Vixen in Disguise by Kara Lennox

Author:Kara Lennox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Sam looked at her earnestly, his big brown eyes reflecting fear no child should know. “Is my sister gonna die like Mike Uberhauser?”

“Who’s Mike Uberhauser?” Anne asked, delaying her answer to the most difficult question anyone had ever asked her. Obviously, Sam had been told of the accident, but apparently no one had time to worry about how it would affect him.

“A kid in my class. He died last year ‘cause he had leukemia. My teacher said he went to heaven. Will Kristin go to heaven?”

“If Kristin were to die, she most certainly would go to heaven, because she is a very good little girl. But we don’t think she’s going to die, not for years and years. She did get hurt, and she has to have an operation on her head, but the doctors are going to fix her up.” Anne sent up a silent prayer that she was right.

“Can I go see her?”

“Not today. But maybe tomorrow.” His little face fell, and Anne racked her brain for something to distract him. “Hey, I know. Why don’t you get some crayons and draw a picture for Kristin? You can take it to her when you visit, and she can hang it on the wall in her hospital room. Then every time she sees it, even if you’re not there she’ll think of you.”

Her suggestion seemed to appeal to Sam. At least he’d stopped crying. “What should I draw?”

“How about a picture of Alexander and Miss Pooh?”

Sam smiled. “And the ants. I’ve been feeding ants to ‘em. They eat a lot.”

Anne got up, took Sam’s hand and walked him back up to the house, then helped him find paper and crayons. She fixed him a snack of apple wedges and peanut butter. With Sam happily occupied, she checked on Pete, who was back in bed.

“How’s she doing?” Pete asked, eager for more news. But Anne didn’t know any more than he did.

“I ought to go to the hospital,” he said. “It’s my fault, you know.”

“It’s no one’s fault,” Anne said firmly. My, but the Hardison family was big on blame. “Accidents happen. I’ll stay here with Sam if you’d like to go to the hospital.”

He coughed, long and hard. “I guess I’m not really up to it,” he said when he caught his breath. “Don’t ever get old, Anne.”

“I don’t like the alternative,” she quipped. “Anyway, you’re not old, you’re just sick. Next week you’ll be back to your usual frisky self.”

“Hope so.”

She tried to tuck in his blanket, but he waved her away. “Stop fussing. You gonna tell me that ‘long story’ now?”

She was really tired of justifying herself. “I’m seeing Wade. We didn’t want to tell anyone because it was all very new and fragile. But now everybody knows, and everybody’s taking potshots at us. If you want to tell me what an idiot I am, you can stand in line.”

Pete surprised her by chuckling. “Matters of the heart turn all of us into idiots at one time or another.

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.