Second Chance Family ; Marrying the Preacher's Daughter by Winnie Griggs

Author:Winnie Griggs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-12-02T19:26:51+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Mitch stepped onto the front porch and pulled his shoulders back, trying to get the kinks out of his muscles.

It had been nearly six hours since they’d pulled Audrey from that hole and her condition was still unchanged. He leaned his elbows on the porch rail, clasping his hands in front of him.

He tried to take comfort in the fact that at least she hadn’t gotten any worse. But that was cold comfort indeed.

Scout padded up and lay at his feet, muzzle to the ground. “You’re worried, too, aren’t you, boy?”

A few minutes later, Ethan stepped out and joined him. “Any word on Audrey?”

“No change.”

“I wish I could have gotten her out of that hole faster.”

“You did all you could, Ethan. You saved her life.” He slid a hand into his pocket. “I never did get a chance to ask you exactly what happened out there.”

Ethan reached down to pat his dog. “I was looking for Cissy, to tell her it was time to eat. I saw the girls heading for the tree line and went after them. Then they all just kinda disappeared and I heard ’em screaming so I took off at a run. When I reached where they’d been, there was a big ole hole in the ground with them trapped inside.”

A sink hole, just like he’d figured. “So you jumped in after them?”

Ethan shrugged. “I didn’t have no rope or nothing to pull them out with and Audrey looked like she was hurt and the water started seeping in pretty fast.”

“How’d you get Loretta and Cissy out?”

“Loretta’s the tallest, so I made her climb up on my shoulders and pull herself up. Then Cissy did the same, with Loretta’s help. Then I told Loretta to stop bawling and run and get you.”

“Smart kid.”

“Yeah.” Danny stepped out on the porch. “And pretty brave, too.”

Had the boy heard the whole story?

“You would have done the same,” Ethan said. “I just happened to be the one who was there when it happened.”

“Yeah, well, still, they would likely have all drowned if you hadn’t done what you did.” Danny shoved his hands in his pockets. “Audrey would have for sure.”

Then Danny pulled his shoulders back. “I want to apologize for how I’ve been treating you since you moved in here. I was wrong to believe all those things folks said about you. It won’t happen again.” He scuffed the floor with his toe, then looked up. “And you can move back into my room if you like.”

Ethan grinned. “Thanks. But I kinda like it where I am.”

Danny returned his grin. “Yeah, you have a pretty good setup. I mean, a whole floor to yourself, and walls that you can move whenever you want to. I gotta admit, I was just a little bit jealous when I first saw it.” He nodded his head toward the door. “Hey, you want to have a look at my set of tin soldiers?”

Ethan straightened. “Sure.”

With that, the two boys disappeared inside the house.

Mitch was glad to see they’d finally gotten over their differences.

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.