Words From The Heart (Spring-Summer Romance Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

in his fingers, he faced Audrey.
    She’d calmed her son, jingling a small terry-cloth toy, which the boy promptly inserted in his mouth, and now cradled June against her neck. “Why don’t you go sit down and relax,” Audrey said. “It’s probably been a while since you could check your emails in peace. I’ve got this.”
    He hesitated, his brow tight.
    “Honestly …” she urged. “It’ll be okay.”
    He stared at her a moment longer, then dropped the rag into the sink. Shuffling out of the kitchen and to the right, he stepped inside his office, but came to a halt. He hadn’t spent one minute there in weeks, unable to escape either June or Jeff long enough to make the effort.
    A rim of dust coated everything, bookshelves, printer, computer screen. Trailing his fingers along the desk’s surface, he left a trail on the way to his chair. The springs squawked as he sat, the cushion expelling a puff of air. Once in place, he made no effort to turn anything on. Because the man that’d occupied this space was gone, the hard-edged guy neck-deep in spreadsheets, replaced by someone who couldn’t escape his memories, who saw his dead wife at every turn and couldn’t cope with the silence anymore.
    Dust motes danced in the light of the window, swirling in his breath, and he blew outward, watching them speed toward the ceiling and settle once more over papers and pens.
    A shuffle at the door raised his gaze.
    Audrey entered the room, a fresh cup of coffee in one hand, his daughter sleeping soundly on her shoulder in the other. She set the mug on a folder left out and turned the handle in his direction.
    “Where’s …?” he began to ask.
    She nodded back the way she’d come. “Jeff’s watching TV. I put August in the floor at his side. He won’t go anywhere, but chew on his toes for an hour. I should probably encourage him to be more mobile, but what’s the rush? Not like he’s going to stay that way.” She closed the distance between them, sinking into a chair opposite the desk. “You know … it’s okay that you’re out-of-sorts. You haven’t had time to be yourself, what with taking care of your children. I’m sure you’ve got so many memories badgering you … and that’s why I’m here, to give you space to deal with it. But …”
    She paused, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth. “But I’m also probably reminding you of her. I’m flattered if I do.” She leaned back. “Tell me about her.”
    Overwhelmed, Bennett shut his eyes. Beth’s healthy, vibrant expression was hard to find anymore, replaced by the emaciated one he’d gazed at toward the end. “She was always positive,” he said, “always tried to be uplifting. So excited to be a mother.” Which made her death especially hard to take. It’d gone against everything that was “Beth”.
    “How’d you meet?”
    He opened his eyes again. “She was my secretary, back when I was at Osmand & Mashe .”
    “The accounting firm?”
    He nodded.
    “Dad said you worked together …”
    Bennett eyed her, and she gave a nervous laugh.
    “Well, more he yelled it,” she continued. “I take it there’s bad blood? Makes no difference to me because I know how my dad is.”
    He spoke truthful. “I stole his biggest client, deliberately and on purpose. He’s never forgiven me for it, and frankly, I don’t blame him.”
    Audrey didn’t reply at first. “Like I said, it makes no difference to me. I suspect that man and this one are two different people.”
    Bennett took his time responding. “Are you always this perceptive?”
    She smiled. “Except when it came to my ex. Then again, I knew something was wrong, just not that he was the type of man who’d run out on his son.” She shrugged. “I can’t dwell there, but have to move on … and don’t you worry about my father either. This is my choice; he’ll have to live with it.”
    Her head tilted, and she adjusted her hold on June.
    “Maybe it isn’t my place to say, I know I