Hostage Heart by Renee Roszel

Author:Renee Roszel [Roszel, Renee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781940941721
Publisher: DCA, Inc.
Published: 2015-09-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Dorfstrasse 48.

Drew hugged herself, rubbing icy hands along her bare arms, suddenly aware of the encompassing chill. . . and of where she was!

In a daze of panic she had run from Jim’s punishing advances, away from him, the room, and the Gasthaus. At the time, she had let her tormented body move her onward, getting her instinctively away from the immediate danger. But now her rational mind had taken control, and she was appalled to realize where she had run: Dorfstrasse 48. Rolf’s address.

What irony that her mind, hearing the number only once, would cling to the memory of it like an emotional lifeline, and then, unconsciously, even in these strange surroundings, take her directly there!

She was standing, shivering from the rapidly dropping temperature on the low curb fronting the charming, Bavarian country house. In the growing dusk she scanned its outline. The low-pitched roof was decorated with a little belfry, and at regular intervals along the wooden-shingled roof were blocks of stone.

A long balcony ran the length of the upper story, with two multipaned doors leading out onto it. There were six small windows on each story fronting the house. Their colorful shutters were flung wide revealing the lower floor lit from within with a flickering glow. And three of the windows above were flushed with a brighter, steadier light. Rolf was, no doubt, at home.

She gritted her teeth, angry with herself. This was insane! He had made it clear that he wanted nothing more to do with her. . .except in the most godforsaken, barren way. Why couldn’t she accept that and stay away from him? She shook her head, sighing heavily. Lowering her eyes from the closed, blank door, she turned away.

Who then could she turn to for help? Why hadn’t she simply run up the Gasthaus stairs to her father’s room instead of making this paradoxical rush to a man who could not care less about becoming further involved in her personal life?

Her bottom lip trembled slightly as she recalled why she did not automatically go to her father with this. Though she loved him dearly, and he, she knew, loved her, he was not an adequate confidant. Of that she had become painfully aware all too often after her mother’s death.

As a scientist, Dr. McKenna could not be surpassed in the logical, intelligent way he attacked and surmounted a problem, but in everyday, person-to-person relationships, he was admittedly at a loss.

When Drew had come home after leaving Jim an needed desperately to talk it out with her father, he had cut her off, stammering out self-consciously that the break-up was her affair, her decision. If the marriage was over, he would accept it without question. Then he had excused himself, mumbling that he was needed in the laboratory. Drew let a sad smile alter her lips. She could not fault her father, he was what he was, and she understood and accepted him, valuing his many accomplishments. For anything he might lack as a parent he more than made up for as a pioneering physicist.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.