The Rancher by Diana Palmer

Author:Diana Palmer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“Is she going to be all right?” Great-Aunt Sadie asked when Odalie and Cort dropped into chairs in the waiting room while Maddie was sleeping.

“Yes, but it’s going to be a long recovery,” Cort said heavily.

“You can’t tell her,” Odalie said gently, “but there seems to be some paralysis in her legs. No, it’s all right,” she interrupted when Sadie looked as if she might start crying. “We’ve called one of the foremost orthopedic surgeons in the country at the Mayo Clinic. We’re flying him down here to see her. We’ll go from there, once he’s examined her.”

“But the expense,” Sadie exclaimed.

“No expense. None. This is my fault and I’m paying for it,” Odalie said firmly.

“It’s my car, I’m helping,” Cort added.

She started crying again. “It’s so nice of you, both of you.”

Odalie hugged her. “I’m so sorry,” she said sadly. “I didn’t mean to hit her. I wasn’t looking, and I should have been.”

Sadie hugged her back. “Accidents happen,” she sobbed. “It was that stupid rooster, wasn’t it?”

“It was.” Cort sighed. “He ran right into the road and Maddie ran after him. The road was clear and then, seconds later, she was in the middle of it.”

Odalie couldn’t confess that she’d gone that way deliberately to show Maddie she was with Cort. She was too ashamed. “She’ll be all right,” she promised.

“Oh, my poor little girl,” Sadie said miserably. “She’ll give up, if she knows she might not be able to walk again. She won’t fight!”

“She will. Because we’ll make her,” Odalie said quietly.

Sadie looked at her with new eyes. Her gaze fell to Odalie’s dress. “Oh, your dress,” she exclaimed.

Odalie just smiled. “I can get another dress. It’s Maddie I’m worried about.” It sounded like a glib reply, but it wasn’t. In the past few hours, Odalie’s outlook had totally shifted from herself to someone who needed her. She knew that her life would never be the same again.

A sheriff’s deputy came into the waiting room, spotted Odalie and Cort and approached them, shaking his head.

“I know,” Odalie said. “It’s my fault. I was driving his car—” she indicated Cort “—and not looking where I was going. Maddie ran out into the road after her stupid rooster, trying to save him. She’s like that.”

The deputy smiled. “We know all that from the re-creation of the scene that we did,” he said. “It’s very scientific,” he added. “How is she?”

“Bad,” Odalie said heavily. “They think she may lose the use of her legs. But we’ve called in a world-famous surgeon. If anything can be done, it will be. We’re going to take care of her.”

The deputy looked at the beautiful woman, at her bloodstained, dirty, expensive dress, with kind eyes. “I know some women who would be much more concerned with the state of their clothing than the state of the victim. Your parents must be very proud of you, young lady. If you were my daughter, I would be.”

Odalie flushed and smiled. “I feel pretty guilty right now.

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