Raeanne Thayne Hope's Crossings Series Volume One. RaeAnne Thayne

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      “Careful on those bumps, honey.” Holly rested one of her perfectly manicured hands on Jeff’s arm. “Maybe you should slow down a little.”

      “It’s fine. I’m only going twenty-two miles per hour. It’s a thirty-five zone.”

      If he were speeding, he would still probably be safe from a ticket because Riley and most of his police department would probably be at the funeral with the rest of the town.

      “How’s everything been at home?” she asked Macy quickly.

      “Okay. While you’ve been in the hospital and we’ve been staying at Dad and Holly’s, I’ve been stopping at the house to take in the newspaper and the mail after school.”

      “We dropped Chester off at the house before we went to the hospital. He’s super-excited to be back home.”

      She could imagine. Holly wasn’t a big dog lover and probably insisted their poor aging basset hound sleep in the cold garage.

      “You should have seen him, Mom. He went through every room, wagging his tail like crazy. You’d think he’d been gone a month instead of just a few days.”

      If Claire had possessed a tail, she would probably do the same thing when they reached her house, she was that eager to be home. She couldn’t wait to be in her own space again.

      Had it really been only five days since the accident? She felt as if she’d lived a dozen lifetimes in those days.

      “I still think it’s too early for you to be going home.” Jeff frowned at her in the rearview mirror.

      “I’m afraid you’re going to have to take that up with Dr. Murray. He’s the one who signed the release papers.”

      “You can’t take care of yourself. Geez, Claire, you can’t even get to the bathroom on your own.”

      She forced herself to smile patiently, even as she fought the urge to remind Jeff that while he had the right to his opinions, she no longer had to listen to them. Truly one of the better things about not being married to the man anymore.

      “Ruth will be staying at the house the first few nights. She’s insisting.”

      Unfortunately, she hadn’t divorced her mother. It was a little tougher to ignore Ruth’s opinions, much as she would like to.

      While Claire just wanted to go home and crawl into bed for a few weeks, yank the covers over her head and forget the rest of the world existed, she had two children who still needed to eat and do their homework and feed the dog. Pity parties were for women without obligations.

      She had to be realistic about her limitations. Jeff was correct. Just taking care of herself was going to be enough of a challenge.

      Having her mother there for a few days would be a big help. For a short time anyway, she could endure her mother harping on everything from the smelly dog to Owen’s muddy tennis shoes in the hall to the bad haircut of the news anchor on her favorite channel.

      Claire had already resolved that she would simply grit her teeth and think how grateful she was that she still had a mother who cared about her and who was willing to step in for a few—and only a few, please God—days.

      “What about after she leaves?” Holly asked. “Would you like me to stay with you for a few days? I would be more than happy to.”

      Claire offered a weak smile while her insides writhed at the idea. The only thing worse than Ruth in her space for a few days would be Holly, all big teeth and perfect hair and her desperate need for Claire to be her friend.

      “That’s a lovely offer, Holly. Really. Thank you. But I’m sure by the first of next week, the kids and I will have figured things out together and I should be a little more self-sufficient. Anyway, you don’t need the stress of worrying about somebody else right now. You need to take care of yourself and the little one.”

      “I have had contractions every day since the accident,” she confessed, looking so young and worried that Claire was compelled to offer what little comfort she could.

      “I’m sure they’re simply Braxton-Hicks. Nothing to worry about,” she said.

      “That’s what I’ve told her.” Jeff gave his young wife a fond, indulgent sort of look. “She thinks just because my specialty is orthopedics, I’ve forgotten my OB-GYN rotation. Not to mention the fact that I’ve been through this twice before.”

      If Claire remembered correctly, she was the one who’d been through this twice before, but the whole situation was just too strange for her and she wasn’t in the mood to point that out.

      Jeff turned onto Blackberry Lane just then and a moment later pulled into the driveway, sparing her from having to come up with an answer.

      For a moment, Claire just wanted to sit here and gaze at the wonderful familiarity of her house, bricks a weathered red, that charming porch out front, the ironwork fence with the arrowed finials around the perimeter of the yard.

      She loved this house and had for years, long before the day she and Jeff made an offer on it three years ago. It was hers alone now, hers and the children’s, but she had never been so happy to be there.

      Making her way from car to house was a bit of an ordeal. Beyond the difficulties of the transfer from the backseat to the wheelchair she was stuck in for a few weeks at least, her front door had four steps, too many for the portable folding ramp Jeff had wangled from somewhere. Owen finally suggested they use the back door leading to the kitchen because it only had two steps and a slightly larger doorway for the wheelchair, and finally Macy pushed her inside and she was home.

      Chester gave a happy bark of greeting—as happy as his barks could sound anyway—but then he freaked out at something, maybe her cast or the sight of the wheelchair, and headed for his safe zone under the kitchen table.

      “It’s okay, buddy,” Owen cajoled. “Come on out. It’s just Mom.”

      “He’ll get used to it,” Claire said, although she’d been dealing with the whole thing for five days and she still wasn’t used to it all.

      “He’s not coming. What a dorky dog.” Macy shook her head. “Maybe you should try one of his treats.”

      As much as she loved Chester, Claire was too achy and exhausted right now to care much about showing up on the dog’s popularity list, but because it seemed so important to the kids, she took the treat Macy handed her from the pantry and held it down at the dog’s eye level.

      Chester hesitated for only a moment before he waddled to her side for the treat, then started sniffing the wheels of the chair and her outstretched toes sticking out of the cast.

      “As we talked about at the hospital, you’re several weeks from being able to tackle the stairs in this house,” Jeff said rather pompously. “We’ve moved some of your things down to the guest bedroom.”

      “I know.” That part she didn’t mind. The guest room was actually one of the nicer rooms of the house, with an en suite bathroom and wide windows overlooking the mountains. She had created such a comfortable little spot there that even after the divorce, Jeff’s parents still preferred staying СКАЧАТЬ