Her Secret Valentine

Her Secret Valentine
Cathy Gillen Thacker

Once upon a time, Cal and Ashley Hart were blissful newlyweds. But all of that changed when Ashley moved to Hawaii for three years, leaving her oh-so-sexy husband alone in Holly Springs. They told themselves it was for the good of their careers. And of course, there were the weekends - fiercely hot, passionate moments that left them both aching for more….Now Ashley has returned to Holly Springs - temporarily - to try to salvage their marriage. They still can't keep their hands off each other, but Cal and Ashley are both hiding secrets that promise to affect their tenuous union. Can this Valentine's Day bring two Harts together - forever?

“We can’t keep running from each other…”

Cal threaded his fingers through the hair at the nape of Ashley’s neck and tilted her face to his. “We have to figure out a way to make this marriage of ours work.”

Fear mixed with her desire. “And what if it doesn’t?” The whispered words were out before Ashley could stop them.

Cal’s expression hardened. He took his hand away from her hair. “We’ll never know until we try.”

True.

“All right.” Ashley moved away from him. She twisted the glossy length of her hair into an austere knot and caught it in a butterfly clip.

“But if we do this and we do it on your timetable, then we do it on my terms.”

Cal lifted a brow. “Which are?”

“If I come back to North Carolina with you, then we can’t make love.”

Cal tried his best to keep his jaw from dropping.

Dear Reader,

I’m one of the lucky ones. The love of my life is also my very best friend. Marrying him was the easiest decision I ever made. Learning how to be married was a little tougher. (i.e., Should the toothpaste cap be left on or off? Is taking out the garbage a gender-oriented chore or an equal-opportunity event? Just how much information is too much? Or too little?) And though in the early days of our marriage our life together sometimes resembled a Hepburn-Tracy comedy, we eventually achieved a very nice balance and a healthy respect for each other’s wants and needs.

This is not, however, yet the case for Cal and Ashley Hart. College sweethearts, pursuing dual careers in medicine, they both expected everything to be just perfect when they finally tied the knot. It wasn’t. And neither could figure out why.

The problem? A failure to communicate.

And now Cal and Ashley are on the precipice. Do they cut their losses and prevent further hurt? Or roll up their sleeves, renew their commitment and get to work on the challenging task of making their marriage work in a very fundamental and satisfying way?

I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed creating it. For more information on this and other books, visit my Web site at www.cathygillenthacker.com.

Best wishes,

Cathy Gillen Thacker

Her Secret Valentine

Cathy Gillen Thacker

This book is dedicated to Charlie, with all my love.

Contents

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 One

“How long is this situation between you and Ashley going to go on?” Mac Hart asked.

Cal tensed. He’d thought he had been invited over to his brother Mac’s house to watch playoff football with the rest of the men in the family. Now, suddenly, it was looking more like an intervention. He leaned forward to help himself to some of the nachos on the coffee table in front of the sofa. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Then let us spell it out for you,” Cal’s brother-in-law, Thad Lantz, said with his usual coach-like efficiency.

Joe continued, “She missed Janey’s wedding to Thad in August, as well as Fletcher’s marriage to Lily in October, and Dylan and Hannah’s wedding in November.”

Cal bristled. They all knew Ashley was busy completing her Ob/Gyn fellowship in Honolulu. “She wanted to be here, but since the flight from Honolulu to Raleigh is at minimum twelve hours, it’s too far to go for a weekend trip. Not that she has many full weekends off in any case.” Nor did he. Hence, their habit of rendezvousing in San Francisco, since it was a six- or seven-hour flight for each of them.

More skeptical looks. “She didn’t make it back to Carolina for Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year’s this year, either,” Dylan observed.

Cal shrugged and centered his attention on the TV, where a lot of pre-game nonsense was currently going on. “She had to work all three holidays.” He wished the game would hurry up and start. The sooner it did, the sooner this conversation would be over.

“Had to or volunteered to?” Fletcher muttered with a questioning lift of his dark brow.

Uneasiness settled around Cal. He’d had many of the same questions himself. Still, Ashley was his wife, and he felt honor-bound to defend her. “I saw her in November in San Francisco. We celebrated all our holidays then.” In one passion-filled weekend that had oddly enough left him feeling lonelier and more uncertain of their union than ever.