Shelter Me Home Read Free Page A

for a few moments before he got behind the wheel again. What kind of desperation would cause a woman to hitch rides from strangers while she was pregnant?
    He gripped the steering wheel as the rumble of the idling truck filled the silence. “Are you in trouble, Farrah?”
    Her eyes were so sad when she turned to him. “No. Not anymore.”
    Working hard to swallow around the lump in his throat, he pulled the gear shift into drive and eased uphill. Unable to look at her after the hollowness of that expression, the same emptiness that matched his own soul, he drove the last forty miles without a single glance in her direction.
    The sooner he got her to where she was going and out of his life, the better.
    ****
    Great. All Aanon had to do was tell one person, and then the entire southern part of Alaska would know her predicament in two days flat. Whoever said pregnancy was glowing, getting to eat anything you wanted, and beautiful, magical stuff—well, they lied big. So far, it had just been puking. And sweating. And hormones, which could probably be blamed for her little ogle-fest at Aanon in the gas station earlier. Farrah’s body no longer belonged to her, but to the life growing inside of her.
    Aanon didn’t even look at her the rest of the drive to town. Well, that settled it. The fastest way to snuff out any interest from an interesting man was to tell him you were having another man’s baby. She’d really have to keep that little gem for future conversations with suitors she didn’t want to talk to.
    But, she hadn’t wanted that reaction from Aanon. She searched his carefully empty expression for any of the tenderness he’d shown when she was sick. It was for the best that they would part ways in a matter of minutes. He’d been kind to give her a ride, and even kinder to be gentle with her when she wasn’t feeling well, but his aloofness now hurt in ways she couldn’t explore for fear of the pain deepening.
    Cooper Landing, Population 289 , a green road sign read as they passed.
    Jaw clenched and hands gripping the wheel, he asked, “Where do you want me to drop you off?”
    “Um. That tourist shop off of Sterling would be great.”
    “Wildman’s?”
    “Yeah, thanks.”
    When he pulled up in front of the store, he hopped out and opened her door. His attention seemed to be taken with the storm clouds above them, but still, it had been a long time since a man opened a door for her. Sweet gestures hadn’t been Miles’s thing.
    After she’d exited the cab, Aanon pulled her luggage from the seat and set it on the icy sidewalk. “Good luck with everything.”
    It was a sad goodbye. Surely, after this secret that sat in the open air between them, one that only they shared, more intimate things should be said. He was now the only person on earth who knew about the baby besides her. When it came down to it, though, Aanon was a stranger and her secret wasn’t his problem.
    “You too,” she said.
    When he pulled away, the full weight of her predicament slid directly onto her shoulders, and oh, it was a great weight to bear. Aanon and the school day memories he had conjured had been a beautiful distraction from planning a future from nothing. Now, it was up to her to completely reinvent her life. She had no place to stay, little money, and no job. Not only that, but the tiny person inside of her was now depending on her success. She pressed the palm of her gloved hand on her still flat stomach and whispered, “Don’t worry.”
    Wildman’s was picturesque. It was two stories and made of felled logs with snowcapped mountains as a backdrop. Her final resort would be to visit Momma. It would be better, easier, if she was properly set up with a home and a job before she went to beg for the answers she could only get in person. Getting sucked into living in her old home would be a one way ticket to a broken life, and right now, it was imperative to her happiness that she stand on her own.
    Under the weight of her