Small-Town Brides Read Free Page A

died.
    â€œYou have your cousin and that artist aunt of yours. That’s more than some people have.” Clay said.
    Rene looked up. Clay didn’t talk much, so she was amazed at how often he managed to say the right thing when he did speak. “Thanks.”
    She ate another bite of her hamburger and refused to dwell on how much she missed her mother. She’d be in tears again if she did.
    Instead, she turned to Clay. “You never did tell me about your mother.”
    â€œThere’s nothing to tell.”
    If Rene had a dime for all of the questions Clay had refused to answer on the ride up here, she could have bought her own tow truck by now. “Well, you can at least tell me if she’s still living or not.”
    â€œNo, I can’t. I have no idea.”
    â€œOh, I’m—”
    â€œDon’t say you’re sorry,” Clay warned. His eyes smoldered as he turned to look at her. “I’m long past the time of needing a mother.”
    Rene set her hamburger down. She couldn’t help herself. She reached over and touched Clay’s arm. “I’m sorry anyway.”
    Rene drew her hand back quickly. She wasn’t altogether comfortable with this man and she wondered if she’d stepped over some invisible line. Sympathy seemed to make him nervous. Then his lips twisted in a small smile and she relaxed.
    â€œYou remind me of her, you know,” he said.
    â€œI do?” Rene blinked back a tear. “Why that’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me since—”
    Clay shook his head and turned to face the front of the cab. “No, it’s not. Nice, I mean. She stopped coming to see me at the foster care place when I was seven. My dad had been dead for years. The social services people couldn’t even find her to ask if she’d give me up for adoption. And, believe me, they tried.”
    Rene completely forgot about her own grief. The sky had grown darker as they had been sitting here so the truck was filled with shadows. She didn’t need to see Clay’s face, though, to know his whole body was tense. “That must have been terrible. I would never do something like that. I can imagine how you must have felt.”
    â€œI felt just fine,” he said with a hard edge to his voice.
    â€œI—” Rene began. His profile was stern.
    â€œIt’s okay,” he said in a softer voice as he turned to look at her and his face relaxed. “The foster care places weren’t so bad. They suited me better than a regular adoption thing anyway because I got moved around a lot. I wasn’t much into families. But I always had food and a place to stay. That’s all I needed. I did fine.”
    â€œBut where was your uncle?”
    â€œMy mother wasn’t talking to him. He didn’t know how to reach us. I didn’t even know my mother had a brother until he showed up a few years ago.”
    Clay was still holding the last piece of his hamburger, his hand resting against the steering wheel. Rene didn’t know what else to say that would help so she stayed quiet.
    â€œYou’re sure this aunt of yours is expecting you?” Clay asked.
    Rene nodded.
    Aunt Glory had invited her and Paisley to help paint an art mural months ago. The work even paid. The first thing Rene had done when she decided to leave Texas was to phone her aunt and ask if the offer was still good.
    â€œMy cousin has probably called her again by now,” Rene said brightly. She hadn’t wanted her cousin to worry so she hadn’t told her she was being towed to Dry Creek. “They’ll both be wondering where I am.”
    Clay nodded.
    â€œFinish up that burger before it gets cold,” he said as he crumpled up the papers that had held his own food.
    Rene took another bite. “I can’t wait to get to Dry Creek.”
    Clay grunted and turned the ignition in his truck. “I just hope we beat the snow