Love Will Find a Way Read Free Page A

hadn't expected. For the first time, she wondered how Gary had felt living with one foot in each of his worlds.
    "Ready?" Dylan asked her, meeting her by the front door.
    She nodded and followed him into the elevator and up to the third floor, where he inserted a key into the lock and opened the door.
    For a second she froze, suddenly terrified to step inside. Did she want to know -- if there was something to know?
    Wouldn't it be better to keep her memories, her love, her faith, intact? But they were intact, she reminded herself. She just wanted one last look at the other part of Gary's life -- the part she hadn't really understood.
    Gary had taken the apartment for practical purposes. With his long hours and long commute, it made sense for him to have a place in the city. She hadn't been able to argue with his reasoning, although she'd never gotten used to the idea of her husband having another home. Whenever she'd raised her concern about the distance between them, Gary would pull her into a big hug and tell her they had the best of everything.
    She'd believed him because she wanted to believe him, and perhaps because changing the status quo might have meant having to come with him and live here in the city, she thought guiltily.
    "You don't have to do this," Dylan told her. "I can check things out and let you know what I find."
    "I've come this far." She walked through the doorway and halted just inside to get her bearings. It was a man's apartment: heavy, dark furniture; a big-screen television set; a state-of-the-art stereo in one corner; a treadmill in the other. Her gaze moved from the big stuff to the little stuff: the pair of tennis shoes kicked halfway under the couch; sunglasses on the counter; a newspaper spread out on the dining room table the way Gary had always spread it out, driving her crazy by never closing one section before opening another right on top of it. Oh, God! She put a hand to her mouth, feeling suddenly sick.
    "Are you all right?"
    Dylan's voice sounded like he was speaking underwater. The blood pounded through her head so loudly she couldn't hear a thing. She found herself being pushed down onto the couch, her head forced between her knees.
    "Breathe," Dylan ordered. "Just take a breath."
    She forced some air into her lungs and began to feel better. Embarrassed, she sat up. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."
    "It's all right. I should have cleaned this place up a long time ago. I had the same reaction when I walked in after the funeral. I guess that's why I didn't come back. I should have sent the cleaning lady in. The dust is an inch thick." He got up from the couch and dug his hands into his pockets as he walked toward the window.
    She was grateful for the chance to regroup. "It wasn't your responsibility, it was mine. But the apartment was never a part of my life. After Gary's death, I forgot about it." She picked up a childish drawing from the coffee table, Wesley's birthday card to his father. The words I love you, Daddy were scrawled across the page. Rachel's heart broke just a bit more. "What am I doing here?" she murmured, a tiny sob escaping her throat. "A man who saves a little boy's cards doesn't kill himself."
    Dylan turned around at her words. "Why don't I pack everything up and send it to you? You can go through the boxes when you're ready."
    She stood up, thinking that was a good plan, although she didn't quite trust the expression on Dylan's face. He seemed uneasy. Of course, after her reactions, almost fainting, then getting soppy over a silly card, he probably wasn't sure what she would do next.
    "Won't it be hard on you?" she asked, instead of saying yes.
    Dylan shrugged. "I can handle it." He cast a quick glance toward the bedroom door, then looked back at her. "I'll walk you out."
    "Maybe I should check the bedroom." It wasn't what she meant to say; it wasn't even what she wanted to do, but once the words were out, she couldn't take them back. So she walked into