Page 30 of A Twist of Faith
A middle-aged woman, soft curls of gold and silver wrapped back in a loose bun, walked forward with arms outstretched. Before Dee could prepare herself, the woman swept her into the sweetest hug she’d known since Granny Roseland died. Ms. Mitchell smelled of a homespun combination of roses, dishwashing liquid, and fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. Those scents mingled shockingly well together on the right person.
She pulled back but continued to keep her hands on Dee’s shoulders. “I’m just tickled pink you could come today, honey. Now I finally get to meet you.”
Welcome brimmed from Mrs. Mitchell’s smile to her warm touch.
“I hope it’s fine.”
“Fine? Well, it’s plum perfect.” Mrs. Mitchell patted Dee’s shoulders again and then moved to a place behind the kitchen the counter. “I can’t promise you a quiet lunch, not with the crew we got, but I can promise you some good company and …” She winked. “Pretty good food too.”
Dee stepped close to the counter. “If it’s anything like what you’ve left in my office or house, good isn’t a strong enough word.”
“Just wanted you to feel welcome. It’s mighty lonesome moving to a new place all by yourself.”
“One gets accustomed to it after a while.” Dee gripped the back of a nearby barstool and nodded in an attempt to display more confidence than she felt.
Mrs. Mitchell dusted her hands on her yellow sunflower apron. “You’re a tougher woman than I am, Dee. I don’t reckon I’d ever get accustomed to being alone after life with a gang.” She nodded toward the other side of the room. “Here come a few of ’em now.”
“So glad to have you here, Dee.” Rainey walked into the kitchen and linked her arm through Dee’s. “Let me introduce you.” She pulled Dee toward the throng. “Meg, come here and meet Dee.”
A woman by the window turned striking jade eyes in their direction. Her hair fell in locks of mingled shades of dark and light brown, and she rested her hand on the back of a wheelchair, where a young man sat.
“That’s Meg.” Rainey nodded toward the woman. “Her brother, David, is with her. He was born with cerebral palsy. One of the happiest guys on the planet though, no thanks to their parents.” Rainey huffed her displeasure. “Mom’s kind of adopted them since their mother gave them up years ago. They grew up about a mile away with their grandmother. Meg takes care of all of them now. Well, her brother started college this year, so maybe less care of him.”
The look Dee gave Rainey must have held questions.
“Long story,” Rainey replied, golden head shaking. She turned to include Meg with a smile. “Come meet Dee. She’s our new Assistant Chair at the university. Dee, this is Meg Reynolds, secret-keeper extraordinaire and one fantastic nurse. She’s been thego-togirl on questions about Trigg’s health since the ugly fiasco started.”
“Thank you, Rainey.” Meg’s gentle smile matched her voice. “I should probably ask for a raise since putting up with your brother for so long.”
Meg glanced toward a tall, dark-haired man standing by Mrs. Mitchell in the kitchen. Dee recognized him from the picture on Rainey’s desk. Trigg. He looked up from sniffing a pie and showed off some striking cobalt blue eyes, his pale face and lean frame the only indicators of an illness.
“Meg’s telling Dee how much trouble you are.”
Dee shot a look from Rainey to Trigg. Wasn’t he the one with cancer? And that’s how they talked to him? The power in his stance spoke of a man who still held a great deal of strength, like Reese.
He leveled Meg with a steel cold look. “I’m nothin’ but sweetness itself.”
Meg turned back and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Actually, he can be pretty sweet.”
“Don’t say it too loudly, Meg.” Rainey shook her head, warning in her tones. “We’ll never hear the end of it.”
A pink hue bloomed in Meg’s cheeks for a moment. “He knows it already, Rainey. There’s no hiding it.”
Rainey took a few steps toward him and patted him on the shoulder. “We’re celebrating his good report on Friday. The fever had nothing to do with his cancer. In fact, the doctor feels good about next month’s reexamination to prove it. He’s pretty sure all the cancer’s gone.”
“That’s great news.”
“Hey Doc, you came,” a familiar mountain-man’s voice entered the room.
Dee turned to see Reese walk in with a sunny-headed toddler tucked under one arm like a football. The little boy’s trill-like giggle lit the room and zoomed right into Dee’s heart. Oh, what a beautiful child in the arms of a handsome man. She’d never seen anything on earth more endearing … even attractive.
The mountain man had donned a red polo with a pair of dark jeans hugging him at the hips. His trimmed beard and hair gave him less of a grizzly bear-look and more of a Stetson cologne appeal. Dee’s breath hitched. The sight of him combined with the tender look he sent Lou as he passed sent a tremor of warmth through her.
Her entire body tensed to the defense.
She survived research statistics for an entire semester, Dr. Richards’s adult swallowing disorders classandlab, plus the travails of working as Alex Murdock’s research assistant for four years—she could withstand her attraction for Reese Mitchell. Only nine weeks. Besides, what could really happen in nine weeks?
“This here is Brandon.” Reese lifted the boy high causing another explosion of giggles. “He’s about as rotten as boys come.”
