Though My Heart Is Torn: The Cadence of Grace, Book 2 Read Free Page A

the dusky red skin. “It’s hard to think on it. Believe me, I’d rather not.” His voice was muted, chin to chest. “But”—he glanced up at Lonnie, his hair unruly in the morning dew—“forgetting seems unsafe.”
    “Unsafe?”
    He gently lowered the apple into the pail and made no move to reach for another. He squinted at her. “If I forget … who I was.
What
I was.” He shook his head, throat working. “I just don’t want to get comfortable. Do you know what I mean?”
    She kissed his forehead, inhaling his scent, and lingered when his eyes closed. “I do. And thank you.” Her fingers grazed his hair. “That means the world to me.”
    Gideon’s lopsided grin warmed her. He took the bucket from her and gently tipped it; the apples rolled inside the empty wheelbarrow. He faced her. “You’re too good for me, Lonnie Sawyer.”
    “It’s O’Riley now.” She laughed and climbed higher.
    He winked at her. Peering up at her through branches, he spread his arms out wide, his familiar form silhouetted against a rising sun. “So I got all of this. A second chance. A wonderful wife. And a son.”
    Lonnie put a hand up to shield her eyes.
    “And what do you get?” His face was maddeningly serious.
    Lonnie tugged another apple free. “You still don’t know, do you?” Before she could change her mind, Lonnie motioned him forward. Her bare feet lowered her down the rungs until she stood level with his tall frame.
    His eyes widened, and the freckles sprinkled across his nose made him look more like a boy than a man of twenty-three. Placing one hand and then the other on his shoulders, she marveled at the solid flesh beneath his faded work shirt. “I’ll tell you, but only if you don’t tease me about it.”
    “I promise,” he said in a throaty whisper. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
    An unavoidable smile warmed her lips, and Lonnie delighted in theeffect she had on him. “I got the only man I’ve ever loved. There was no one before you, and there will be no one after you. I could never ask for more. In fact”—she pressed fingertips to her chest, so full was her heart—“I think God was smiling down on me the day I married you.” She paused, remembering the rest of God’s grace.
    Gideon smiled, joy flooding his face.
    It was enough to fill Lonnie’s heart to overflowing.

    Gideon noticed Lonnie blush as they ducked into the warm kitchen. Elsie glanced up from her chopping block and turned out a bowl of dough. The heavy cutting board wobbled, knocking wood against wood, as Elsie’s pudgy hands began to knead.
    Gideon lowered a loaded pail at her feet.
    “We have your apples.” Lonnie reached for her apron. She twisted the ties into place and began to hoist the bucket. It scarcely budged.
    With a smirk, Gideon lifted it for her.
    “Now do I get my pie?” Gideon set the bucket on the table with a
thunk
and ran his hand over his smooth chin, the bare skin a foreign feeling beneath his rough hand.
    “Only if your wife stops standing there blushing like a nervous schoolgirl and starts slicing apples.” Elsie winked, and Gideon watched the color in Lonnie’s cheeks brighten.
    “I’m not blushing.” Lonnie took her place at the kitchen table, paring knife in hand. “I thought we were supposed to stick together, Elsie.”
    When Gideon flashed her a disarming smile, Lonnie swatted him away. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”
    His hand grazed her sleeve in passing. At the sound of Jacob’s criesabove, Gideon strode through the parlor, then took the stairs two at a time. He found the little boy in his cradle, a bundle of blankets around him. Gideon scooped him up, and Jacob pressed a sleepy head to his shoulder, rubbing a tiny fist against his eyes. Gideon kissed his hair and savored the scent of his son as he went back down the stairs.
    “Well, look who’s awake.” Elsie held out her hands as an offer to take him.
    Gideon hoisted Jacob higher against his chest. “I’ve got to finish a few