LITMIR.BIZ

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down.

      “I have to admit, it’s weird for me to see you this way,” Holly said.

      “What do you mean?”

      Holly gestured to the wheelchair and the hospital bed Jeff must have arranged to replace the queen normally in the room. Claire didn’t think that was strictly necessary, although she supposed it would help with transfers from the bed to the wheelchair. “I don’t know. Needy, I guess. You’re the most together person I know. It’s just…different to see you otherwise.”

      “It’s not so comfortable for me, either,” she said.

      “I’m sorry,” Holly said quietly. “Really sorry. It must be hard for you.”

      “Yes,” she admitted with reluctance.

      “Well, don’t worry about it. I’m glad to help. Let’s get you more comfortable.”

      Few moments in Claire’s life were as excruciatingly humiliating as being forced to sit, helpless and weak, as her ex-husband’s young and beautiful new wife helped her into the loose cotton nightgown.

      Holly was actually very considerate and kind about the whole thing, to her relief, but by the time they finished Claire was exhausted and humiliated and could only think about another pain pill. Unfortunately, she wasn’t due to take a dose for a few hours yet. She was vigilant about keeping to the correct schedule, afraid of becoming dependent. She didn’t know if it was a genetic predisposition, but her mother’s dark history was entirely too vivid in her memory.

      “There you are, Claire,” Holly said when she was finally settled into the bed, the soft quilt tucked to her chin. “Does that feel better?”

      “Yes, thank you.”

      “It’s no trouble.” She smiled. “If you want the truth, it’s kind of nice to have you lean on me for a change instead of always the other way around. You just rest now. Come on, Chester. Let’s go.”

      Claire hadn’t realized the dog was there, as well. She opened one eye and spotted his pudgy grumpiness circling around the rug beside the bed, preparing to settle in.

      “No, leave him.”

      Holly frowned. “Are you sure? He can be such a bother.”

      “I’m sure.”

      Holly looked skeptical but she shrugged. “Do you need anything else? Water? A book or something?”

      “Only my cell phone over on the dresser, please.”

      She needed to try again to call Maura after the funeral. Every day since the accident, she had tried numerous times, but Maura wouldn’t answer the phone. Claire couldn’t blame her. She was sure her friend was overwhelmed right now and the last thing she wanted to do was talk on the phone and endure more platitudes. Until Claire could make it in person to see her friend, the phone would have to do and she vowed to keep calling until Maura would talk to her.

      “Thank you for taking care of the children so I don’t have to worry about them.”

      “You’re welcome. Really.” Holly smiled and left the room, closing the door behind her.

      Claire scooted as far as she could to the right side of the bed and reached down with her good arm. Chester licked at her fingers for a moment, then nudged at her to be petted.

      She scratched his warm fur and thought about how much she hated being on the receiving end of help until she fell asleep.

      “WHAT WAS THAT MAN THINKING? You can’t stay there by yourself. I’m coming over.”

      Claire shifted her weight on the couch, holding the phone with one hand while she reached to rub the pain above her left eyebrow and bumped her head with plaster.

      After nearly two weeks with the stupid thing, one would think she would remember it was there but she still found she forgot at odd moments.

      “That’s not necessary, Mom. You don’t need to come over. I’m fine. Jeff must think so, right? Otherwise he and Holly wouldn’t have taken the kids to Denver for the weekend.”

      “That doesn’t mean anything. He doesn’t have a bit of sense when it comes to Holly. If she said she wanted to take the kids to Denver, he would take them even if you were lying unconscious on the floor when they left.”

      Claire blinked. Wow. That was unusual—for her mother to actually criticize her ex-husband. “Even Dr. Murray was happy with the way I’m healing,” she said. “Between the walker and the rolling office chair Alex rigged up for me, I can get anywhere on the main floor on my own and I’m keeping my fully charged cell phone on my person at all times.”

      “I don’t care. I still don’t like the idea of you alone in that big house, especially on a night like tonight.”

      Claire gazed outside at the rain sharply pelting the windows, hurled by the gusting canyon winds. For more than a week, Hope’s Crossing had seen lovely weather, which she’d been forced to enjoy from inside while she recuperated. Today had been overcast and cheerless, though, and an hour ago the wind and rain had started in earnest.

      She had been looking forward to popping a bag of popcorn in the microwave and enjoying the rainstorm by herself, the first time she had truly been alone since the accident.

      She had been home from the hospital for a week and had spent that time constantly surrounded by well-meaning friends. When Ruth wasn’t able to be there, she made sure someone else could stay. Evie or Alex or Angie or one of a half-dozen other friends.

      Claire was grateful for all they’d done for her. Alex had coordinated so many meals that Claire now had a refrigerator and freezer full of food. Other friends had taken her shopping list to the store for her and brought back an armload of supplies and still another coordinated the car pool for the children so Claire didn’t need to worry about getting them to soccer or piano lessons. She knew from her one brief stilted phone call with Maura two days earlier that her friend was receiving much the same.

      Claire was deeply grateful for all the help, but she was desperate for a moment to herself just to think.

      Ruth didn’t seem to agree. “I don’t like this. Not a bit. What if you fall down? You could lie there all night and no one would even know. I’ll just come and sleep upstairs in your room again and you won’t even know I’m there.”

      “I’m not going to fall. And remember, I’ve got my phone with me constantly. If I need help, I can call, email or text someone for help in a second.”

      “Not if you’re unconscious.”

      She held the phone away from her ear and screwed up her eyes, fighting the urge to bang the phone a few times against her head.

      After the past six days, she should be an expert on dealing with overprotective people. Her mother, Holly, even the children had joined in the coddling action.

      “I’ll be fine, Mom,” she repeated. If I trip in the bathroom and break my neck, you’ll be the first one I call. “I’m just going to sit here on the sofa and watch a DVD for an hour and then go straight to sleep, I swear. There’s absolutely no need for you to come over. I know how much you hate driving in this weather.”

      Her mother hesitated a little at that and Claire knew she had pushed exactly the right button.

      Ruth didn’t like driving at night or in snow or rain—a definite inconvenience when one chose to make a home in the high country of the Rockies. If she had to go somewhere during stormy weather, she inevitably would call Claire for a ride.

      “Are you sure?” Claire heard the note of hesitation in her mother’s voice and mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

      “Positive. I’ll be perfectly fine. I’ve got Chester to keep me company and enough leftovers in the house to last me until July.”

      Ruth waffled for a few more moments before she finally caved. “All

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