Loving Lydia (Atlantic Divide) Read Free

you.”
    Lydia looked at him and then down at her two sleeping children.
    “You can trust me,” he murmured, his voice quiet. “I won’t let them come to any harm, Lydia. My hands may be rough, but they’re used to being gentle.” He leaned forward and tucked a stray strand of silken hair behind her ear, noting that she nearly jumped out of her skin at the contact. It made her move though.
    He smiled to himself as she turned her back on him and followed his instructions on how to get into the cab, her leg barely reaching the footstep that he had pulled out for her. He watched her struggle to pull her own weight up, despite being on the skinny side. It was a long way up. His lips twitched with amusement as he noted the full-length stretch of her slender legs. He could have given her foot a boost to get her into the cab, he thought to himself, as he put his hands on her slender little waist and gave her a firm shove, bodily lifting her into the seat. He heard her squeak of surprise and chose to ignore it as he turned his back on her. Bending down, he started to unfasten Rosie’s straps so that he could lift her out of the stroller.
    He lifted the little girl into his arms and let her snuggle into his neck for a moment before he turned to Lydia. A puzzled look crossed her face as she stared down at him for a moment before she took Rosie from his outstretched arms and placed her in the seat furthest away from the door.
    As she turned back, Sam already held Aaron effortlessly as he waited to hand him up. At six feet two, he was a pretty tall guy, and he noticed how tiny Lydia appeared up in the cab as she gazed down at him. He thought she must be all of five feet four. The top of her head had just reached his shoulder.
    He stretched up and placed Aaron safely in her arms and wondered what the problem was as she fell silent while she strapped her little boy into the brand new car seat. She seemed to have difficulty swallowing, and he swore there were tears in her eyes until she let her hair fall over her face so he couldn’t see her expression any more.
    The poor little thing was obviously so exhausted, and he couldn’t imagine that it was normal for her to be so rude. He shrugged to himself as he waited for her to finish. No wonder she looked guilty; it probably wasn’t in her nature to be vicious.
    She climbed backward out of the cab. It was way too far down for her to reach the ground, and it wasn’t outside of his nature to take advantage of a woman in need, so he automatically put his arms out and caught her around her slim waist again, almost encircling it as he lifted her down. Skinny little thing, she felt no heavier than her children. Before she could protest, he stepped away from her to collapse the stroller and put it in the back of the truck. By the time he turned around, she’d scrambled hastily into the passenger seat of the cab before he could help.
    She was silent next to him as he drove out of the airport parking garage. She was still silent as he drove through the city limits. By the time he drove through the dark country roads, she was asleep while he sang to the country channel he had tuned into on his radio. He glanced over as she murmured in her sleep and wished the journey were longer so that the bruised look of exhaustion under her eyes would disappear.
    He kept his voice low and soft, singing along to a song of the pain some man felt who had been deserted by his wife because he worked too hard. As he crooned, her muttered words gentled, and the rocking motion of the monster truck soothed her exhausted body as it swayed her gently into a deeper sleep.
    Sam pulled the truck up in front of the ranch house. It was in complete darkness. He turned off the engine and headlights, but left the eerie orange glow of the dashboard lights on.
    “Lydia, we’re here.” She slept on, no acknowledgment that she had heard his voice.
    He leaned over her, touched her arm gently. When that didn’t work, he