Promise Forever by Marta Perry

Author:Marta Perry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2003-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Miranda pressed the rolling pin firmly, spreading the piecrust dough in a circle on the floured board. She found comfort in the familiar, soothing movements. Doing something routine was a relief from the tensions of the past week.

This old kitchen was equally comforting. At five or six she’d knelt on a stool at the counter, painstakingly rolling out the scraps of dough her mother had given her, trying to be just like Momma. Later, she and Chloe and the twins had sat at the scrubbed pine table in the evenings, doing homework while Momma and Daddy talked over the day’s doings in soft, contented voices.

She looked at the large calendar posted on the kitchen wall. Crowded with notations, it kept track of who was where in the busy Caldwell clan. Today, Saturday, it showed that Tyler and Sammy were at T-ball practice. It also showed her that one week was gone from Tyler’s month.

A burst of panic touched her—one week down, three to go. Tyler probably checked the days off in his engagement book or his electronic organizer, counting down the moments until he could leave Caldwell Cove and get back to his real life.

The life that had no place in it for her. She’d known that for years and had it reinforced since the night on the dock when he’d kissed her. His immediate withdrawal and the efforts he’d made in the days since to avoid her had shown how much he regretted that act.

He’d left for Charleston each day immediately after having breakfast with Sammy, returning scrupulously by the time Sammy got home from school. He’d been pleasant, polite and cooperative. He’d felt as distant from her as if he were already in Baltimore, living the life that didn’t include her.

She fit the crust into the pie pan, fluting the edge with the quick twist of the fingers her mother had taught her when she’d been deemed old enough to start baking real pies instead of playing with the dough. Comforting or not, making pies for Sunday dinner wasn’t enough to distract her mind from the treadmill it had walked since that night on the dock.

Tyler didn’t want anything from her except cooperation in their joint parenting. His kisses had been a fluke, perhaps a reaction to some faded memory of the people they’d once been. He must have been horrified at the mistake he’d almost repeated.

Unfortunately those moments had shown her the truth she could no longer avoid. She still loved Tyler. She’d buried those feelings in family and work and her son, but a few kisses and a moment in his arms had brought the flame blazing to life.

At some level, she’d known that would be inevitable from the moment she’d walked into the hall and seen him. She pressed a floury hand against the front of her T-shirt, as if that would ease the hurt. Her relationship with Tyler was beyond repair. All she could do was concentrate on making the changes in Sammy’s life as smooth and easy as possible for all three of them.

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