Heart Of A Husband. Kathryn Alexander

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СКАЧАТЬ now. Occasionally, it’s just me, but usually there’s an RN or LPN on duty. Didn’t you bring more than this, dear?” Ina asked as Joanna lifted the two suitcases into the trunk.

      “No, this is it. Is Aunt Mae feeling any better?”

      “Yes, I think she is. She was talking this morning. She said she’s glad to be home. She was born and raised around here, she told me. Looking out her bedroom window and seeing acres of farmland does her good—even though there isn’t any corn growing in late February! ‘The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places….’ That’s a verse she asked me to write down inside the cover of her Bible. I guess rural Indiana must be her idea of ‘pleasant places.’”

      Joanna got into the car just as Ina was sliding into the driver’s seat. “I’ve always liked that verse.”

      “It seems to be one of her favorites,” Ina commented. “Dr. Barnes told me you’re a religious person, too. I assumed he meant you’re a Christian.”

      “Yes,” Joanna answered. “Although some days I don’t feel like much of one. Between Aunt Mae’s illness and everything else I’ve been trying to keep up with, I haven’t been to church regularly in weeks.”

      “Well, don’t be too hard on yourself. God understands what you’re going through. And everyone makes mistakes.”

      Was that what she was doing now? Making a huge mistake? Joanna’s teeth sank gently into her lower lip. Living with Jake could be the biggest error she’d ever made. Yet, here she was with a conscience that had a guilty edge to it. She knew she wasn’t doing this just for Mae. It was for herself, too. Her feelings for Jake needed to be resolved. Completely. Because, despite her prayers to the contrary, Jake did not seem to be the man the Lord had in mind for her. Now, if she could just convince her heart of that fact.

      “I’ve been instructed that our first stop is the nearest shopping mall to buy a winter coat and whatever other clothes you need. Today is an exceptionally mild day for February, but let me warn you—it gets cold around here!” Ina explained.

      Joanna knew exactly how much money she had brought with her, and it wasn’t enough to allow for the purchase of any new clothing. “Ina, I don’t think that—”

      “Now, listen, Dr. Barnes told me you wouldn’t want to accept this, but my instructions were to talk you into it. So, please make it easy on me, okay, dear? He wants you to buy a coat, hat, boots, whatever else you need. He gave me these credit cards.”

      Joanna immediately protested. “Ina, I can’t accept—”

      “My job is to give them to you. Now, if you don’t want to keep them, you’ll have to argue with the doctor about that.”

      And argue, she knew she would.

      They were soon leaving the city behind, traveling down narrow country roads with their necessary purchases completed. Joanna spent the time wondering about things to come. Hopefully, Aunt Mae would recuperate enough to return to South Carolina soon. If not, then what? Joanna liked plans, lists—knowing what came next—and she certainly wasn’t in that position now.

      Before long they made one last turn and pulled into the winding, tree-lined driveway in full view of the farmhouse.

      The large white house was nestled among several wooded acres of gently rolling farmland. A two-story barn, garage and a couple of other small buildings were set off to the rear and the west side of the home, and a white board fence neatly edged the property line.

      “I had no idea it would be so lovely,” Joanna said.

      “It is, isn’t it,” Ina replied. She pulled the car up close to the garage, and both of them got out of the vehicle.

      Joanna looked toward the woods, now stark and barren from the harshness of winter.

      “Just wait until you see it in the summer, Joanna. The trees will be beautiful then.”

      “I can almost imagine it,” she said, hugging her new coat to her in the hush of the late-winter afternoon. “But I won’t be here this summer,” she added before pulling her suitcases from the trunk of the car and walking with Ina toward the front porch.

      “You never know what the good Lord might have in mind for you, my dear. We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”

      Joanna was ready to respond that, whatever the Lord had in mind for her, it certainly wouldn’t include a future with a man who loved neither her nor God, when Ina began describing the house.

      “Upstairs there are four bedrooms and four bathrooms.”

      “Four baths? Are you kidding?”

      “Not at all,” Ina assured her. “I heard Jake’s mother entertained a lot years ago. She wanted each bedroom to have a private bath. And, this, as you can see, is the main entrance.” They stepped inside the home. “The living room is to your right.”

      They walked into the large room with warm, inviting tones of gold, rust and shades of brown throughout.

      Ina continued, “That door to the left at the foot of the staircase is Dr. Barnes’s study. Lately, he’s been spending too many of his evenings in there, if you ask me.”

      Joanna smiled. The fact that she hadn’t asked Ina’s opinion obviously didn’t stop the woman from giving it. “Jake probably wants to be alone,” Joanna replied. She wondered if he regretted this mission of mercy he’d set into motion to help Aunt Mae. It was costing him much more than money.

      “Well, I’m hoping that your arrival will put an end to his being alone so much. It’s not good for him. I’ve only been staying here for a few days. Until then, he lived in this great big old house all by himself. Can you imagine that?”

      Yes, Joanna could imagine that. But she smiled and shook her head. There wasn’t much point in defending Jake. He enjoyed solitude, whether Ina understood that or not. “So, that’s the dining room?”

      “Yes,” Ina responded, looking into the adjoining room. But Dr. Barnes prefers to eat in the kitchen usually. Let’s go upstairs so I can show you your room.”

      They climbed the staircase together. “That’s yours there to the left,” Ina explained when they reached the top. “Mine is right across the hallway. Aunt Mae is in that room down on the right, and the fourth is a guest room. Dr. Barnes has the master bedroom, which is downstairs next to the study.

      “Let me put these suitcases in here, then I’ll go see Aunt Mae.” Joanna stepped inside the door to her room and stopped. Exquisite was the only word that came to mind. She looked from the delicate furniture fashioned from honey-colored oak to the soft, pale colors of the wallpaper with matching curtains and bedspread. Realistic oil paintings of Victorian gardens and English cottages hung over two dressers. In the far corner near a window, there was an overstuffed chair covered in tapestrylike fabric similar to the paintings.

      “Well, do you like it?” Ina asked.

      “It’s wonderful. Amazing,” Joanna replied, stunned to find such lavish surroundings. Several times during her unsettled childhood, she had walked into a new home, a new bedroom—but nothing as lovely as this had ever awaited her.

      “I СКАЧАТЬ