The Storm Read Free Page A

you’ve forgotten, my darling, you stood before that official last year and promised to love, honor, and obey me.”
    â€œRight.” The lukewarm drink tickled her nose and washed down the dry crackers and cheese. If only she could wash away such a foolish mistake so easily. “And the next day I told you to forget it.”
    â€œBut in the eyes of God and the law, we’re still one.”
    â€œAnd only one of us is driving.” She smoothed the black leather seat beside her. If only it was better cushioned. “Hey, didn’t Father give me a swell homecoming gift? I don’t care if this Model T’s four years old. She could probably do thirty-five or forty on a good road. But our sham of a marriage isn’t near-enough reason for me to spend ten hours a day behind the wheel, no matter how much I love her.”
    Eric gave her more cheese and crackers. “Let’s see, then. You’re coming with me because you feel sorry for me?”
    â€œHuh. That’d be a cold day in hell. So what if your plane crashed and ended your flying career—for now, at least? You think that’d make me agree? Besides, I’m counting on us not being there long. If you believe I feel sorry for you, you’re crazier than I was when I married you.” She was lying. The battered man beside her barely resembled the strutting pilot who’d bulldozed her into marrying him just a year ago. Of course, all the gin they’d consumed had helped.
    â€œSo you’re doing it because I’m still a tall, handsome war hero with a fistful of medals?” Eric cut a thick slice of cheese for himself and stuck it between two crackers.
    He was so banged up, she couldn’t bear to hurt him. She simply didn’t want to be his wife. “Something like that. And we understand each other. You’d do the same for me, wouldn’t you?”
    â€œI suppose so. Especially if you’d promised we could annul our mistake.” He ate some more, then gathered his crumbs and tossed them toward the steep ditch on the side of the road.
    Hell, she might as well be honest. “Hmm. Yeah. That went a long way toward convincing me. But I still love you—like a brother.”
    He finished the rest of the Coke and threw the bottle out too. “If you’d let me, I’d convince you we could be more than that.”
    â€œNope.” She’d learned her lesson. “We tried once. That’s enough. I told you, I love women and you’ll never be more than a friend.”
    â€œSpeaking of your so-called love for women, what’s with you and Willie Piazza? I spotted you two in the saloon last night when I stopped by for a quick drink. You looked like you could eat each other alive.”
    â€œYep. We’d been doing that quite often. But it’s nothing serious. We’re just pals.”
    â€œLike you and me, I guess.”
    â€œYeah. But she’s got the right equipment and plenty of spare time.”
    â€œNot something you and I’ve had much of till lately.”
    She tightened her shoulders, then released them. All this driving, talking, wandering, and running away had made her quiver inside. She just wanted some peace and quiet for a while.
    â€œYeah. Well, how about we end this bogus marriage soon?” She stretched one arm above her head, then the other. Disguising herself as a man so she could visit Willie late at night had made her skin prickle. Disguising herself as a wife made her yawn.
    If God would just let her get back to New Orleans and become a free woman sooner rather than later, she might think a little better of him. Being tied down sure wasn’t what it was cracked up to be.

    *

    Molly’s right cheekbone ached and her eyes felt grainy as she grabbed an old wooden box. The sweet odor of the hulls and yellow cottonseed meal she scooped into it eased her headache, but it didn’t lessen her perpetual heartache. A stubborn