Healing the Lawman's Heart by Ruth Logan Herne

Author:Ruth Logan Herne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

“I don’t want to go see my daddy.” Connor’s lower lip rounded. His chin trembled. And when a big, fat tear slipped down his cheek, it took every ounce of Julia’s strength not to sit down on the floor beside him and burst into tears herself.

“Will he remember us?” Martin’s cautious voice held a hidden question. After over two years of no personal contact, he was probably wondering if he’d remember his father, an understandable question from a seven-year-old.

“Yes.” Julia didn’t elaborate. Vic wasn’t evil, the boys would be in no danger, but they deserved more than his casual interest now and again. That was out of her hands, though, and maybe they’d come back on Sunday rested, refreshed and with a renewed relationship with their father.

And maybe pigs will fly.

She shut down her cynical inner voice, helped the boys stow their backpacks into the back of her SUV and drove up the road to pick Piper up. Her sister-in-law hurried out, climbed into the front seat, high-fived the boys, then faced Julia. “I owe you. Big-time.”

Julia put the car into gear and frowned. “For what?”

“Rescuing me. I love my husband, but the thought of getting out of the house for a few hours, traveling with my peeps—” she aimed a broad smile at the boys in the backseat, then slipped each of them a homemade chocolate chip cookie “—and road food has made my day.”

“Zach getting restless?”

“Your brother was born restless,” Piper retorted. “So this immobility is killing him, and he goes from being wonderful to crabby at warp speed. Then the cycle starts all over again.”

“Pain meds aren’t helping?”

“He’s weaned himself off of them, a gesture I respect from a distance. Up close?” She gave an over-exaggerated sigh for everyone’s benefit. “Not so much. They told us it would be a twelve-week recovery, so we need to be patient. Both of us,” she added and nipped a cookie for herself. “Jules, do you want a cookie?”

“Nope.” Nerves were gnawing on her stomach, and she’d made it through nearly three weeks of choosing her foods with more care. Five pounds had disappeared with little trouble or thought on her part. “I’m saving my calories for Easter.”

“Smart move.” Piper turned back toward the boys. “I brought puzzle books for you guys.” She handed them over the seat, then offered each boy a pencil. “I had to hunt to find these. We used to love to do these on car trips when we were little.”

“You didn’t wanna just watch a movie?” Connor asked.

“Listen, kid, there were no TVs in cars in my day. Let’s see how many puzzles you guys can get done in the next half hour. Ready? Set. Go!” She smiled when the boys bent over their respective puzzle books.

Julia shot her a quiet look of gratitude. Anything that kept the boys occupied for the next hour would be welcome, and if it helped alleviate their worries about spending time with their absentee father, that would be all the better.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.