LITMIR.BIZ

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was the operative word all right. Audra took a shuddering breath.

      “My Realtor has found me a condo at a retirement center in Austin. I plan to be moved out of here by the end of next week. Audra can live there with me until she decides what she wants to do.”

      “Who’s the new owner?” Tom demanded. His surly tone wounded her.

      “A wealthy businessman from Cleveland, Ohio, named Edwin Torney. It won’t be long before he starts building a showplace out on the south thirty.

      “You’ll see workmen coming and going. They’ll be using the road at the side of the bungalow for access. Another mailbox will be put up out by the road.”

      Tom was livid. “Why would he build anything when he’s already stolen this house from us?”

      “Nobody stole anything, Tom. That was going to be my next announcement.” Their uncle looked around at each of them. “I’ve sold the house to Clint. He and Pam are going to live here.”

      One look at Pam, and Audra thought her cousin was going to collapse from shock. Apparently she hadn’t known anything about the transaction. Clint put a loving arm around his wife.

      Thank God, Audra’s heart cried. Bless you, Clint. Bless you, Uncle David.

      “Pam was always your favorite,” Greg muttered. “Why don’t you just admit you gave it to her!”

      Their uncle rose to his feet. “Clint Hawkins sold his business back in Colorado. He was able to pay my asking price. With that money I’ve been able to pay off the loans stacking up at the bank.

      “If any one of you could have done the same, the house would be yours. I gave you the opportunity long before he came into Pam’s life. Let’s all be thankful it’ll continue to stay in the Jarrett family.

      “But let me say this—if anyone deserved to have it given to them outright, it would be Pam. As a teenager she single-handedly took on the responsibilities of mother and sister to the rest of us at great cost to her own dreams.

      “No one ever had a better friend, cook, housekeeper or ranching-accounts expert,” his voice trembled. “No one was ever kinder or more loving and unselfish. I don’t know what we would have done without her. Especially sweet little Audra, who was only five at the time and needed a woman’s comfort.”

      Everyone looked in Audra’s direction. Three pairs of eyes glared at her, but it was Rick’s solemn gaze that shook her. At this point she couldn’t stay seated. After a struggle, she got to her feet.

      With tears in her voice, she said, “No one could have been a better father to us than you, Uncle David. If you’re willing to put up with me, I’d consider it a privilege to live with you in Austin.”

      He smiled and nodded to her.

      “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to dish up that chocolate dessert.”

      Afraid she’d break down in front of everyone, Audra tucked her crutches under her arms and moved toward the door. Footsteps followed her into the kitchen.

      When she turned around, she discovered Rick Hawkins in pursuit.

      “Let me help you.”

      Before she could order him back to the table, he’d pulled the pan of rocky road from the fridge. Pam had already put the plates and forks on the counter.

      Audra rummaged in the drawer for a spatula. With one crutch steadying her, she started cutting the dessert into squares. Darn if her hand wasn’t trembling. Rick couldn’t help but see. He stood too close. She felt suffocated by his nearness.

      “Tell me about the tornado,” he urged.

      “You heard Uncle David.”

      “I was filled with dread by all he didn’t say. Is it still too difficult to talk about?”

      “No.” She started putting the squares on plates.

      “How many years ago did your uncle say it happened?”

      “Twenty-three.”

      “That puts you at twenty-eight now.”

      Yup. Twenty-eight big ones and still single. No doubt the pit babes who swarm around you aren’t a day over twenty-two.

      “How come the tornado didn’t destroy this house?”

      Afraid he wouldn’t go away until he had answers, she decided to tell him everything and be done with it.

      “An F-5 tornado cut a mile-wide swath through the tiny community of Hillmont ten miles from here. It wiped out the town, whole ranches, trees, cars, trucks, houses, fencing, equipment, barns, horses, cattle and thirty members of our family assembled at a church where they’d gathered for a christening.

      “I was just getting over the measles. Since Pam had already had them, she volunteered to baby-sit me and the boys who, according to Pam, balked at going to boring church.

      “Uncle David had a bad cold that day so he stayed home with us. When the services were over, there was going to be a big party.”

      She sucked in her breath. “Everybody going to church left the ranch house. None of them ever came back.”

      Rick’s expression darkened in horror and incredulity. She looked away, not wanting to see any more of his reaction.

      “My parents and siblings were inside the church. So were Pam’s parents and siblings, the boys’ parents and siblings and Uncle David’s wife, his married children and grandchildren.”

      “Good heavens—”

      “Uncle David is really our great-uncle. He was the oldest member of the family and the last surviving adult of the Jarrett clan. He took us all in and raised us.

      “I know it broke his heart to have to make that announcement today. He’s such a good man, and has bent over backward to be fair to each one of us. I don’t think your father could possibly understand how grateful Uncle David must be that this house is going to stay in the family.”

      A lump had lodged in her throat. “T-there’s an old saying that we suffer three deaths in this life,” she stammered. “First when we die, the second when we are laid to rest and the third when our name is never spoken again.”

      Her gaze lifted to his once more. “Your father has ensured that our ancestral home will stay in the Jarrett family for another generation anyway. I love Clint for loving Pam that much,” she whispered.

      Audra continued in a voice that disguised little of her anger. “What I don’t understand is how ungrateful the boys are. They’re lucky he’s been able to leave them any birthright at all. On top of taking care of us all their lives, he took out loans to pay for our college education—”

      She broke off talking.

      None of this was Rick’s concern.

      Embarrassed to have gone on and on, Audra finished dishing up the dessert. “As long as you’re here, would you mind taking these to the dining room?” She handed him two plates without looking up.

      “I’ll be back to help.”

      That’s what she was afraid of. She didn’t want to spend another second in the company of Rick Hawkins, of all people.

      Hopefully, he’d be gone by tomorrow. Audra had no desire to get to know him any better. When you got to know someone, you learned to care about them.

      Who was she kidding? She already cared about him. Until he’d rescued her from her nightmare, he’d only been an attractive face in a series of wedding photographs.

      But a photograph only showed a face and body. It didn’t reveal the total person. Rick possessed layers of desirable qualities that broke down the defenses guarding her wary heart. When he’d followed her into the kitchen to help her, to listen with compassion to all she had to say,

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