An Aspen Creek Christmas. Roxanne Rustand

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СКАЧАТЬ named any of them yet,” Hannah said. “That might be a good job for Molly and Cole.”

      She glanced at Ethan’s weak ankle, where his brace probably showed beneath the hem of his jeans, and cocked her head, obviously curious but too polite to ask. But when she lifted her gaze, her attention caught on his prosthetic hand and her mouth dropped open. She quickly looked away. “I...I didn’t realize. I’m so sorry, Ethan. Are, um, you all right now?”

      Unwanted attention.

      Shallow sympathy.

      Platitudes.

      He gritted his teeth. After leaving the hospital he’d encountered those reactions at every turn and he wanted none of it.

      He knew he was fortunate to still have both legs. Fortunate to finally be walking unaided and to have a state-of-the-art prosthesis that once again made him a functional human being.

      But he still struggled with a surge of instant resentment whenever he saw pity in someone’s eyes. So many soldiers had to deal with far worse and deserved sympathy far more than he did. And all too many—some of the best friends he’d ever had—never had a chance to come home.

      He shrugged off her sentiment and surveyed the puppy pandemonium. “This is like trying to count minnows in a bucket. How many of them are there?”

      “An even dozen.” She hitched her chin toward the garage. “The mom was a stray and she was brought here just before she whelped.”

      “Quite a bonanza.”

      Hannah picked up two of the black-and-white-spotted pups and snuggled them against her neck. “Not a record litter, but more than enough. She’ll be spayed before I try to find her a good home.”

      Molly looked up at Hannah. “They all live here?”

      “Not in the house. The mom and pups have a fenced cage, heat lamp and warm bed in the garage, with a doggie door out to the fenced backyard. I bring the little guys inside for socialization several times a day and give their poor mom a break.” Hannah grinned at her. “Now that you’re here, you can help me play with them. I have more friends to show you, but that can wait until I do chores.”

      Now Molly had a half dozen of them crawling over her feet and when she crouched, they tried to lick her face. “You have even more puppies?”

      “No...not right now. But there are some other rescues in the barn.”

      The joy of the romping puppies was too infectious not to elicit a smile and Ethan found himself chuckling at their antics. “Isn’t there a humane shelter in town?”

      “On the other side of the county, but not anywhere close to Aspen Creek. So there are several of us who try to help. We have fund-raisers every year to help with food, spaying, neutering and vaccinations.”

      Two of the pups started chasing each other around the living room, skidding on the hardwood floors and braided rugs. One of them scrambled onto the sofa and scattered the stacks of paper like falling leaves in a stiff wind.

      Molly’s smile faded as she focused on the big cardboard box by the sofa. “‘Rob and Dee’s home office and health records,’” she read aloud. She turned to give Hannah an accusing look. “You’re snooping through my mom and dad’s stuff?”

      Hannah paled at her harsh tone. “I wasn’t snooping, honey. Cynthia collected all of their important papers and sent them to me. They came this morning. We’ll need your health records and other documents for when we get you set up with a doctor, dentist and the school.”

      Molly’s mouth hardened. “Well, if you think you’re gonna find money or something, good luck with that, because we didn’t have any. Sometimes Mom didn’t have enough money for the grocery store. Not even at Christmas, and that made her cry.”

      Ethan tensed, remembering all the times his brother had asked him for loans. Had things been even worse for them than Rob could admit? “I’m so sorry. If I’d known...”

      Hannah glanced up at him with a frown, then gave the children a faint smile. “You know what? I think these pups would love to run and play with you two in the backyard. Want to grab your jackets? Then after you’re done playing, I want you to meet Penelope.”

      She had the kids bundled up and the whole lot of them—exuberant puppies and kids—outside in minutes. He’d watched every move and still didn’t know quite how she’d done it with puppies running everywhere and Cole too excited to stand still.

      Cole ran around the yard with the pups, though Molly perched on a picnic table and chewed her fingernails, doing her best to look bored.

      Despite the awkward history between them and his determination to take the kids back to Texas, Ethan couldn’t help feeling a newfound appreciation for Hannah as they stood on the back deck to watch the melee. “You’re good with them.”

      “Never had any of my own, of course, but one learns.” She shrugged. “Corralling kids when armed with vaccination syringes does take some practice.”

      “You mentioned the clinic earlier. Are you a nurse?”

      “I’m a PA—physician’s assistant.”

      He blinked, surprised. “Where did you go to school?”

      “I’ve got a Masters from UW-Lacrosse. My clinical phase was at Mayo.”

      He whistled softly. “When we first met, you had a part-time job at a burger place and didn’t have a clue about your future.”

      “I always planned on college,” she said simply, keeping a close eye on Cole. “I just needed to save money first.”

      “You never married?” The question escaped before he thought it through and he’d have done anything to snatch it back.

      A long, awkward silence stretched between them.

      “No,” she said finally, angling a glance at him that could have sliced through steel. “Though I understand you did—your brother was more than happy to let me know that you’d gone on to far better things. Rapidly, in fact.”

      He felt heat crawl up his neck. After the hard life he’d led and the things he’d done for his country, he wouldn’t have imagined that he was capable of such a reaction, yet here it was—heart-stopping regret, awash with embarrassment over what a fool he’d been. But he’d paid for it, in spades.

      Janet had been one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

      “I regret a lot of things in my life. That’s one of them.”

      “I never asked Dee or Rob about you over the years. The subject was strictly off limits, and they knew it,” she said. “But since no one is here with you, I assume the marriage didn’t last.”

      “Never guess that every twenty-one-year-old guy is actually mature.” He gave a humorless laugh. “I was lonely and impetuous. Janet worked on the base and was on the rebound. Let’s just say it was not a match made in heaven. The ink was barely dry on the certificate when Janet’s ex turned up and she left me.”

      Her gaze fixed on СКАЧАТЬ