tack before they left for USC, their arms around each other.
    She stared at it for several long seconds. “I know I look different.”
    “I’m glad you grew your hair out again.” He’d always loved how it tumbled wildly around her head.
    She spun back to him, like his words surprised her. “That’s all you see?”
    He grinned. “You’ve stopped wearing all that black goop around your eyes too.”
    She laughed. It was barely a puff of sound, but it seemed to startle her. “That’s the second time today.”
    “What?”
    “That I’ve laughed. I don’t laugh anymore. I guess coming home is going to be good for me after all.”
    Stunned at her words, he