Perfectly Matched. Lois Richer

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СКАЧАТЬ never finished my college degree, you know. I don’t have anything else to fall back on but this job the team offered.” Nick’s eyes grew muddy with confusion. “Even so, my first priority is always to my family.”

      “Of course.” Anyone who knew Nick knew that about him. “Maybe the team would grant you an extension?”

      “They already have—that’s why I’m here. But if I’m not back on the appointed day, I have no job.” He shook his head. “It probably sounds pretentious, but I have to capitalize on my fame as the winningest quarterback in history while it’s still fresh in everyone’s mind. I’m only good for endorsements till the next star comes along. If I let this job go—” He left it hanging. After a moment Nick regrouped and straightened his shoulders. “I’ll have Maggie at the clinic tomorrow morning at eight. And I’ll have a decision for you then, too.”

      “Great.” Shay stood on her porch, watching as Nick walked slowly to his truck. He opened the door then stopped.

      “Shay?”

      “Yes?” Her heart ached for the once-fun-loving guy who’d been her white knight. She wanted to tell him it didn’t matter, but it did.

      “Thank you.” His dark eyes met hers. “Telling me all this can’t have been easy for you.”

      “No,” she said quietly. “The truth is often very painful. But don’t worry, Nick—I make sure my kids get the very best.”

      “Your kids.” A smile drifted across his face then flickered away as he stared directly into her eyes. “And you think I’m ‘the best’ for Maggie?”

      “Yes.” she nodded. “I do. You and your mom care about her more than any hired person ever could.”

      “Yeah, we do. Okay, then. Good night.”

      “Good night, Nick.”

      Shay remained standing on her porch until Nick and his truck disappeared from sight. Then she holed up in her study and worked most of the night refining her rehabilitation plan for Maggie. Nick would do it, she was almost positive of that. He was that kind of man. Family mattered to him more than anything else in the world. But what she wasn’t so sure of was if he would leave when his six months were up or if he’d continue for as long as Maggie needed him.

      A yearning for a family like his—for the knowledge that someone would be there for you, to share the good times and bad—ached inside Shay and would not be soothed no matter how many of her blessings she recounted.

      Her parents were gone. Brianna and Jaclyn had their own lives. Of course Shay was delighted that both of them had found love, but it meant that the tight bond between the three of them had changed. It also meant she was the only one with no one of her own.

      Shay had tried so hard to trust Eric when he said he would wait for her to get over her panic attacks. But she’d jerked away one too many times and he had eventually given up on her. He’d left her.

      Everyone left.

      That’s why she had to get these anxiety issues under control.

      Because though Shay intended to spend the rest of her life alone, she was not going to spend it mourning the past. She was going to help kids. Especially Maggie.

      Nick would help Maggie as much as he could, too, but after six months, she was fairly certain, he would leave Hope and resume his football career. It was up to Shay to get Maggie as mobile as possible before he went. She’d deal with her problems privately, with God’s help.

      “Thank You for this new home and this new life, Lord,” she whispered as the first peach fingers of dawn crept over the jagged tips of the Organ Mountains.

      She’d been given so much. Now it was time to give back.

      Surely, helping Maggie and the rest of Hope’s kids would satisfy the longing of her heart.

      Chapter Three

      Nick sat on his mother’s deck with Shay’s words running through his mind as warm spring rain pattered down on the awning above him.

      Staying in Hope for who knew how long—at least until Maggie was walking—would cost him his future.

      Why? he asked God. You took my career. Okay, so I’ll start over. But I only have six months here. Then I have to go.

      It wasn’t that Nick didn’t love Maggie. He wanted to see Georgia’s daughter walk again with every fiber of his being.

      But if he took on her therapy and it took longer than six months, what would he do about his future?

      Confusion filled him. He’d been so certain the coaching job in Seattle was God’s answer to his prayer. Helping his mom with Maggie was supposed to give him time to prepare for the only job he felt qualified for.

      But if I’m not supposed to do that job, what am I supposed to do, God?

      When no miraculous way out presented itself, Nick considered his options.

      He could take Maggie with him, back to Seattle.

      He discarded that immediately. Even if he did hire someone to work with Maggie, his mom wouldn’t want to move back there. And Nick was pretty sure his mom would never allow her grandchild to live so far away from her.

      Maybe he could hire someone in town, as Shay had suggested.

      Nick scratched that idea, too. He’d already phoned around. Hope didn’t have someone of the caliber he needed for Maggie. And if he hired a certified trainer to come to Hope, he’d be too far away to keep an eye on things. Plus, if he spent his savings on Maggie, what would he do if his mom or sisters needed money? His savings would be gone and his dad sure couldn’t be counted on to help.

      Defeat swamped Nick as he finally accepted that he had no choice. He would stay in Hope for however long it took to help Maggie. He’d stay and play the heavy and push her even when she cried for mercy.

      He dreaded that most of all.

      Nick had been through therapy. He remembered too well the days it took every effort just to show up. But he’d done it because, in the back of his mind, he’d hoped he could get back in the game, get his life back. Maggie wouldn’t have that drive. She was just a little kid. The intense therapy Shay was talking about would hurt her. But if, as Shay said, the only alternative was a wheelchair, he could not—would not—back down. She had to do it.

      “What are you doing out here, son?” His mother handed him a steaming mug.

      Nick took it and smiled. Peppermint tea, her panacea for all of life’s ills.

      “You do know it’s past two-thirty?”

      “I know. Just thinking.” He couldn’t tell her what was on his heart. His mother would feel responsible. If she guessed his fears, she might insist on moving back to Seattle for his sake, and he knew how little she wanted to leave her friends, her home and the desert dryness that eased her arthritic pain. “Shay’s plan—it’s going to be hard on Maggie, Mom. Really hard.”

      “I СКАЧАТЬ