Love by Design by Christine Johnson

Author:Christine Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-09-09T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Dan couldn’t leave Jen there. He couldn’t walk her back to that forbidding hospital and return her to a life that didn’t suit her. So he waited for her to pack her belongings and sign the papers that marked her official withdrawal from the program. Then he carried out her small piece of luggage and helped her into Hunter’s car.

She looked exhausted. Her shoulders drooped, and her gaze was hollow.

He said nothing as he cranked the car to a start and began the long drive back to Pearlman. He didn’t question her decision. He waited for her to speak first.

She stared blankly out the side window, clutching her handbag as if it would fly away with each bump or jolt.

He had been appalled by her appearance. Yes, her dress was neat, if wrinkled, and she was well scrubbed, but her expression matched that of the soldiers marching back from the front. Shell-shocked. Her cheekbones were more prominent than before, and her cheeks had hollowed. She’d been there less than a month. One more and she would end up in the mental ward.

She needed to go home.

When that tremulous voice had begged him to take her, it took every ounce of restraint not to sweep her out of the restaurant and put her in the car that moment. Instead, he had promised to bring her home if she ate the soup and drank the tea. Though she’d struggled to down it all, the desire to leave the hospital overcame her apparent queasiness. Though he was famished, he had the sandwiches wrapped in paper for the ride home. Once he’d situated her in the front seat, he had pulled the thick wool blanket over her lap. The old Jen would have snapped at him for coddling her. Today, she let him tuck the blanket around her.

The change made him furious. He wanted to blame someone—the school, her family, even himself—for letting her go. The next moment he wanted to hold her tight and promise she would never have to endure this again.

But he couldn’t. He was making an attempt to fly across the North Pole. He might not return alive.

He could make no promises.

So he waited for her to speak first.

* * *

Jen stared dully at the bustling city. When she’d first arrived, she’d found it fascinating. After all, she had never been to a city, but the novelty soon wore off. The noises and fumes and overpowering grayness left her longing for Pearlman’s quiet streets and tidy yards.

Dan was taking her home.

Her heart quickened. Never had home meant so much, even though that house would soon be put up for sale. Home wasn’t a house. It was something more—a comforting mother, sisters’ teasing and a bond that could never be broken. Home meant love and acceptance. Mother might be disappointed, but she would still love her. Tears burned in Jen’s eyes. How her body could manage another tear was beyond understanding. After last night and the terrible morning hours, she didn’t think it possible, yet she had choked up in the coffee shop.

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