She did know it. But the alternative left her feeling like even more of an idiot. "You’re right, but it’s easier to think something happened to him than to believe he ran out on me."
"Well, better he did it now than in a year or two, or after you had a kid. He probably just realized you’d both made an impulsive mistake and took off. You know how men are. They like to take the easy way out."
"I don’t think I know men at all," Kayla said wearily.
"Well, I do. So next time you listen to me," Samantha said, shaking a finger at Kayla. "Call me next week, and we’ll go to lunch. But don’t call too early," she added, as she headed to the door. "I’m planning on some very late nights," she said with a wicked smile.
After Samantha left, Kayla got up, switched off the light, and headed down the well-worn path between her studio and the house. She checked her bare cupboards and refrigerator and decided it was time to find some food. Throwing a short jean jacket over her skimpy bright orange T-shirt, she pulled the rubber band out of her ponytail and shook her hair out, running her fingers through the tangled strands. She should probably run a brush through it, but what the heck—it wasn’t as if she needed to dress up to pick up a pizza.
When she got into her car, she told herself to drive straight to her destination, no stops, but the urge to take a little side trip past Nick’s house grew stronger with each block. To be honest, it wasn’t a side trip; it was a hike across town, and she really needed to stop torturing herself this way. Maybe this would be her final trip, one last good-bye, she told herself. Closure. That was what she needed to put an end to this chapter of her life.
Driven by rationalizations that didn’t sound true even in her own head, Kayla kept going until she reached the Marina Green, a large expanse of grass that edged San Francisco Bay and provided a spectacular view of ships sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. She couldn’t imagine getting much work done if she lived down here. She’d be too tempted to take long, windy walks or simply stare out the window at the setting sun that even now was lighting up the clear, dusky sky with a wild splash of purples, oranges, and pinks.
As she paused at a stoplight, she drew in a breath at the awesome color palette provided by Mother Nature and immediately envisioned a new stained-glass window with exactly those colors. She doubted she would ever be able to match the perfection that was before her now. Even as she tried to commit the colors to memory, they began to fade into the night. Nothing ever stayed the same.
When the light changed to green, she turned left, her heart beating more rapidly as Nick’s home came into view. She’d driven down this street a hundred times since her wedding day, hoping against hope to see some sign of life. Every time she’d been disappointed.
Until now...
The light in the window shocked her so much she blinked twice to make sure it was real. With shaky hands, she steered into a nearby parking spot and shut off the engine, her heart beating double-time. Nick was back. He was home. She was going to see him tonight, get the answers to her questions. So why couldn’t she move? Why was she frozen with fear?
She shouldn’t be scared. She should be angry, furious. She should go up there and give him a piece of her mind.
That was exactly what she would do.
Throwing her shoulders back, she stepped out of the car and walked across the street and up the stairs to the front door. Her knock brought the sound of heavy footsteps. She was afraid to breathe.
The door opened abruptly, and a man stood before her.
"Who are you?" she asked in shock. This wasn’t Nick. It was a stranger—a man who towered over her five-foot-four-inch frame by at least ten inches. He had dark hair and the most piercing green eyes she’d ever seen. She took a step back, feeling an instinctive need to defend herself—against what, she didn’t know. "Who are you?" she repeated.
"I’m Nick Granville."
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About The Author
Barbara Freethy is a #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of 65 novels ranging from contemporary romance to romantic suspense and women's fiction. Traditionally published for many years, Barbara opened her own publishing company in 2011 and has since sold over 7 million books! Twenty-two of her titles have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists. She is a six-time finalist and two-time winner in the Romance Writers of America acclaimed RITA contest.
Known for her emotional and compelling stories of love, family, mystery and romance, Barbara enjoys writing about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary adventures. Romance Reviews Today calls her a "master storyteller". Library Journal says, "Barbara Freethy has a gift for writing unique and compelling characters."
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Table of Contents
ELUSIVE PROMISE
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Epilogue
Excerpt – TAKEN
About The Author
Elusive Promise GO PL 2 Page 28
