Whispers at Willow Lake Read Free Page A

lush landscape like an invincible green monster, soared against a sky that was just becoming alive with hints of a magenta-orange swirl. He drank in the vivid colors, awed after so many months spent in a desert-brown landscape. At his military post, the only green for miles was growing on food left out in the heat for too long. “I asked, in English, why do you keep defending him?”
    Ali tugged a pair of sunglasses from a holder on the visor and propped them over the bridge of her nose. A hand smoothed her blonde hair before tucking a strand behind one ear as she merged onto the highway. Traffic was light as it was barely six o’clock. But even at this early hour, after a night spent tending to Mama Stallings and the grief that accompanied her loss, Ali’s beauty shined. “John asked me to marry him.”
    Ryder choked on his gum. For a moment, all he could do was cough, his eyes tearing as sunlight burned over the horizon. Finally, painfully, the words came. He worked to hold his voice light and steady. “And you said no, right?”
    “Why do you care what I said?” Ali’s glossed lips pursed as she switched on the radio. Classical music drifted through the cab. “Our ship sailed a long time ago, Ryder, and you never even left the dock.”
    “But, I wanted to.” How could he explain that he’d left to protect her…from him, from what he’d become?
    “Wanting something and taking action are oceans apart.”
    “So, you’d just settle for a loser like Larder?”
    “A life with John would not be settling.” She lifted her chin, skimmed her hair back once again with fingers that were perfectly manicured. It was shorter now, and straight. She looked polished and efficient and had lost the carefree, sun-kissed look he remembered so fondly. Her eyes, once a shimmery, laughing green, were all business. “He’s going to be police chief.”
    “So I heard.”
    “He has goals…and ambitions.”
    “So do I.”
    “Oh?”
    “Yes. Besides, he’s an egocentric tyrant.”
    “How would you know? You’ve been gone—”
    “I know how long I’ve been gone. That’s beside the point.”
    “You’re just jealous.”
    “I’m…” What was he? Ryder clamped his mouth shut. Another of Mama Stallings’s favorites, James 1:19, came to mind.
    “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”
    Ryder drew a long, heated breath. He was certainly being tested now. A cursory glance at Ali’s hands on the steering wheel told him she wasn’t wearing a ring—at least not on that finger. He’d always loved her hands…the long delicate fingers that skimmed over piano keys with the ease of someone who enjoyed the gift of music.
    And, he hadn’t been gone so long that he forgot her stubborn streak. A challenge—an argument—would only make her want whatever they were at odds about that much more. So, he changed the subject.
    “You’re running Willow Inn now?”
    “Yes. I bought it last year.”
    “From your parents?”
    “They were ready to sell, and I wanted it free and clear. They retired to Arizona. After what happened to Josh…well, they just couldn’t seem to find their rhythm again. So they decided to pull up stakes, move on.”
    “Away from here? From you?”
    “It only hurt for a little while. I’ve…adjusted.”
    The pulse at her clenched jaw told him otherwise. She’d always been close to her parents, and knowing he was partly to blame for the rift stung. He reached for her hand, tucked it gently in his, and was pleasantly surprised when she didn’t resist. “I’m planning to stay for a while, Ali, so I’ll need a room at the inn if you have one available.”
    She gulped hard, her gaze glued to the road. “You’re in luck. It’s slow this time of year, so I think I can manage.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth and tugged in a way he found familiar. “But, I thought you came to see Mama Stallings.” She suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights