Letters from Peaceful Lane (New Americana 3)

There would be no need to steam it open. This, Kate’s last letter, was for her.

Allison ran a fingertip under the edge of the flap, trying not to tear it.

With unsteady hands, she lifted the pages out of the blue envelope, unfolded them, and began to read.

The doctors have given me just a few more precious weeks. While I can still hold a pen and form words on paper, I want to reach out to you—to welcome you, perhaps, or even to thank you. I understand that sooner or later, after I’m gone, Burke will remarry. Please know that I’m at peace with this. As a man who needs to give and receive love, Burke will be lonely without a companion. I’m grateful that you’ll be there to offer him, and our daughter, the love that I can only give them in memory.

I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to meet—then again, maybe we did. Maybe I stood behind you in the grocery line or watched you jogging on the path that runs below our house. Maybe you’re one of the pretty nurses who cared for me at the end of my life. Or maybe you’re a stranger from a faraway place. Not that I care whether you’re pretty or clever or accomplished. All that matters to me is that you’ll be kind to the people I love.

A bit of advice now, if you don’t mind.

Being married to Burke wasn’t always easy. We were happy in the end, but we had to earn that happiness. We had to learn patience and forgiveness, sometimes the hard way.

Like me, you’ll learn as you go. But don’t let anyone, not our friends, not even Burke, hold me up as an example. I was the woman Burke needed when he was starting a family, building a business, and raising a daughter. But you’re the woman for the man he is now. That’s why he chose you. That’s why he loves you. Feel free to be that woman.

Here, Kate’s handwriting began to waver, as if writing had exhausted what little strength she had left. But still, the letter continued.

Burke can be stubborn and cantankerous. But you’ll find that those times are when he needs you the most. And if you show that you need him in return, that can be the greatest gift of all.

Wishing you a lifetime of happiness,

Kate

Allison reread the letter through a blur of tears. When she thought of the dying Kate, her hair gone, her body wasted, writing with love to the woman who would take her place . . .

There were no words.

She lay on her back, holding the letter to her heart. If Burke had given it to her on their wedding day, she would have been touched. But now, knowing what she knew of Kate, reading those words was like opening a vein.

Many things in the letter had struck home. But after clashing with Burke last night and stalking off in a huff, it was the final paragraph that went straight to Allison’s heart. Was that what Burke had been trying to tell her when he’d argued against her working—simply that he needed her? Not as a business partner, but as a life companion.

And when was the last time she’d let Burke know that she needed him? After the accident, she’d just barged in, taken over and set out to save the day for his business. She’d treated him like a helpless invalid, not like the still powerful man he was. No wonder he’d hated it.

What a fool she’d been.

Sitting up, she swung her legs off the bed, folded Kate’s letter and tucked it with the others, under the mattress. Then she walked to the door and turned off the light switch. There were night-lights along the stairs. She could find her way.

Burke’s room was dark and cold, the way he liked it for sleep. Slivers of moonlight, shining through the venetian blinds, gave her enough light to see where she needed to go.

Passing a chair, she slipped out of her robe and tossed it over the back. Shivering in her thin silk nightgown, she tiptoed toward the bed. Burke had needed to sleep on his back since the surgery. As she leaned over him, she could hear the low rush of his breathing. How she’d missed that sound and the way it made her feel safe in the night.

Lifting a corner of the covers, she slipped into the warm darkness beside him. She snuggled close, feeling the contours and textures of his naked body and drowning her senses in the rich male aromas of his skin. How could she have forgotten how sweet it was, lying next to him.

He groaned and stirred. “What . . . are you doing here?” he muttered.

“I was lonesome,” she whispered in his ear. “Lie still.”

She began kissing him and stroking him, her hand moving across his chest and along his belly. By the time her fingers traced the smooth strip of hair that made a path downward f

rom his navel, he was breathing hard and fully ready for her.

With a growl of arousal, he reached for her and pulled her almost roughly on top of him. Hungry with need, she guided him into her and began to move.

Their lovemaking was bittersweet and explosive, sweeping them both away with its intensity, leaving them spent, satisfied, and at peace. Afterward she lay nestled against his side, drifting on the brink of sleep.

“So how soon do you want to sign on as my business partner?” he asked.

“I thought I just did,” she teased, laughing. “No, seriously, is this what it took?”