Part 2 (1/2)
He stopped, knowing he didn't have a choice. He couldn't just slip past her.
”Your receptionist told me I'd probably find you out here.”
He glanced back at the building behind him. ”I'm usually at the barn.”
Julianne s.h.i.+fted her stance. She still wore the jeans and the simple T-s.h.i.+rt she'd sported earlier. But her
hair, that scarlet, spellbinding hair, blew gloriously in the wind. ”I owe you an apology.”
”No, you don't.” He jammed his hands into his pockets, thinking how small she was, just a sprite of a
woman.
”But I was rude to you,” she said.
”That's all right. I had it coming.”
”That isn't true.” She paused, took a breath. ”It was a misunderstanding. I saw your ring and I a.s.sumed
you were still married.”
”Oh.” Taken aback, he kept his hands in his pockets. He couldn't explain why he wore the wedding
bandSharonhad given him. He couldn't admit the truth, not to anyone but himself. ”That was a logical deduction, Ms. McKenzie.”
”Julianne,” she corrected. ”I'm so sorry about your wife.”
Everything inside him went still. Dead still. He would never forget the pain and guilt that taintedSharon's
memory. ”Thank you.”
”I'm divorced,” she offered.
”Is that good or bad?”
She shrugged. ”I don't know. I haven't decided yet.”
”So what brought you toTexas?” he asked, trying to ease into a simpler conversation.
”My birthday.”
She made a sour face, and he found himself smiling. ”That bad, huh?”
”I'll be forty.”
He'd suspected as much. Although she wore her age well, he could see the maturity in her eyes, in her
gestures. ”You'll survive. I did. Two-and-half years ago.”
”You're a man. Gray hair looks good on your gender.”
And all those brilliant Irish locks looked incredible on her. ”Come on. I'll walk you back to the lodge.”
She gave him a suspicious look. ”Are you trying to get rid of me?”
”I'm headed that way. And I a.s.sume you barely got a chance to relax. Besides, I think you left your cane
in the lobby. And your granny gla.s.ses. Oh, and those dowdy housedresses old ladies wear. I'm sure I
saw one in your suitcase.” ”Very funny.” She b.u.mped his arm and started toward the lodge. ”My cousins are going to have an over-the-hill party for me.”
”Black balloons? A cake with a tombstone on it?”
”Exactly.” She stopped, gazed up at him. ”What did you do on your fortieth birthday?”
He tried not to flinch. He'd been emotionally ill that day, churning about the condition of his body. He
remembered throwing his prosthesis across the cabin and smas.h.i.+ng a lamp to smithereens. Although he deserved to be punished for what he'd done toSharon, the constant reminder wasn't easy to bear. Particularly on the birthday she'd been teasing him about but hadn't lived to see.
”Quite truthfully, turning forty sucked.”