A Time To Heal. Linda Goodnight

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      “For I know the plans I have for you,”

       declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

      —Jeremiah 29:11

      This one is for you, the faithful readers who buy

       my books, who write me letters and e-mails filled with sweet encouragement. I am grateful for every single one of you. You are a blessing.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Epilogue

      Questions For Discussion

      Chapter One

      “I’m never going back.”

      Dr. Kathryn Thatcher lay in the wooden porch swing, one arm slung across her eyes, her weary body soaking up sun.

      She hadn’t been outside in such a long time she’d likely suffer second-degree burn. But the old family home at Wilson’s Cove, Oklahoma, was tailor-made for lazing around, something the career-driven Dr. Thatcher never did. Until now.

      Three days and counting since she’d asked her medical director for a leave of absence and walked out. In truth, she wanted to resign, but he’d talked her out of it. Didn’t matter. She was done, finished, through.

      Too many dead kids would do that to a person.

      “A few days’ rest and you’ll be ready to go again. You’re just tired.”

      Kat’s sister, Susan Renfro, sat on the top step of the long wooden porch, fingers laced around one knee, short dark unruly curls gleaming in the sunlight. She’d gained more weight, something Kat was not about to mention, considering Susan had never lost the extra twenty pounds from Sadie’s birth four years ago. Three kids and a love for Southern comfort cooking had destroyed her sister’s former cheerleader body.

      Who was she to talk? She’d added a few pounds, too, and her idea of exercise was running from one exam room to another.

      “I’m more than tired, Suz,” Kat said, though she couldn’t deny the exhaustion. “Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for the medical profession.”

      Memories of that last, terrible night pressed in. Kat shivered, still hearing the incessant rain hammering against the glass E.R. doors as ambulance after ambulance arrived, carrying victims from a five-car pileup on I-35. Thirty-six hours of blood and death, the worst of it being that all the fatalities were teenagers.

      “A career in medicine is all you ever wanted, Kat. It’s who you are.”

      Lately, Kat wasn’t sure who she was or what she wanted.

      Her older sister meant well, but she had no idea what an E.R. physician’s life was like.

      Like most girls in Wilson’s Cove, Susan married her high school sweetheart the summer after graduation and settled down around the 700 acre recreational lake, content to raise a family and take care of the family’s rental cabins. She’d never gone to college, much less spent years working eighty hours a week until she was a zombie inside and out. She’d also never had to bear the news to parents that their beautiful, fresh-faced sixteen-year-old would never graduate from high school.

      “Becoming a doctor was all I wanted as a kid. I’m not a kid anymore.” She’d gone into medicine to save lives. Lately, all she’d done was sign death certificates.

      “Then, what do you want?”

      “I don’t know.” There was the truth. She wanted to be happy. She wanted to feel joy. She wanted some intangible something that lacked definition. But if she admitted as much, she’d get a sermon. To her sister, life revolved around faith in God. That was fine for Susan. Religion hadn’t worked so well for Kathryn. She and God had let each other down a long time ago.

      “I’m being sued,” she said.

      “For what?” Susan frowned and СКАЧАТЬ