LITMIR.BIZ

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He’d seen the ugly side of life and experienced more than most kids his age. “Then what’s wrong?”

      “I don’t fit in.”

      Those words, whispered in a raw voice, poked a dagger into old wounds. She had always been the new kid in school. After her family had fallen apart with Kevin’s death and her parents divorced, she and her mother had moved around a lot. “Why do you say that?” she managed to get out, although her throat tightened with buried pain she’d thought she had left behind her. But coming back to her hometown where she had lived for the first nine years of her life had been a mistake. How had she thought she wouldn’t have to confront what had happened to Kevin? Of course, she hadn’t discovered Dr. Jacob Hartman’s involvement with the refuge until yesterday.

      Andy averted his gaze, hanging his head again. “I just don’t. I never have.”

      The pain produced from his declaration intensified, threatening her next breath. She slowly drew in a lungful of rich oxygen and some of the tension eased. “Then maybe we could work on it together. The staff at the refuge has been there since it opened last year. In fact, I just moved here last week.” Cimarron City had been the only place that had resembled a home to her in her wayfaring life. She’d spent much more time here than any other place. Even while attending college, she’d moved several times. She wanted stability and had chosen the familiar town to be where she would put down roots. Maybe that was a mistake.

      “You did?”

      “Yep.” She parked between the two houses she managed—still wanted to manage. This job had been a dream come true—until she realized that Jacob Hartman was involved. “Up until recently, I’d been in school.”

      “Aren’t you too old for that?”

      Hannah grinned. “In your eyes, probably. I had to work my way through college as a waitress, which took longer than normal.”

      Andy tilted his head. “How old are you?”

      “Don’t you know you aren’t supposed to ask a woman how old she is?” she said with a laugh, then immediately added when she saw the distress on his thin face, “But I’ll tell you how old if you promise not to tell anyone. I’m twenty-nine.”

      “Oh,” he murmured, as though that age really was ancient.

      She almost expected him to say, “I’m sorry,” but thankfully he didn’t. Instead, he shoved open the door, slowly climbed from the van, and walked toward the house. Seeing him limp renewed her determination to do well in her first professional job, to help these children have a better life.

      But she couldn’t help thinking: her second day at work and a child in her care had broken a bone. Not good. She would make sure that Andy went to school if she had to escort him every day. She needed to let Laura and Peter Stone, the couple who ran the Henderson Foundation that funded the refuge, know that they were back and what happened with Andy. Hannah looked toward the main house off in the distance, on the other side of the freshly painted red barn.

      The refuge was perfect for children who needed someone to care about them. At the moment there were two cottages but the foundation for a third had been poured last week. The best part of the place was the fact it was on a ranch, not far from town. The barn housed abandoned animals that the children helped take care of. The wounded helping the wounded. She liked that idea.

      Before she went in search of the couple, she needed to check on Andy and the other seven children in the house where she lived. Meg, her assistant at the cottage and the cook, should be inside since the kids had come home from school an hour ago.

      Ten minutes later, after satisfying herself that everything was fine, Hannah trekked across the pasture toward the Stones’ place. When she passed in front of the large red double doors thrown open to reveal the stalls inside, she heard a woman’s light laugh followed by a deeper one. She changed her direction and entered the coolness of the barn. In the dimness, she saw both Laura and Peter kneeling inside a pen with several puppies roughhousing on the ground in front of them.

      “We’re going to have a hard time not keeping these.” Peter gestured toward the animals that had to be a mix of at least three different breeds.

      Laura angled her head toward him. “What’s another puppy or two or three when we have so many? They’re adorable.”

      “Are you going blind, woman?”

      “Okay, they’re so ugly they’re cute.” Laura caught sight of Hannah and waved her to them. “Don’t you think they’re cute?”

      Hannah inspected the black, brown and white puppies with the elongated squat body of a dachshund, the thick, wiry coat of a poodle and the curly tail and wrinkled forehead of a pug. Ugly was an understatement. “I can see their attraction.”

      Peter’s laughter reverberated through the cavernous barn. “I meant that we would have a hard time finding homes for them since they are so—unattractive.”

      “But that’s their appeal. They’re different, and you and I love different.” Laura stood, dusting off her jean-clad knees.

      He swept his arm in a wide arc, indicating the array of animals that had found a refuge at the ranch along with the children. “That’s for sure.”

      Laura stepped over the low pen and approached Hannah. “I heard about Andy. Is he okay?”

      “Yes. Broken left forearm. He told me he’d wanted to climb to the very top of that elm tree you have outside the barn.”

      Laura chuckled. “I’ve found my twins up there more than once.” She glanced back at Peter. “Maybe we should cut it down.”

      “And rob the kids of a great tree to scale? No way! We’ll just have to teach Andy the art of climbing.”

      “There’s an art to climbing trees?” Hannah watched as Peter came up to Laura’s side, draped his arm over her shoulder and cradled her against him. Wistfulness blanketed Hannah—a desire to have her own husband and family. She’d almost had that once when she’d married Todd. Would she ever have that kind of love again? A home she would stay in for more than a year?

      “Of course. The first rule is to make sure you have good footing before you reach up. I’ll talk with Andy.”

      “He’s gonna be in a cast for a few months.”

      “When he’s ready, I’ll show him how to do it properly.” Peter nuzzled closer to Laura.

      “I’m sorry I didn’t realize he wasn’t on the school bus. If I had, he would—”

      Laura shook her head. “Don’t, Hannah. Boys will be boys. I have three, and believe me, I know firsthand there’s little we can do when they set their minds to do something. I gather you took him to see Jacob.”

      The name stiffened Hannah’s spine. “Yes. He got Andy in to see Dr. Filmore, who put the cast on him.”

      “We don’t know what we would do without Jacob to take care of the children for free.” Laura looked up at her husband, love in her eyes. “We’ve taken up more and more of his time as the refuge has grown.”

      “Wait until we open the third home. Before we know it, there’ll be eight more children for Jacob to take care of.” Peter shifted his attention to Hannah. “That should be after the first of the year. Are you going to be ready for the expansion?”

      “I’m looking forward to it. The more the merrier.” By that time she would know how to deal with Jacob without her stomach tensing into a knot. And hopefully she would become good at masking her aversion because she could do nothing to harm the refuge.

      “I knew there was a reason we hired you to run the place. I like that enthusiasm. I’ve got to check on a mare.” Peter kissed his wife’s cheek, then headed toward the back door.

      “Don’t blame yourself for Andy’s accident.” Laura pinned her with a sharp, assessing regard.

      “I’m

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