Meant To Be by Jude Deveraux

Author:Jude Deveraux
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Published: 2022-10-28T15:43:36+00:00

* * *

Miguel took his time driving to the Hatten farm. The sprawling wood-and-stone house hadn’t changed much since Kelly married Adam.

He didn’t want to see Jared. The poor boy was so sad that it hurt to look at him. If Miguel knew anything in life, it was what a broken heart felt like. And he knew that, once broken, it never truly healed. It might mend a bit, but that wound couldn’t be repaired.

Three times Jared had asked Miguel, “Why?” Of course he couldn’t answer. He and Cait had agreed to say nothing, but his silence was also pride. Miguel didn’t want to tell the truth any more than Caitlyn did.

He was concerned for his daughter. “This pain, this misery, will fade,” he’d told her. “It doesn’t seem so now, but it will recede.”

“I can’t believe that,” she’d cried. “You, Jared, everyone. It hurts too much.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he’d said. “Not to me, anyway. What about to you?”

“No,” she’d whispered. “It means nothing.”

That first night, he’d tucked her in bed as he used to when she was a child. They’d both wanted to return to that time of innocence.

“Jared?” she’d whispered.

“He’ll be all right,” Miguel had said. “I know what he’s feeling and he will survive.”

As Miguel looked at the big house, memories came back to him. He’d hated Adam Hatten. He had what Miguel wanted. Not the money or the admiration of the town, but Vera. The woman Miguel had loved since he was a child had belonged to someone else. And now he had even more.

He started to ring the doorbell but he heard the crunch of gravel and turned toward it, bracing himself for poor, sad Jared.

Miguel froze. Vera was walking toward him. She had her head down, her hands full of papers, and she was frowning in concentration as she read.

She looked good. Older, but still lean and lithe. She had on shorts that showed her long, beautiful legs. Her hair had escaped its bounds and was a crinkled mass around her head. Like him, there was gray in it. Vera wouldn’t waste her time coloring it.

“Nobody’s home,” she said, but didn’t look up. “They won’t be back for weeks. Leave a message and I’ll—” She looked up and saw him.

The last time they’d seen each other, Gabby had been on top of him. Both of them naked. For a split second, he saw what he used to see in her eyes: passion, desire, a need for him. Love.

It was gone in a flash, and emptiness replaced it. Not love, not hate, not even dislike. Just blank. “They aren’t here,” she repeated.

“I know.” Miguel’s voice seemed to crack. “Caitlyn needs a key to Kelly’s clinic.”

“That guy she hired has it.”

Miguel swallowed. Is this the way she looked at people she interviewed? No judgment about their heinous crimes? “I know. But Cait...” With a shrug, he turned away. “I’ll get it from him. Sorry to have bothered you.” He had driven Cait’s old Jeep and he went to it.

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