A Winchester Homecoming. Pamela Toth

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СКАЧАТЬ her an awkward hug. When he let her go, she and Emily exchanged air kisses near each other’s cheeks.

      “Welcome home,” Emily said gently.

      Kim’s guilt increased tenfold. She had stopped being jealous years ago, and Emily was way nicer than her own mother, so what was Kim’s problem other than a whisper of disloyalty?

      Before she could puzzle it out, David and the younger kids joined them with the bags.

      “I guess you didn’t have any trouble finding her,” her father said to him.

      “I haven’t changed that much!” Kim protested.

      “You’re thinner,” her father replied with typical male bluntness and a frown she knew stemmed from concern.

      His implied criticism still stung, making her cheeks go hot with embarrassment.

      “Some people say a woman can’t be too thin or too rich,” Emily commented smoothly, dispelling the awkward moment with a hostess’s effortless smile. “Come inside, Kim, and we’ll get you settled.”

      Even though she appreciated Emily’s tact, part of Kim felt like insisting that she would rather stay outside, just to be contrary. And maybe she could throw herself down in the driveway and drum her heels on the pavement, just to show her maturity.

      “Thank you,” she said instead.

      “You might like a nap before dinner,” Emily continued. “It’s just the five of us tonight.” She glanced at David. “Unless you’d like to join us, honey?”

      To Kim’s relief, he shook his head. “Thanks, Mom, but I’ve got stuff to do back at my place.”

      Kim’s father patted her shoulder before his hands returned to the grips on his crutches, his gaze steady on hers. “I’m glad you’re here, Kimmie,” he said quietly.

      “Me, too.” Her chin wobbled, so she turned away to give David a bright, blank smile. “Would you mind taking my bags up to my room before you leave?”

      “Sure thing, princess,” he drawled with a mocking grin.

      Ignoring his jab, Kim followed her father up the front steps. Despite his height and bum leg, he took them with surprising agility, but he’d always been a natural athlete.

      Feeling a little like a spectator at a play about family dynamics—or perhaps a TV sitcom—David hitched up the strap of Kim’s shoulder bag as Jake and Cheyenne both began tugging on the handle of the wheeled suitcase. To head off a skirmish, David dug his keys from his pocket.

      “Who wants to lock the car?” he asked, dangling them like the proverbial carrot.

      Both kids missed the irony of his question. The chance of anyone stealing the sedan from the boss’s driveway was right up there with the likelihood of the two kids being able to get the heavy suitcases up the stairs. Kim must have it filled it with rocks from Puget Sound.

      Jake’s hand shot up first. “I’ll do it!”

      When David tossed him the keys, which he caught with a triumphant shout, Cheyenne’s eyes filled with tears.

      Thinking fast, David grabbed the handle of the largest suitcase. “Honey bun, would you hold the front door open for me?”

      The brewing thundercloud on her face was replaced by instant sunshine. She was going to be a heartbreaker. As her oldest sibling, he would have to stay in shape just to keep the boys in line.

      The idea of testosterone-driven adolescent males sniffing around her at some point in the not-too-distant future was enough to make his head ache.

      “Sure thing,” she crowed, running up the steps.

      Jake opened his mouth, but David froze him with a warning stare. “Don’t lose my keys,” David told him, turning away.

      He might be a childless bachelor, but he’d spent enough time baby-sitting his half siblings to learn a few tricks, he thought as he noticed that his mother was waiting for him in the entryway.

      “Nicely done,” she said after he had thanked Cheyenne for holding the door and she had skipped ahead.

      “You taught me all I know,” he replied, shifting the bag on his shoulder. A fresh flower arrangement sat on a side table, no doubt from her own garden. Adam and Kim had gone into the spacious living room. “I’d better get these right up to sis’s room, in case she needs them in the next couple of minutes.”

      His mother smothered a chuckle. “Behave yourself,” she scolded softly. “And you know the two of you aren’t actually related.”

      “Thank God,” he muttered back, leaning down to peck her cheek. He rolled the suitcase across the tiled floor. “I’ll come back for this.” Once he had, he planned to sneak out through the kitchen.

      He would have liked to say something encouraging to his mother, since he knew how hard she worked at being the perfect stepparent. It burned him to no end that she blamed herself for coming between Adam and his daughter and sending her away. It wasn’t true.

      “Kim!” Adam exclaimed from the living room, the urgency in his voice drawing both David’s and his mother’s attention.

      He turned in time to see Adam struggling to his feet as Kim slid gracefully to the floor.

      “Is she dead?” Cheyenne shrieked as David dropped the suitcase and ducked around his mother.

      “No, dear,” Emily replied calmly. “I think she’s fainted.”

      Adam’s frustration at his temporary limitations was easy to read on his contorted face. “Kim!” he shouted again.

      When David bent over her, she was as pale as milk, but already her eyes were beginning to flutter open. The others gathered around to see if she was all right as David bent down and scooped her into his arms. Compared to bucking hay bales and wrestling livestock, lifting her was easy. He was surprised at how little she weighed. No wonder she’d gone down like a heart-shot buck.

      “I’m fine,” she insisted, already starting to struggle. “Put me down!”

      He was about to make some smart-alecky comment in order to lighten the tension when he got a look at her face. He’d expected to see confusion, embarrassment, perhaps even annoyance at the proprietary way he had hauled her up. What he read instead in her wide green eyes made him set her carefully back onto her feet.

      In the instant before she managed to hide it, her face had been filled with fear.

      Chapter Two

      “I told you calling a doctor wasn’t necessary.” The irritation in Kim’s tone when she spoke to her father was a ruse intended to cover her embarrassment. “She said all I need is a nap.”

      Emily had gone back downstairs to show the doctor out, and Kim’s father sat on the edge of her bed, his crutches propped up next to him and his callused hand covering hers.

      “You fainted. What Dr. Wilson actually said was that СКАЧАТЬ