Her Favorite Husband
Same old Ian? She's just traveled 1,400 miles–he could at least pretend he's happy to see her! He may be unwilling to forgive her for their breakup, but Sarah Bretton is surprised to realize she may still be passionately in love with him. Ian Kingsley, her first husband. The one she married when she was still a kid.Same old Sarah? Ian thinks he's over her. After ten years–and two more husbands–does she really think they can just pick up where they left off? No way. Not even if he finds himself irresistibly, irritatingly drawn to her…
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“You surprised me.”
“Which I should never, never do.”
Ian smiled, his old smile, the one Sarah had wanted to see.
“One second I’m watching a football game and the next you’re standing in the doorway. You, of all people—”
“Here, of all places. A ghost. A bad dream. Indigestion.”
“More of a fold in time.”
“Like being catapulted back ten years…”
“Exactly. You came through the door and for a millisecond it was like we were back in that little apartment.”
“I wish we were.” She let her knee bump his in case he missed her point.
“Sarah,” Ian warned.
“Don’t you wish we were?”
Dear Reader,
Have you heard of the two-year itch? The Globe and Mail ran a story about it quite a while ago, saying, as I remember, that a Scandinavian sociologist had noticed that an increasing number of people believed their relationships were over once the initial excitement of falling in love faded.
That got my attention, because as wonderful as those early years can be, there’s a deep satisfaction in continuing to grow together. It seemed sad, if true, that more and more men and women were missing that experience.
Sarah Bretton Kingsley Bennett Carr is in exactly that situation. She believes in marriage—fidelity, commitment and lasting happiness—and no matter how often it disappoints, she’s always willing to try again. I hope you’ll enjoy the story of her trip to the Northwest Territories to find a love that lasts.
Caron Todd
Her Favorite Husband
Caron Todd
TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON
AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Caron Todd began writing her first romance novel after the Alberta badlands caught her imagination during a family holiday. Her interest in writing goes back as long as she can remember—she was inspired by watching her father at his typewriter when he was a Winnipeg Tribune reporter and by her parents’ love of books and storytelling. She lives with her husband in Manitoba.
To Laura
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My thanks to Victoria Curran
for her skilled and patient help tightening and focusing the story, to Megan Long for the perfect title, to the staff at Thompson Public Library, who were so helpful while I stayed in their city, and to my family, whose humor, encouragement and sound advice I so appreciate.
CHAPTER ONE
AS SOON AS SHE SAW HIM, she wanted to feel him inside her. Almost could. It took her breath away. She reminded herself where she was, fourteen hundred miles from home, in a dim cave of a cocktail lounge–frontier saloon, a place decorated with big screen TVs and dead animals. Restraint was called for here.
A waitress walked by, balancing a loaded tray. “Want a table, hon? Help yourself. Anywhere’s good.”
He turned then, with a disinterested glance at the door, and froze mid-sip of frothy beer. Finished the sip, put down the mug. She couldn’t tell if he was only surprised, or also angry. There was no reason to be angry, not after all this time.
She chose the most direct path between the tables that separated them. No leaping up to greet her, she noticed, no sweeping her into his arms. He didn’t budge, other than to take a supercasual swig of beer as he watched her weave to his side. She’d come so far, a stone’s throw from the arctic circle, and he couldn’t even smile?
“Sarah.”
“Ian.”
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Not only surprised, then. Angry, still.
She climbed onto the bar stool beside his and tried for light-hearted sparkle. “I’m exploring.”
“In a skirt and heels?”
“Wrinkle-free fabric.” She scrunched a handful of the soft wool-silk blend to demonstrate its Far North worthiness. It was her favorite travel suit, charcoal-gray to show she meant business, with a ruby-red camisole and a small, but real ruby pendant adding not all business. She lifted a foot, resting it on one of his. “Close-toed shoes.”
“Ah. Practical.”
“Always.”
He moved his foot out from under hers.
So far, the visit wasn’t going very well. What had she expected? Something more. A hug. A bit of delight to go with the surprise.
He looked enticing, if excessively casual, in denims and a navy blue shirt, his hair forming those little curls over his collar the way it did when he put off getting it cut. He sounded enticing, too, his voice as deep as she remembered. All around him, though, was a wall of bristling, possibly antagonistic, energy.
She smiled at the bartender, who smiled back, blue eyes crinkling at the corners. She was tempted to point him out as an example of how to give a friendly greeting. “Could I have a glass of red wine? Something fruity. Beaujolais? A small glass, or I’ll get sleepy.”
“Dangerous thing for an explorer,” Ian said.
