A Conard County Courtship
Page 19
It couldn’t be, he told himself. It was the loneliness getting to him, wearing away his edge, nothing more.
He forced himself to proceed to the kitchen and open the refrigerator. Instead of getting something to eat, he took out a bottle of root beer, twisted off the cap and closed the refrigerator door.
He’d just put the bottle to his lips when he heard it again.
The voice from his past.
“This is Travis Dalton and you’re watching The Great Roundup. We’re coming to you live from Rust Creek Falls, Montana, and I’m here talking to Jamie Stockton, the valiant dad of year-old triplets. Jamie, until just recently, had to juggle being both father and mother to these fine, hearty little human beings. Tell us how that felt, Jamie.”
“I don’t mind admitting that I was pretty overwhelmed at first,” the young man the narrator had addressed as Jamie answered.
The root beer slipped from Dan’s hand, meeting the floor at an obtuse angle. Mercifully, it avoided shattering. Instead, a small shower of foam emerged from the bottle, christening his boots and the bottom of his jeans.
Dan didn’t notice.
His eyes were glued to the TV, staring at the screen.
Staring at Jamie Stockton.
His younger brother.
The wave of loneliness Dan had been harboring turned into a twelve-foot sweeping tidal wave, all but drowning him in memories.
Memories he had been struggling so hard to bury and ignore for the last twelve years.
Listening to the voice of the young man telling his story caused those years to instantly melt away as if they had never happened.
Except that they had.
Copyright © 2017 by Harlequin Books S.A.
ISBN-13: 9781488029479
A Conard County Courtship
Copyright © 2017 by Susan Civil Brown
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