A Father's Promise by Carolyne Aarsen

Author:Carolyne Aarsen
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781472013989
Publisher: Harlequin (UK)
Published: 2013-09-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“Renee. Are you busy?”

Renee looked up from the clipboard she was scribbling on just as her mother wheeled herself around the corner of the shelving unit.

“Not super busy. Just getting some inventory lists together for Cathy. If and when we can ever get this store sold.” Renee flipped through the packages of stickers hanging on a hook, counting them as she went, then wrote the amount on the paper attached to the clipboard. She was forging on as if everything was going through. Too much had been happening the past month, and the only way she could keep her balance was to keep her eye on the goal she and her mother had been working toward for the past four years.

“Can we go to the back of the store? I want some privacy.”

“Sounds serious.” Renee stood aside as her mother wheeled herself down the aisle.

Her mother didn’t say anything, and Renee ignored the tinkle of the electronic bell announcing that another customer was coming into the store. Most customers liked to browse before they needed help. She had some time.

They went into the room, and Renee felt a tiny pang of nostalgia. Tricia had finished her scrapbook. No more visits from the little girl.

Or her father.

The thought created the usual stew of emotions. Regret and anticipation. Worry and hope. Affection...

She caught herself right there as she carefully closed the door of the back room. Her mother had spun her wheelchair around and was leaning forward, her elbows resting on the arms.

Her mom’s cheeks were flushed. Her expression animated. Her eyes bright, enhanced by the pink shirt she had chosen to wear this morning. Brenda usually preferred practical brown or gray. Colors that wouldn’t get dirty.

“I want to talk to you about the therapy program,” Brenda began. “I was doing some more research about it.”

“That’s good,” Renee said, sitting down on a chair across from her so they were at eye level. “It’s good to be informed.”

“A little too informed,” her mom said, taking Renee’s hand and holding it between her own. “I’m concerned about the time commitment. It might take more than a year, and that’s only if everything goes well.”

“We talked about that,” Renee said, squeezing her mother’s hand. “The therapy team told us that you are a good candidate.”

Brenda nodded slowly, as if absorbing this information. “Yes. But I’ve been in this wheelchair for eight years. And I know that every year I’ve spent here means my muscles have atrophied that much more, in spite of the exercises we’ve been doing.”

“That’s why they warned us that it would take a year to a year and a half.” Three weeks ago it would have simply been twelve to sixteen months she would carve out of her life for her mother.

But now?

Images of Zach slid through her mind.

Did she dare hope that something important was beginning between them?

And what about Tricia? Renee had already missed so much of her life—could she really walk away from her so easily?

Her mother sighed gently.

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