Bachelor to the Rescue by Lorraine Beatty

Author:Lorraine Beatty
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-10-08T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Lainie shoved her half-eaten sandwich into the brown bag, crumpled it and tossed it into the trash. Her lunch had tasted like dry paper. She loved egg salad, but she was too upset to eat. The confrontation with Shaw this morning had left her agitated and irritable. She’d waited years to confront him, to demand answers, to find some reason for the accident. But now that the moment had arrived, it didn’t feel the way she had thought it would. She’d expected a sense of closure. Even validation that he was at fault.

Instead, she’d been forced to look at things from a different perspective. Was it possible that Craig was more at fault than Shaw? No. Impossible. That would change everything she’d thought about her husband and everything she’d believed for the past five years.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

She buried her fingers in her hair. It was time to face the truth. Her husband had never liked taking orders or following advice. He’d fallen because he wanted to do things his way, not the right or safe way. Shaw had done all he could.

Learning that her husband was going to be let go wasn’t a huge surprise, either. He’d become increasingly unhappy, directing most of his anger at Shaw. It wasn’t the first time he’d lost a job because of his attitude. She simply hadn’t wanted to believe he was that kind of man.

“Lainie, are you all right?”

She’d been so deep in thought she hadn’t heard the car pull up or Millie enter the carriage house. “Fine.” She tried to smile but felt sure her attempt was a failure. “I have some personal things to work out, that’s all.”

Millie laid her purse on the worktable, peering at her more closely. “Something happened while I was gone. What was it?”

In the short time Lainie had worked with the former librarian, she’d learned it was impossible to hide anything from her. “Shaw and I had a talk about the past.”

“You mean the accident?”

Lainie jerked her head up. “You know about that?”

“I know enough. I’m good friends with Viola Franklin, Russ’s wife. She gave me the CliffsNotes version.” She pulled up a folding chair and sat. “Do you feel better now that you’ve both spoke your piece?”

“No. Truth is I’m not sure how I feel.”

“I’m not surprised. It’s comforting to have someone to blame. It helps us make sense of things. My husband died of an aggressive form of cancer. For years, I blamed the doctors for not doing more, for not catching the disease sooner. Then one day, I read a verse in the Bible. ‘In the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’ I had to finally accept that illness is a fact of life. So are accidents.”

“Shaw said that day changed his life.” Lainie frowned, trying to understand. “How? He went on with his carefree bachelor life. He started his own business. I was left to raise my daughters alone.

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