One of the Family by Susan Floyd

Author:Susan Floyd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

THE NEXT TEN DAYS PASSED quickly and before Phoebe knew it, she was dressing carefully in a plain suit, her financial recovery plan and the documentation carefully stored in her lambskin briefcase. She had made small payments on every one of the cards, but not enough time had passed to know whether or not the embarrassingly small checks had been accepted. Diane called with the good news that there was an offer on her condo, and for Phoebe, given the circumstances at the dairy, a sale couldn’t happen soon enough. Between that and sending out two dozen résumés, some to hospitals more than four hours away, she resigned herself to the idea her life on the Hawkins’ farm was only temporary. Katie still kept her distance, which Phoebe could not understand. After all, even though she and Mitch had had the fight, Phoebe had still worked that Saturday so Katie could go shopping in Gilroy with her friends. But Saturday night when Phoebe tried to ask how her day went, Katie just shut herself in her room.

For Phoebe, it was normal to not understand the mood of one of the Hawkins. She had adapted more easily than she’d anticipated to the farm routine, quickly learning the quirks of the job, no longer bothered by the pups, who had gotten into the routine of following her from task to task. She had never done such physical labor before, but her blisters had healed and thanks to Bess’s gloves, no new ones ever appeared. She also began to notice more muscle definition in her arms and shoulders, which she wryly admitted, she’d never achieved even with the hefty health club fees.

Mitch, fortunately, had been pleasantly detached, not above giving her a pointer or two, sharing information that would help her. He was preoccupied because his farm review coincided with her court date. Yesterday, she’d made sure to thoroughly clean the calves’ pens and put down new straw, so that when the appraiser looked around Mitch would have a good showing.

She, too, was as ready for her court appearance as she could be. She arrived an hour early, but if she expected a private meeting with the lawyer and the judge, she was sorely mistaken. The docket was full and the courtroom, inside and out in the hall was chaotic and noisy as sets of people negotiated settlements. As Phoebe waited nervously for her turn, she played the mental game of trying to figure out who were the lawyers and who were the unfortunate souls like herself, ready to be humiliated. Prepared to wait for a while, she was dismayed by how rapidly each case was disposed of. It seemed that it took only a few minutes between having one’s name called and leaving, looking shaken or relieved. Then she heard her name.

Her nerves pounded as she faced the judge, who studied the documents Phoebe had handed her. Phoebe tried to block out the background noise of papers shuffling, the courtroom door

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