Robin Lee Hatcher by When Love Blooms Page A

you care.” Her voice was softer now, her look pleading. “You care because I was Charlie’s wife and we were a family. You care for me as you would a sister if you’d had one. But that’s not the kind of love I mean, Gavin. You deserve more.”
    “I like things the way they are.”
    Dru leaned her head against his chest, whispering, “No you don’t. You only think you do.”

    Emily was awakened by Joker’s scratching at her door. The moment she opened it, the young wolfhound leapt onto her bed and burrowed his head under the covers. She would have joined him but for the flash of lightning that revealed the open front door. She rushed across the room to close it against the storm.
    And there they were, standing in the middle of the yard, Dru’s head resting against Gavin’s chest, his arm around her back as he stared up at the sky. Poignant, powerful, the scene caught at Emily’s throat and made her heart ache. Her eyes burned as an unbearable weight threatened to crush her chest.
    She returned to her room and lay on the bed, pulling the covers up beneath her chin. Loneliness rolled over her in waves, punctuated by the flashes of light and cracks of thunder. It was a feeling as severe as it was unexpected.
    She envisioned them again — Gavin and Dru, standing together, united against the elements — and she wondered what it must be like to have that kind of bond with a man. The image in her mind changed, and it was she who stood beneath the crashing heavens. It was she who felt the hardness of a man’s chest beneath her cheek, who heard the steady beating of his heart. It was she who knew that he loved her and would take care of her.
    In her mind, she looked up at her husband’s face. Into Gavin’s face —
    No! She couldn’t imagine such a thing. Not about Gavin Blake, of all men. Why, she didn’t even like him much. And he was married to Dru. What on earth was wrong with her, to let her imagination run so wild?
    “Go away,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes closed.
    Joker whined and inched his way up until his muzzle was near her face. Emily pressed her forehead against his ear.
    “Please go away.”
    But she didn’t mean the dog.

    Dru listened to her husband’s steady breathing and knew he slept at last. She turned her head on her pillow to gaze in the direction of Gavin’s cot, even though she couldn’t see him in the darkness.
    She had known him for over five years now. Much more than a friend, he’d been an important part of the Porter family. Charlie and Gavin had been like brothers. When things had been at their blackest after Charlie died, he’d been there to support and comfort her. He’d been her rock when she learned of her cancer, and he’d married her when she asked him so that her daughters would have a home when she was gone. Other than Charlie, she knew no better man than Gavin Blake.
    And yet much of his past remained a mystery to her. What little she knew, she’d pried out of Stubs. It was the ranch foreman who’d told her that Gavin’s mother had deserted her husband and son when Gavin was a boy. There was more that Stubs hadn’t told her, and Dru knew whatever had gone unspoken was even worse than what had been said. There was a world of hurt inside the man Gavin had become. His distrust of women ran deep. And yet there was a great capacity to love inside that wounded heart of his. Look at how he was with Sabrina and Petula.
    Her thoughts strayed to the bedroom next door where Emily Harris slept. With all her heart, she hoped she’d rightly discerned the Lord’s voice. There was no time left to allow for mistakes.
    Dru rolled onto her side and hugged the pillow to her breast as she pictured Emily in her mind. She was more than pretty. She was young, strong, and determined, kind-hearted and bright. She had faith in God, and a lot of love to give to those around her. All this Dru had perceived as she’d listened to Emily in that hotel room in Boise City. The days that