A Time to Mend by Hunt Angela

Author:Hunt, Angela [Hunt, Angela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Romance
ISBN: 9781426857577
Goodreads: 7950078
Publisher: Steeple Hill Single Title
Published: 2006-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

“Here we are. Doesn’t it feel good to be home?” Amid the impatient blare of horns from cars behind them on the street, Stacy slowly turned her car into Jacquelyn’s driveway.

“Stacy, you don’t have to drive like a grandma. I’m not a china doll—I won’t break,” Jacquelyn fussed as she glanced at her house. She had expected to see newspapers piled on the front porch and mail bulging from the box, but the house seemed as tidy and neat as she’d left it.

“Did you come and pick up my mail?” Jacquelyn asked as Stacy cut the motor. “You didn’t have to do that. I just left my key with you in case of emergency—I didn’t expect you to come over here and house-sit.”

“Maybe the mail fairy moved in.” Stacy got out of the car and hurried to the passenger’s side, but Jacquelyn had already opened the door and swung her feet to the ground.

“I don’t think so, but somebody took care of things,” Jacquelyn pointed out, slowly standing as Stacy pulled Bailey’s now-faded bouquet from the backseat. “Either that, or my newspaper boy and mail carrier have decided to go on strike.”

“I think you worry too much.” Stacy held her arm out like a waiter and Jacquelyn playfully pushed her arm away as they made their way to the porch.

“I’m not an invalid, I’m quite able to walk. My nurse was a Nurse Rachet clone, and she wasn’t about to let me loll around in bed. So who’s been in my house?”

As if in answer, the front door opened and a cheery voice sang out, “Welcome home!” Jacquelyn stared in surprise. A tall, thin woman stood in the doorway, a brightly patterned scarf tied around her head and Bailey’s leash looped over her slender wrist. For a moment Jacquelyn couldn’t place the woman’s face, then the features came together in a rush of memory.

“Daphne Redfield?” At the sound of her voice, Bailey howled and strained at the leash. Jacquelyn looked at Stacy, dumbfounded. “You enlisted one of the patients to help me out?”

Stacy lowered her voice to a discreet whisper. “Daphne knew about your surgery and asked if she could do anything to help. And don’t say anything about the scarf—she shaved off all her thinning hair a couple of days ago, and I think she might be a little sensitive.”

Jacquelyn cut a quick look from her friend to the woman on the porch. “I don’t get it. Daphne asked you if she could help me?”

“She asked Dr. Martin,” Stacy explained. “And he knew I had a key to your house, so he arranged everything. Daphne has been stopping by every morning to take care of your house and the dog.”

“But Bailey was in the kennel!”

“Dr. Martin knew you wouldn’t want him to be crated there for five long days. So he signed your dog out of the kennel and brought him home to wait for you.”

“Down, Bailey!” Daphne cried, struggling to hold the leash.

Jacquelyn glanced up. The one-hundred-and-seventy-pound puppy was no match for Daphne.

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