Heart of Texas Vol. 2: Caroline's Child\Dr. Texas by Debbie Macomber

Author:Debbie Macomber [Macomber, Debbie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, General, Contemporary, Texas, Fiction
ISBN: 9780778312963
Google: tqyDacx7zIEC
Amazon: 0778312968
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2007-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

DOVIE BOYD WAS MISERABLE. She wandered between the lush rows of her garden, picking ripe tomatoes from her heavily laden plants. Her only consolation was that Frank Hennessey probably felt even worse than she did. For ten years they’d been friends. More than friends. During those years they’d talked frequently of marriage—with Dovie generally bringing up the subject. Frank had been a bachelor all his life; Dovie understood that marriage would be a big change for him and had been patient. No, she thought now, she’d been stupid. Although she loved Frank, she’d never been completely comfortable with their arrangement. He knew that, which must be why he’d made promises he didn’t intend to keep. When she pressured him about it after Ellie Frasier and Glen Patterson’s wedding, he owned up to the fact that he simply couldn’t marry her. He loved her, he claimed, but he wasn’t the marrying kind. He just couldn’t do it.

The truth had been painful, but she’d lived long enough to recognize something else. Either she accepted Frank and their relationship the way it was or she broke it off.

She broke it off. Not that it was an easy decision. She missed him. Missed their afternoon chats over coffee, missed their romantic dinners and sitting on the porch gazing at the stars, sipping a nice glass of East Texas wine. She missed cuddling up with him at night, too. For the better part of nine years Frank had spent two nights a week with her.

Her twenty-five-year marriage to Marvin had been a good one, although to her regret they’d remained childless. She’d loved her husband and grieved deeply for him when he died.

That was thirteen years ago. She’d still been young enough then to want a man in her life—was young enough still! Frank had courted her for two years before they’d become lovers. She would never have believed she’d allow a man into her bed without the benefit of a wedding band. But she had, trusting with all her heart that Frank would one day marry her. In retrospect she wondered how she could have let the arrangement continue this long.

In other years Dovie would pick two or three large green tomatoes for Frank; this year she left them to ripen on the vine. There wouldn’t be any fried green tomatoes for Frank Hennessey. The thought saddened her, reminding her that there was a gap in her life, that she’d lost an important person. But this break, no matter how painful, was necessary, she told herself.

Just then Frank’s patrol car rounded the corner and Dovie’s heart accelerated. Although tempted, she looked away, pretending not to notice.

“Hello, Dovie,” he called softly.

She glanced in his direction. He’d come to a stop and rolled down the car window.

“How are you?” he asked in that sweet seductive way he had. He’d always used that tone when he wanted Dovie to know how much he loved her.

Slowly she turned to look at him. “Very well. Thank you for asking,” she said, then continued down the row, picking tomatoes.

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.