Outside The Lines (Love Beyond Reason Book 2) (25 page)

She’d waited this long, let her resentment over her living situation rule her heart. But seeing Morgan today stirred the past inside her and now…she just had to see.

Did she dare? It was like being in high school again and planning to sneak out. She wasn’t in high school, though, and curfews didn’t exist. She’d leave a note in case her dad
did
wake up.

With all her reasons laid out—and totally acceptable—she glanced at her watch. Ten minutes until midnight. She tugged on her boots and grabbed one of her dad’s hats from the basket by the door.

She went back and touched the top of Olivia’s head, brushing her soft curls with her fingertips. “Love you, baby.”

Outside, cool air brushed against her heated skin.

The dense woods that made the trip a quick twenty-minute walk from the trailer loomed off to her left. All the warnings she’d ever been given about coyotes and snakes, poison ivy and landslides came back to haunt her. Caution ruled.

She’d take the car.

Oakview Lane turned off the main road about two miles north of the trailer then doubled back. She took the street, crossing over the creek before she hit the driveway. The old mailbox post tilted to the side, the painted box sat lopsided, barely hanging on by one nail.

Her arms felt a little like jelly the closer she got to the house and butterflies flitted in her stomach. “What are you scared of, you cat.”

The house finally came into view. “Oh.”

Her shoulders fell. There was hardly anything left of the old place. Uninhabitable was an understatement. Walls were gone all along the south and west sides. The front porch was gone, too.

It was a hollowed shell. Nothing remained of the home she’d grown up in except the small porch at the back.

Bittersweet.

Sam turned off the car, pulled her hood over her head, and opened the door.

Until now, she’d hung on to some hope that she could buy the place back. Even renting it would have been a decent trade-off. She lifted a trembling hand and wiped at tears. Ridiculous to cry over an old house.

Whatever work was being done, she didn’t doubt the house needed it.

The light of the moon lit her path as she circled around to the back. Piles of wood and old plaster made for treacherous movement. Happy to see the back porch still existed, screened in and winterized, she tried the handle. The familiar squeak of the aluminum door made her smile. Some things didn’t change. No one had touched this space.

And she remembered the long summer days, sitting on the rickety old swing, reading books or talking with her good friend Dannie Lawrence. The tea that would sit in the sun for a day before they added sugar and ice. Even the small cot still sat in the corner. She took a deep breath and inhaled the aroma of mold, food, and something else, not quite as familiar, like cologne or soap.

She stepped up over the threshold and crossed the porch to the old rocking chair. Her hand trailed over the smooth wood, feeling the grooves of the design against her fingers.

A low clearing of the throat threatened from the corner to her right. The long-forgotten sound of the slide of a pistol iced the blood in her veins.

“Don’t move.”

Beth Rhodes is a wife, mother, friend, and lover. She lives with her Army husband and their six children at the base of the mountains in Colorado. She loves the cold, coffee, camping, and sunshine. 

Her stories are full of life, family, and love. You can find her reading just about any genre of romance, but her favorites are fast-paced suspense, where life is on the line and love is the only saving grace. She wants a book that makes her heart pound and her pulse race. 

Beth is a member of Romance Writers of America, Pikes Peak Writers, Colorado Romance Writers, International Thriller Writers, and Passionate Critters. She is signed with Entangled Publishing. 

Keep up with her crazy life by visiting her webpage
http://www.authorbethrhodes.com
.