A Hero for Kelsey by Carolyne Aarsen

A Hero for Kelsey by Carolyne Aarsen

Author:Carolyne Aarsen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2001-10-15T00:00:00+00:00


Chapter Nine

When the waiter brought their order, Will felt a moment’s relief.

Each time Kelsey brought up Carter’s name, each time she spoke about him as if Carter had been the answer to all her dreams, he felt an inexplicable burst of jealousy followed by anger. How could she have been so blind?

And as always, he had to resist the temptation to tell her what he knew. It wouldn’t change anything for either of them. It was past.

The waiter set out their food. Steak for Will, fajitas for Kelsey. They thanked him, and as he withdrew, Kelsey hesitated a moment, then lowered her head in prayer.

Will knew he shouldn’t be watching her as she prayed. For in this moment, with her head bowed, her eyes closed, she was defenseless.

But he couldn’t look away.

The frown that had furrowed her brow just a moment before faded away, her soft mouth curved in a delicate smile as her expression exuded a peace that he suddenly yearned for.

Then, after a moment’s pause, he lowered his own head. He didn’t know exactly why he did it. Part of it may have been a response to her own prayer. Part of it was a hearkening back to when he was a young boy, staying with his grandmother. The only person who had taught him to pray.

He felt his mind go blank, remembered vague snatches of half-remembered prayers. Please, Lord, bless this food…. He paused, trying to remember the rest of the prayer. But it wouldn’t come.

Instead he remembered Kelsey’s easy conversational tone. But he didn’t know what to pray for other than patience and an answer to the questions that plagued him, a filling of the emptiness that grew each year.

He recalled what the minister spoke of on Sunday and asked that he be shown the right thing to do.

When he raised his head, Kelsey was already done. Relieved, he unfolded his own napkin and laid it carefully on his lap, glancing down at the food in front of him. The aroma of the steak, grilled to a sizzling perfection, made his mouth water.

He glanced across at Kelsey, disconcerted to see her studying him.

When he first thought of this “date” he had a number of objectives in mind. The main one, he told himself, was to find a diplomatic way to discharge the obligation he had felt since he first found out about Carter canceling the life insurance policy. The “business” he had obliquely referred to.

The other, was not so clearly formed. Merely a faint hope that spending time with her would diminish the fascination she held for him.

It wasn’t working.

“You said you were home-schooled,” Kelsey said, arranging the various bowls that came with her meal. She glanced up at him with a smile, obviously ready to talk about something else. “Did you go to a regular school at all?”

Will picked up his own fork and toyed with his vegetables while he considered her question, thankful for the return to a more casual give-and-take.

“If we were in



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