The Ties That Bind Read Free Page A

able to talk Lisa into going on this trip. Of course, Connie wouldn’t be the one accompanying her. Rick would be going. And he owed the entire devious plan to his daughter, who thought her parents should finally consummate the passion that had always flamed between them.
    She was right. There had always been fire between Lisa and him. There’d been sparks from the time he met her, even when Lisa was fourteen, when he’d known better than to touch her. But even then it had been damned hard to resist the attraction. They’d waited two years before falling into bed together. And they’d been careful, as careful as they could be when desire consumed them. But condoms weren’t the best birth control method, and when Lisa, at sixteen years old, got pregnant, they’d gotten married. They’d been in love. It had been tough. Goddamn, it had been tough. Barely twenty and struggling to work full-time and juggle college part-time, he’d suddenly also had to deal with a pregnant teenaged wife.
    A wife he’d adored.
    And when Kayla had been born, he’d hung the moon on his daughter. She’d been perfect, and he and Lisa had given up everything for her, determined that she’d never pay for their mistakes. But they were barely adults, didn’t know how to really love each other. Tensions had mounted as high as their bills. They were drowning. Eventually Lisa had to move back home with her parents, taking Kayla with her.
    Rick hated failure, but even he had to admit that separating had been the best thing for all of them, had eased the tension between them. By the time Kayla was three, they’d known divorce was inevitable. They’d realized they weren’t ready to face an adult relationship, even though they still loved each other. They sacrificed each other to do what was right for Kayla, before they ended up tearing each other apart and Kayla in the process.
    Divorcing had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. But he’d vowed never to let either of them go. He was responsible for hischild and the woman he’d vowed to love forever. He’d worked his way through college, gotten his degree, and when he’d finally gotten back on his feet, bought a house for Lisa and Kayla. Lisa hadn’t wanted it, of course, but Rick said a house was a good place for Kayla to grow up, much better than an apartment. By then Lisa was going to nursing school, and eventually Rick bought a house nearby so he could help watch Kay while Lisa was in school. When Lisa graduated and started making decent money of her own, she took over the payments of her own house. It was important to her to stand on her own two feet and not depend on Rick for everything. It was one of the things he admired most about her.
    Over the years they’d developed a perfect relationship, relying on each other, as close to a real family as you could get. Kayla was secure and loved by both her parents, and Rick and Lisa settled into a cozy, comfortable relationship.
    A relationship that had no passion.
    It suited both of them fine for a long time, while they nurtured Kayla and built their careers. They both dated other people here and there, but it seemed like neither one of them wanted to bring another person into the family relationship they had built among the three of them. Lisa hadn’t moved on. Neither had he. It always seemed to Rick as if he and Lisa were both waiting for the time when they could be together again, only neither of them had ever mentioned it. It was like a tenuous, invisible thread between them, and both of them were afraid to do anything to break it. Even if it meant they’d do nothing at all.
    No more waiting. That time was now. If they got there and she said no, then that would be it. He’d walk away with no regrets. But he’d regret it forever if he didn’t at least try to win back the woman he’d loved almost half his life.

Two
    Lisa avoided pressing her nose to the tiny window of the small two-engine plane that swooped and rolled on its way