Colorado Fireman. C.C. Coburn

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СКАЧАТЬ nodded. She needed her minivan for work. Not that she had a job anymore since her mobile massage table was destroyed in the fire. She wished she’d had it in her van, but she’d left it upstairs because Mrs. Polinski had booked a massage after Carly’s appointments at the spa. And now she’d inherited the Polinskis’ dog.

      Yesterday as they were loaded into the ambulance, Mrs. Polinski had asked Carly to look after Molly while they were in the hospital, but as of this morning, Molly was homeless. When Carly had called the hospital to find out how they were doing, she’d been put through to Mrs. Polinski, who’d been very upset that they’d be moving back east with their son and daughter-in-law. Apparently, their son’s wife didn’t want Molly coming with them. The old lady was understandably upset about Molly, and Carly promised to see what she could do. Unfortunately, Mrs. Polinski had misunderstood and thought Carly was adopting the dog.

      So now it looked as if Molly belonged to her. Could her life get any more complicated? Oh, yeah, it could. Molly was due to be spayed the week after next and she’d just bet that hadn’t been prepaid!

      Although Carly had no possessions left in Spruce Lake, at least she had her precious children. And that was all that mattered. From what she’d been able to glean talking to the babysitter afterward, there’d been a tremendous explosion that shook the building, followed shortly after by one of the other residents screaming, “Fire!” Then all hell had broken loose.

      Tiffany had grabbed the three oldest children and fled down the stairs, just as Carly had pulled up outside the building. When Carly had asked her where Charlie was, she admitted she’d forgotten all about him. Carly forced the memory of that horrible moment out of her mind and told herself, Charlie is fine. Your children are all fine. You will get through this.

      “I have nothing left,” Carly said. “I hadn’t gotten around to taking out insurance on our possessions.” Meager as they were, she added silently.

      “I feel so overwhelmed! I don’t know how I’m going to get my business going again.” She fought the tears that threatened. Feeling sorry for herself wouldn’t get her anywhere. She needed to find some money to buy a new massage table and start earning again. She’d resented Michael for spending their savings on frivolous toys she’d had to sell for a tenth of their value when he’d died. And now she’d been just as reckless by not insuring their possessions.

      “So you don’t have any savings?” Sarah asked.

      Carly took a deep breath. She’d already told Sarah about her dad’s stroke and how she didn’t want to burden her parents.

      “There’ve been too many bills to pay lately, what with moving costs, getting established in the apartment, paying for utilities—it all costs money.”

      Afraid the older woman would see her as a loser for not having saved anything, she quickly added, “But I have a home in San Diego. It’s rented out. When my husband died I used the insurance money to pay off the mortgage and our credit card debts. Then …” Carly didn’t want to go into why she’d decided to leave San Diego, didn’t want to talk about Jerry Ryan getting too possessive of her. She’d tried letting him down nicely, but it had become very uncomfortable. In the end she’d used the excuse that she needed to get out of San Diego, to start her life anew.

      “Unfortunately, the global financial crisis meant I couldn’t sell the house for anything near what we paid for it. So I decided to rent it out and relocate. The rent helps with my expenses for now, but there’s not much left over once all the bills are paid. In a few years, when the real estate market’s recovered, I’ll sell it and buy something here—if I can afford to.”

      Sarah’s smile lit up the room. “So you like Spruce Lake? In spite of the fire?”

      “I love it. My children are happy at school, even though we’ve been here such a short time. And Spruce Lake is delightful. It has everything I could ask for.”

      “I’m so glad you like our little town. I fell in love with it, too, on my first visit with Mac.”

      “I’d like to get established in my own business here, build up a good client base, but without a massage table, I’m going to have to cancel the appointments I had booked for next week.” Carly brushed her hair back and said, “Well, I guess I’d better get cleaned up and make an appointment with the bank manager. Plead with him to lend me enough to buy a new one so I can get started again.”

      “That’s the spirit!” Sarah said, lifting Carly’s own spirits immensely. “I like the way you think, Carly.”

      “I don’t know how to thank you. You’ve done so much for me. You’re a godsend,” Carly said. “In fact, last night I woke up and wondered if I was dreaming. Not about the fire, but about how kind you were. How safe you made me feel.”

      Sarah rewarded her with another smile. “You’re welcome, dear. Now, you go see if you can get an appointment today. I’ll clean up here.”

      “Oh, no, you don’t! Look at this place! It’s a disaster.”

      Sarah glanced around. “True,” she agreed. “But I like it that way. Makes me feel needed. You run along.” She made shooing motions. “I’ll have the girls help me clean up. You don’t mind if I rope Maddy in, do you? That’s how they earn their allowance.”

      “What a good idea. I’d get the boys to help, too, but they seem to have taken off to watch Luke with the horses.” She could see her boys through the kitchen window, sitting on the corral fence as Luke worked with a horse.

      “They’ll get their turn,” Sarah assured her. She took Charlie from Carly’s arms and sat him in a high chair, then gave him a piece of toast. “He’ll be fine here with me. And if you have to go into town this morning, I’ll watch the children.”

      Carly was about to say “thank you” yet again when Sarah held up her hand. “I know. I know,” she said. “Carly, it’s my pleasure. I love having this house full of people. Now, off you go.”

      CARLY WENT INTO THE living room, looked up her bank’s number and called using the house phone. She’d been in such a panic that she’d left her cell phone in her minivan when she’d leaped out. It was too water damaged to ever work again.

      Five minutes later, Carly’s hopes had been completely dashed. After she explained the situation to her bank manager, he’d refused her a loan. Since she hadn’t applied for a credit card, not wanting to be hit with high interest rates if she was late with payments and with the memory of the debt Michael had built up so easily, Carly only had a debit card. But there was barely enough in her account to buy a pair of warm winter boots for herself to replace those she’d lost in the fire. She wore clean white tennis shoes to her spa appointments, wanting to look professional and be comfortable. But tennis shoes were useless for walking in snow and ice, and since it was winter, she’d be doing a lot of that.

      Carly sat on the sofa, bit her lip and forced herself not to cry. How many more things could go wrong with her life? As if sensing her melancholy, Molly waddled into the room and curled up on Carly’s feet. Carly reached down to rub the dog’s ears. “Poor girl, you’re missing your owners, aren’t you?” she asked, then jumped as a wad of money was thrust under her nose.

      She stared at it, bewildered.

      “Take it,” Adam said gruffly.

      “I … I can’t do that.”

      “Yeah. СКАЧАТЬ