The Forever Husband. Kathryn Alexander

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ okay?” Hope asked in a whisper against Beth’s soft hair as she closed her eyes and held her daughter close to her heart.

      “Yes,” Beth answered. “Daddy and I were just talking about Cassie and Mrs. Lindstrom and stuff.”

      “Stuff,’ huh?” Hope teased. “Sounds important.”

      “Very,” Eric commented. He stood up, suddenly feeling out of place. “But now that you’re here—”

      “No, Daddy. Don’t go. Stay with us for a while,” Beth pleaded. “He doesn’t have to go, does he, Mom?”

      “No, he doesn’t have to go.” She turned her gaze to Eric. “Maybe he could come downstairs with us and have some hot chocolate. Okay?” she added.

      “Okay, Mom.”

      Hope allowed Beth to slide out of her arms, and they started toward the stairs.

      “Marshmallows?” Hope asked as she rummaged through a kitchen cabinet. “Where would Grandma keep the marshmallows?”

      “Right beside the honey on the top shelf. See it, up high?” Beth was pointing to the package.

      “Ah, yes, I do,” Hope responded, stretching to try to grab the cellophane bag.

      Eric reached past her, easily retrieved it, then placed it on the counter in front of her.

      “Thank you,” she said.

      “You’re welcome,” he answered, reaching for cups in the cupboard above the sink. He glanced over at her, wondering if she would drink hot chocolate with them. She had always been the healthy eater in the family, avoiding too much of anything —including chocolate and milk. But he didn’t need to ask. Hope had guessed his question.

      “Yes, I’ll have some, too,” she said with a playful smile. “I’m not the picky eater I used to be. I’ve changed some over the last year.”

      “We probably both have,” Eric remarked. But he lost his train of thought while studying her delicately carved features and those pretty eyes of cornflower blue. Being around Hope, he knew, wouldn’t be easy. That’s why he’d avoided her for much too long. Because of difficult moments just like this when her mouth curved into one of those gentle smiles he remembered so well. Being near her and not touching her was quite a balancing act. He placed three mugs on the counter and moved away from her to join Beth at the table. “Did Cassie feel better tonight?” he asked to break the silence.

      “Yes,” Hope responded. “She really had a lot more energy.” Hope poured milk into the cups and placed them in Grace’s microwave. “Believe it or not, she asked if she could stay alone tonight—first time ever. I told her I’d come home to see Beth, then go back over to the hospital to say good-night and to see if she’d changed her mind.”

      She reached out to tug on a lock of her daughter’s light hair, prompting a halfhearted complaint.

      “Mom! Stop!”

      “All right,” Hope replied. “You really should be asleep, you know? Maybe Dad will tuck you in tonight.” Hope raised her eyes to meet Eric’s gaze—a gaze that seemed to linger on her. “That way I can get back over to the hospital quicker.”

      “You stay home with Beth,” he offered. “I’ll go back to the hospital to check on Cass.”

      Hope’s expression looked…grateful, he finally decided. She was probably relieved at the thought of enjoying the luxury of a good night’s rest. Not that it was anyone’s fault but Hope’s that she was staying at the hospital too much. Eric stayed whenever Hope agreed to it, which was seldom.

      “Thank you,” she said quietly. “I could use the time here at home.” Then she looked away from Eric and into the cups she had retrieved from the microwave. She then added chocolate to the milk. Home. That word kept popping up in her mind. Why? Probably because Eric was around so much. She set a cup in front of each of them and joined them at the table. Staying here with Ed and Grace could not last long. No, she knew that was out of the question. Ed’s health wasn’t good enough for them to stay here indefinitely. And these were Eric’s parents, not her own—although there were times she nearly forgot that fact. Sometimes she almost wished she didn’t love them quite so much, didn’t feel as comfortable as she always did in their company. Eric’s family had become her family over the years. And that would be difficult to let go of.

      “Hope? Are you okay?” Eric asked, his words suddenly cutting through her thoughts and returning her to the present.

      “Yes, sorry. I guess I let my mind wander. What were you saying?” She met Eric’s eyes, dark with concern.

      “I was asking if the doctor said he might release Cassie soon?”

      “Yes, this morning he said that she might get out in a couple of days.” She took a sip of her drink and silently wished she had added a few marshmallows to her own cup. “Beth, would you hand that bag to me?”

      Beth complied, and Eric watched in obvious amusement as Hope added a handful of the white fluffy sweetness to her cocoa.

      “There couldn’t be much nutritional value in there, Hope,” he remarked to the wife who throughout their marriage had preached the hazards of too much sugar.

      Hope shrugged. “The hot chocolate in the vending machines at the hospital has marshmallows in it, and I’ve gotten used to it. Hot chocolate doesn’t taste right without them now.” Kind of like life without Eric, she mused.

      Eric excused himself from the table and stood up, delivering his empty cup to the sink. He kissed Beth on the temple. “I’m going to the hospital to see my other little blondie,” he said with a smile that faded as he looked from Beth to Hope. He saw the weariness in her eyes, and it worried him more than he’d say. “Get some rest, hon—” he began, then stopped. But it was too late. He turned his head to look away from the awkward surprise he’d glimpsed in her wide-eyed expression. The mistake had surprised him, too. “‘Hope,’ I mean,” he corrected, trying to bring a quick end to the embarrassing moment. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

      “Thank you,” she said, and nothing else. But one corner of her mouth tipped up into a half smile as she watched him leave. “And thank you, Lord,” she whispered. Maybe things weren’t as hopeless as they sometimes seemed.

      Eric shook his head in frustration after he walked out of the room. How could he let a term of endearment like that slip out so easily? But he already knew the answer. He still thought of her in that way—that’s how. Eric grabbed a jacket from the coatrack near the door, and stepped out into the chilly night air. She was the mother of his children, the best friend he’d ever had…and the woman he loved and wanted. They’d been happy before; all they needed was the chance to begin again. They both deserved to be happy, didn’t they? Surely, God wouldn’t deny them that. Eric glanced up at the black sky as though he could see straight through to God Himself. No, Eric corrected himself, he would never again speculate on what God would or wouldn’t do. He’d seen where that had taken him once before in life. Once was enough.

      * * *

      “Hi, princess,” Eric greeted Cassie as he entered the familiar hospital room. He gently grabbed a small foot through the soft yellow blanket covering her legs.

      “Dad, СКАЧАТЬ