The Forever Husband. Kathryn Alexander

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СКАЧАТЬ out of her room when she heard her mother’s footsteps in the hallway. “I’ve already printed each of my spelling words twice.”

      “Good girl,” Hope said, and gave the child a hug. “Change your clothes, and we’ll go.” Beth ran back into her bedroom to change, out of hearing range, just as Eric stepped out of the room where he had been helping with homework. A sense of inadequacy swept over Hope as she met his serious gaze. Did she really need to accept his help? Couldn’t she work this out on her own without relying on this man?

      “I have some things to bring in from the truck,” Eric said. He hesitated, studying her guarded expression before continuing. “Did Mom and Dad talk to you?”

      “Yes,” she answered. “They told me you’re moving in.”

      “It’s the logical thing to do, Hope. No matter how awkward it may be. The girls are my responsibility, too.”

      Hope nodded her head in agreement, then looked away from Eric. Responsibility. Doing what he should do. Those were the things that would motivate Eric, and Hope wished it could be more.

      Then she looked up at him and asked the question that had nagged at her for days. “Are you angry with me for being here?”

      “I’d rather have you and the girls living here with my parents than five hundred miles away in Missouri with yours,” he replied quietly. “You know that, don’t you?”

      “No, I—I guess I just needed to be sure,” she answered. Sure? She wasn’t sure about much of anything involving Eric Granston.

      “If you take Beth with you, I’ll come by the hospital and pick her up in about an hour,” Eric stated. “That way she can have dinner, a bath and get to bed on time.”

      Hope said simply, “Thank you,” and turned toward the guest room she was using during her stay. What an unpleasant two weeks this could turn out to be. Five hundred miles distance between them suddenly sounded good compared to six feet of hallway.

      “Come on, hon,” Hope said as she gathered up a couple of books from the dresser. “Let’s go say good night to Cassie. Dad will pick you up later and bring you home.” She took a quick look down the hallway. No Eric in sight.

      “Mom, do you have to stay at the hospital every night?” Beth asked with a sigh.

      Hope felt torn. She knew it was hard sometimes for Beth, who needed attention and comforting now as much as did her sister. “Maybe not every night,” she responded before touching her little girl’s soft blond curls, the same shade as her own. “But until she tells me that herself, I’ll stay with her. Eight years old is still rather young to be left alone in a hospital. She’s nearly well, anyway, and soon she’ll be home. Then things will get back to the way you like them.”

      “And you’ll be home more,” Beth added.

      “Definitely,” she agreed, and kissed her daughter on the top of her little blond head. “Then we’ll find a new place to live.”

      “With Dad?”

      “No, Beth. Not with Dad.” Hope reached for her sweater and purse and glanced at her watch. “Grab your jacket—we’ve got to go.”

      “I don’t want to move away. I like it here with Grandma and Grandpa,” Beth insisted.

      Hope nodded. “I know you do. We’ll talk about it later. Now, go tell Grandma and Grandpa we’re leaving. She’s fixing fried chicken for you and Dad to have later.”

      “Yum! My favorite!” Beth exclaimed as she headed down the staircase away from her mother. She had become more and more independent of Hope since Cassie’s accident. Self-preservation, Hope thought a little sadly. In a way, she missed being needed more by her youngest daughter. At least Eric would be around to give Beth more attention. Once again Hope felt herself panic at the thought of sharing the house for two solid weeks. But Cassie was waiting, and it was time to go.

      Hope and Beth entered the pastel blue of the hospital room. “Hi, sweetheart. How are you feeling?” Hope gave two children’s books and a kiss to her girl.

      “Daddy and I won you this!” Beth exclaimed as she placed the friendly looking frog beside her sister. “I have one just like it at home.”

      “Cool. Thanks, Beth. And I’m doing okay, Mom. I just ate my dinner.” Cassie sat up a little straighter in the bed. “I’ve been watching television.”

      “I brought the books you asked for. Beth had to help me find them. They were buried in your box of stuffed animals.”

      “They were way down in the bottom,” Beth added. “Down below Brown Bear, Papa Bear and Bob.”

      Hope grinned. “Bob” was their oldest teddy bear, and he wore a floppy blue hat and red pants with yellow suspenders. How they had decided on the name, she had no idea, but he’d been “Bob” for as long as anyone could remember.

      “Thanks, guys,” Cassie said. “I’ve been missing these books. I’ll read one to you tonight, Mom.”

      “Good,” Hope pulled a chair up beside the bed and sat down. “If you feel like it.”

      “I feel okay. My fever is down—almost gone, Nurse Trudy said.”

      “Great!” Hope responded. “Maybe, by tomorrow, it will be all gone.” She knew that Cassie’s doctor was reluctant to let her go home—despite her continuing improvement—until he was certain she was well. Completely. The last time she came home after being hospitalized with a lung infection, she suddenly became worse and much to every-one’s dismay had to be readmitted. No one wanted that to happen again. “I’ll talk to your doctor in the morning. Then I’ll find out how you’re doing.”

      “Are you teaching tomorrow?” Cassie asked.

      “Yes,” Hope answered. “Second grade.” She had reduced her workload to substitute teaching after Cassie’s diving accident almost two years ago. But Hope taught whenever she could. Since her separation from Eric six months ago, whatever money she earned proved useful. When they had sold their house earlier in the year, they’d split the equity evenly, and Hope was saving her share with the thought of buying a small house of her own when the time was right.

      “Guess what?” Beth asked as she climbed up on the bed to sit by Cassie’s feet. “Daddy’s picking me up in a little while, and we’re going home to eat fried chicken with Grandma and Grandpa.”

      “Lucky you,” Cassie remarked.

      Her daughter’s complexion looked much brighter than it had yesterday, Hope noticed. She leaned forward to touch the girl’s cheek. “That sounds good to me, too, hon. We’ll have fried chicken to celebrate when you come home, if the doctor says it’s okay,” Hope added.

      And until Cassie came home from the hospital or until her grandparents’ vacation ended, Eric would be there, she reminded herself. How could Hope explain to the girls that he would be living with them again, and yet not let them expect too much? Especially, when she was having difficulty keeping her own wants and wishes in line.

      “Cassie, Beth. Do you know Grandma and Grandpa are going to be gone for a while? They’re taking a little СКАЧАТЬ