The Forever Family. Leigh Bale

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СКАЧАТЬ waved a hand. “Nonsense. They’d charge you sixty-nine dollars for the night. Besides, Sam thinks you have a mild concussion. You’ll need someone to look after you and we can’t do that over at the motel. Not in this snowstorm.”

      In the living room, the woman picked up a fresh cotton sheet and flipped it in the air to open it wide. It floated down across the sofa as she made up the Hide-A-Bed.

      “Are you hungry?” Gladys asked.

      Rachel shook her head, her stomach still queasy.

      “Don’t worry. You’ll feel better tomorrow. Sam tells me you’re Myra’s granddaughter and you’ll be staying out at the Duarte place.”

      “Yes.”

      “I knew Myra well. She told me you lived back east.”

      “Yes, my husband and I lived in Rochester.”

      Dr. Thorne frowned and shifted his feet, but he didn’t say a word. Feeling the weight of his curious gaze, she looked away.

      “Let’s get you into bed.” Gladys flipped off all the lights except the night lamp sitting on a small table beside the Hide-A-Bed.

      Now that she’d seen her son, Rachel longed to curl beneath the warm blankets and sleep for a trillion years. In sleep, she could forget her aching heart and the financial troubles plaguing her since Alex died. Even though he’d been gone almost a year, it still felt like she’d lost him just yesterday. She wondered if her heart would ever recover.

      “I’ll say good-night.” Dr. Thorne reached for the door.

      “Where are you going in this storm?” Rachel asked before she could stop herself. It wasn’t her business.

      “When I stay in town, it’s usually because we’ve got a sick animal at the clinic. I’ll sleep over there. Gladys will check on you periodically through the night, just to make sure you’re okay. She knows what to do.”

      “Thanks again.”

      “No problem. I’ll see you in the morning.” With a nod, he turned and left, a burst of wintry wind echoing his passage.

      Rachel stared after him, longing to call him back. She couldn’t explain it, but his quiet strength brought her a sense of security. He reminded her just how lonely and vulnerable she’d become over the past year.

      “Come on, honey.” Gladys led Rachel down the hall, where she dug out a flannel nightgown from a chest of drawers. She retrieved a fluffy bathrobe and a new toothbrush, then showed Rachel to the bathroom.

      Ten minutes later, Rachel slid between the chilly covers of her bed and lay awake, too tired to sleep. For just a moment, she allowed herself to feel self-pity. She’d lost her car and couldn’t afford another one, her arm was injured, and who knew what shape her possessions inside the travel trailer were in? How was she going to find transportation out to the farmhouse? She couldn’t work if she had no wheels to get into town. If only Alex were here. He’d know what to do.

      Her situation seemed hopeless, and hot tears wet her cheeks. Then, she remembered God had been with them tonight, guiding and protecting them. It hadn’t been easy, but the Lord had brought them through. They could recover, if she just kept her faith.

      In the morning, she’d buy a few groceries and find a way out to Grammy’s place. Maybe she could hitch a ride with the snowplow. She’d build a new life for herself and Danny. They’d be alone, but they’d be happy and safe.

      

      Sam shivered as he tromped through the snow in his knee-high boots. The storm had tapered off to a light flurry. Nine inches of pristine snow made the night air seem almost as bright as midday. Long shards of ice crystals hung from bare tree branches. The only sound was the crunch of his footsteps. Mother Nature’s beauty never ceased to astonish him.

      Lovely and treacherous, just like a woman.

      This small town was no place for a beautiful young woman like Rachel Walker. She could find a better future in a city somewhere.

      Sam snorted. She denied receiving any money from her grandmother’s estate, but he found that hard to believe. He couldn’t help wondering how Rachel had gone through so much money so fast.

      He tried to shake off his uncertainty as he kicked the snow off his boots and stepped into the reception area of his clinic. Even though she was a stranger, he couldn’t explain his desire to help Rachel. He should keep some distance from her and her son. Yet, their desperation pulled at his heartstrings. The last thing he needed was another shallow, beautiful woman messing up his calm, solitary life. Loving Melanie had brought him enough pain. And in the end, he’d destroyed whatever happiness they might have shared.

      Rachel had no car, very few possessions, and a small son to support. When Sheriff Lloyd looked through her purse for some ID, he’d found her billfold. It consisted of exactly one thousand six hundred and two dollars and eighty-nine cents. No cell phone. No credit cards. No checkbook. Her funds wouldn’t buy her a decent car or groceries for very long.

      The Duarte place seemed pretty run-down since Frank died some years ago. The possible repairs needed to the pipes and wiring could take every cent Rachel had in her purse.

      And how would she get back and forth between her house and town without a car? In this frigid weather, she and the boy couldn’t walk. She’d be all alone out there without a phone or anyone to help with heavy projects. She wasn’t strong, he could see that from the size of her shapely arms. And those scars! Although old, he recognized a dog bite when he saw one. Rachel had been attacked, probably using her arms to shield her face until help arrived. Sam could only imagine the internal scars such an experience like that would leave on her mentally. He’d seen her reaction to the animals in his clinic. She didn’t say so, but he sensed she had a phobia for canines.

      Shaking his head, he walked to the back room and stared at the uncomfortable cot. After he shed his coat, hat and boots, he sat down and reached for the alarm clock sitting close by. He set it for six a.m., one hour away, then wriggled his toes. One poked through a hole in his woolen sock. He’d mend it later, when he finally washed his piles of laundry.

      Even Gladys finally stopped telling him he should get a wife of his own. He’d dated quite a bit during veterinarian school, but after Melanie, his heart never took flight again. His career became more important.

      Until now.

      “Ah, you fool,” he castigated himself.

      He’d just met Rachel Walker. She needed help. That was why he couldn’t get her off his mind. Kind of like feeding and becoming attached to a stray cat. It had nothing to do with her clear blue eyes filled with worry for her son, or the way she’d cried while she was unconscious. From the few things she’d mumbled, he knew her husband’s name was Alex and she still mourned the man’s death. But he couldn’t get involved. Her problems weren’t his business.

      As he lay back on the cot, he folded his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling. His nose crinkled, catching Rachel’s clean, floral scent.

      It felt good to be needed by Gladys and Charlie. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to keep them safe. He’d accepted his fate as a confirmed bachelor, but he never liked it. He’d been born a family man and never accepted the empty hole in his СКАЧАТЬ