Under Montana Skies. Darlene Graham

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      CHAPTER FOUR

      HIS CHILD HAD DIED, too?

      Laura stared up at Katherine’s seasoned face in disbelief.

      “I’m sorry,” she managed. “How old was his daughter?”

      Katherine’s hand stilled on the dishrag and she stared out the window. “Three.” She spoke as if in a trance.

      “How awful,” Laura said.

      Katherine nodded. “Elizabeth and Adam had waited several years to have her. Elizabeth was a research scientist and did not want her demanding career goals to interfere with a child’s happiness. She had waited until…she and Adam had reached a certain level of success and then…then they had Anna.”

      “I see,” Laura said quietly. She still didn’t know what to say.

      Katherine turned on the spigot in the sink. Water blasted out and she rinsed the cloth under it, shaking her head. “This water drains by gravity from the spring. Never reliable. Sometimes a torrent, sometimes a dribble. And always freezing.”

      “Katherine, are you okay?” Laura asked.

      Katherine nodded. Laura reached out and clasped the older woman in a hug.

      And that was how Adam Scott found them, embracing.

      “Ms. Duncan!” he boomed from behind the screen door, then jerked it open.

      Laura and Katherine broke apart as he stepped into the room, but not before they gave each other one last parting pat. When their gazes met as they released each other, Laura thought she read warning in Katherine’s.

      “Are you ready to go to work?” Adam frowned at Laura’s attire. “I’d like my morning treatment as early as possible.”

      “Uh, no. I’m sorry. I’m not ready.” Laura cinched her robe. “I, uh, I need to go up and put my scrubs on, and—” she pulled her mop of hair back “—I’ll be right down.” She turned, jerked on the leather strap on the narrow door and dashed up the stairs.

      In her embarrassment and haste she hadn’t closed the door completely and when she got to the landing at the top she froze when she heard Adam say her name.

      “What were you and Ms. Duncan talking about?”

      “I think you know.” Katherine’s voice sounded tearful.

      Laura clutched the railing.

      She heard Adam’s sympathetic reply— “Ahh, Katherine,” —and then his heavy bootfalls as he crossed the room. “Are you all right?” he asked tenderly.

      She heard Katherine sniffling and saying something in a small pained voice. Then Adam murmuring softly. He finished with something that sounded like, “You mustn’t keep upsetting yourself.”

      Laura crossed the room to start dressing and tried to ignore the conversation below her, but the voices continued to drift clearly up the stairs.

      “Adam, I think we should be honest with this young woman.” Katherine’s voice was louder, firmer now.

      Adam’s tone sounded exasperated. “No. That’s not a good idea.”

      Laura coughed loudly, hoping they’d realize she could hear them. Evidently they must have gotten the idea, because she heard Adam’s footsteps again and then a creak as the stairway door closed.

      ADAM HAD PUT his finger to his lips as soon as he’d heard Laura cough. Katherine was a little hard of hearing, and it was easy for her to forget how well sound carried in the quiet cabin, but he had no excuse for being so careless. After he closed the door to the stairs, he led Katherine into the front room to continue their conversation.

      “Laura and the people at Mountain Home Health Care don’t need to know any details. The fewer people who know, the better. That way nobody can inadvertently lead Gradoff to me before I’m ready.”

      “Adam, I told you before—this is a dangerous scheme. You don’t know—”

      “I know what I’m doing, and I’m sticking to my plan.”

      “But now Laura will be staying up on the mountain with us. How can we possibly keep the truth from her?”

      “How much did you tell her?” Adam struggled to keep his voice from sounding alarmed.

      “I told her about…both of them. It states on your chart that you’re a widower and I just blurted out the part about Anna.” Katherine’s eyes filled with tears when she said the name.

      “Katherine.” Adam looked down at her snowwhite head and his heart contracted. It was bad enough that his brainstorm—his greed—had killed Elizabeth and Anna. He would have to live with that for the rest of his life. His guilt was his punishment to bear. But to see how Doc and Katherine also suffered…

      He stepped closer to her. “It’s all right.”

      “No, СКАЧАТЬ