Once in this Lifetime

Prologue

“Enough!  I’ve had enough already!  Who the hell are you and what do you want?” Jemma Leigh hollered into the silent back yard when she found a dead kitten on her barbeque rack.  “I can’t go anywhere without looking over my shoulder and now I can’t even cook dinner.”

No answer issued forth from the shrubbery surrounding her fenced-in yard, but then, she hadn’t really expected one.

“Coward!  You’re deranged!  Do you hear me?  Does it give you some kind of thrill to torment a woman and child like you’ve been doing.”

“Mom?  Are you all right?”  Zack’s tentative voice came to her from the other side of the patio door. 

A huge, deep breath to calm herself before she turned to face her son.  “Yeah, Honey.  I’m okay.  But this stalker business is driving me absolutely crazy.”

“What happened?  Not another skunk, is it?”

“No.  This time there’s a dead kitten bleeding all over the inside of our barbeque.  Let’s go down to the burger hut or something.  I no longer feel like cooking.”

“Do you want me to bury the kitty?”

“No, Zack.  This time I’m calling the police.”  Adrenalin rushed out of her in a whoosh, leaving her unbelievably tired and emotionally drained.

She entered the house and reached for the kitchen phone, but before she lifted the handset, it rang, causing her to jump backwards in fear.  Was it her stalker, calling to reinforce the morbidity of his latest dirty deed?  Was he calling to gloat because he knew of her fear?  Had he been waiting and watching just out of sight?  Damn!  Now she was afraid to answer the blasted phone.

Zack saved her from answering by picking up on what had to be the twentieth ring.  “Hello.”

“Yes, Grandma, she’s here.”

“We were outside.  I’ll get her.”

As she listened to the one-sided conversation, she easily filled in the blanks.

“Thanks, Zack,” she said, those two words holding a wealth of meaning as he passed the receiver to her and nodded in reply.

“Mom?  Hi!  How are you?”

“We’re fine.  Just putting in time until school finishes for the year.”

“I think we’re taking an extended vacation.”

“Where?  I don’t know.  We haven’t decided yet.”

“You know why I’ve stayed away.  Why is it so important for us to go home now?”

“Oh, Mom.  I didn’t know.  Why didn’t Dad call me?”

“Yes, of course we will.”

“As soon as I can arrange it.”

“What do you mean, an opening?”

“Teaching?  Grades one to six?”

“Yes, it does sound like a good idea. I’ll think about it and discuss it with Zack.  I might apply.”

“Love you, too, Mom.  Say hi to Dad for me.  Talk to you soon.  Bye.”







Chapter 1

Jemma Leigh had only been back in her hometown overnight and she could tell by the curious looks directed at her and the way conversations abruptly ceased as soon as she came within earshot that, already, tongues were wagging.  Such was life in a small town, but she really didn’t mind. 

On this beautiful summer day in the fresh country air of Sommerville, she sent forth a silent prayer of thanks just to be alive!  She’d come home, leaving her troubles far behind.

When she entered the pharmacy to pick up her mothers’ prescription Jemma Leigh found herself greeted by a gorgeous hunk of manhood, who stood at least six inches taller than her own five feet, nine inches.  Impressive!  His ice blue eyes radiated a glowing warmth as he, in turn, looked her over.  With wavy, blond, shoulder-length hair, and built like a seasoned linebacker, he positively oozed testosterone.  Just her kind of guy, if she was looking, which she was not.

“Good morning.  What can I do for you?” he asked as she watched him complete his own furtive once-over and his gaze came to rest on her face.

“Hi.  I’m here to pick up a prescription for Melissa Harding,” she answered, her wayward thoughts immediately tuned into several possible things he could do for her, most of them unrelated to being a pharmacist.

“I have it right here.”  He resumed his professional role and turned to retrieve the package from a drawer.  “How is Mrs. Harding?  I haven’t seen her in a while.  Is she feeling any better?”

“Not that I can tell, but I only just got here late last night.”

“I thought you were new in town.  Would you be a nurse hired to care for Mrs. Harding?” he inquired.

“I’m not exactly new in town but I’ve lived away for several years.  Melissa Harding is my mother and, although I’m not a nurse I did come back to help out,” Jemma Leigh answered.

“Pleased to meet you, Ms. Harding, is it?”  At her nod, he continued, “Raymond Pierce, at your service,” he informed with a polite smile as he passed her the package and held out his hand.  “My friends call me Ray.”

“Jemma Leigh is fine.  Have you lived here long?” she asked, trying to make conversation while absently noting he had a gentle touch and his ring finger was bare.  Too bad the zing wasn’t there on contact as they shook hands.

“About eight years.  I started here as relief pharmacist right after graduation.  By the time Mr. Ferguson decided to retire, I realized life in a small town suited me.  So I bought the store about a year ago.”

“Life in a small town doesn’t agree with everybody, Mr. Pierce.  I’m glad you’ve found your niche.”

“Please, call me Ray.  Will you be in town long?’

“That depends.”

“On?”

“A lot of things.  But I must be getting back with mother’s medication.  Nice meeting you, Ray.”

“Come again soon,” he urged with a husky note in his voice that hadn’t been there earlier.

The innuendo wasn’t lost on Jemma Leigh.  Acutely aware that he continued to watch her, she prowled the store and picked up a few other things on her list before proceeding to the checkout counter.

“Hi, Jemma Leigh.  I heard you were coming back.”

At the sound of the loud, yet hesitant voice, Jemma Leigh’s head snapped up.  “Well, hello, Stacey.  How long have you worked here?”

“Too long some days.  Welcome back.  You look great; I like the way you’re wearing your hair now.”  Stacey smiled and appeared somewhat nervous.  “I heard your mother’s been sick.  Is that why you’ve come home?”

“Thanks, Stacey.  Mom’s doing okay but they do need some help.”  Jemma Leigh registered the myriad changes in this once popular girl.  “I’m surprised to see you here.  What made you decide to stay in Sommerville?”

“I can’t imagine you’d really want to know, given our past history.”  Stacey finished bagging her purchase.  “Your order comes to $87.14.”

Swiping her debit card, Jemma Leigh answered, “If I didn’t want to know, I wouldn’t have asked but I understand if you don’t want to talk about it.”  She accepted her receipt and exited the pharmacy.  It really wasn’t in her to be nasty or abrupt with anyone, or at least it hadn’t been.  The strain of the past few months had her patience wearing thin and kept her constantly on the defensive.

Everybody had their share of personal problems and their own crosses to bear, even popular girls, like Stacey had once been.  Goodness knew Jemma Leigh had certainly borne hers.  Her parents had tried to pressure her into staying and working in the family business after high school but all Jemma Leigh had ever wanted to do was teach.  They’d had awful rows about it, which finally ended when she left for college that fall.  She hadn’t been home since.

Whew!  Of all the people to run into on her first day back in town.  Stacey Holmes had made her life miserable from the time they’d started school.  She’d often snubbed and humiliated those who she thought were beneath her.  Recalling her current appearance, Jemma Leigh wondered what happened to her and if she’d even left town after graduation.

Walking back through town she was glad to see the school now had a huge playground with colorful equipment surrounded by chain-link fencing with a front gate for easy access.  She noted an adjoining park area with bench seating provided beneath enormous shade trees, encouraging people to stop and sit a spell.  A spectacular water fountain took pride of place in the center of the main area and walking trails branched off in three directions.  Though tempted to stop and explore, duty called.  There would be other days when she could dally and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere.  She’d bring Zack with her so he could meet some of the neighborhood children before school started.

Sommerville Consolidated housed all students in the area from kindergarten to grade twelve.  The district had added a two-story extension to accommodate the extra students that a growing community demanded.  She’d have to register Zach soon so his records would be available when school started in the fall. 

He’d always been a quiet child yet so protective of her.  She hoped his shyness didn’t stop him from making new friends while they were here.

It was just a little over a mile to her parents’ house and Jemma Leigh could have driven into town but decided to walk, hoping the fresh air and sunshine would help revive her flagging spirits. 

She just couldn’t work up any kind of enthusiasm for being back in her hometown after all these years away.  Eventually she was bound to run into a few old friends, but she hadn’t kept in touch and wasn’t sure if she wanted to renew old acquaintances, especially one person in particular.  Jemma Leigh strongly believed she could quite happily live the rest of her life in peace if she could avoid seeing him again. 

Ted Garrity…he’d been her first, her only, love.  He’d let her down, badly, and her heart refused to heal, even after all the years apart.  She felt the loss of his love just as acutely today as she had twelve years ago.  Afraid she wouldn’t be able to hide her feelings from him if they met face to face, she preferred not to see him at all.

Lost in thoughts of the past, she crossed at the corner and a big, black brute of a truck almost ran her down.  As she heard the blaring horn and screeching tires, she jumped to safety, barely in the nick of time, and totally unprepared for what happened next.

As soon as the truck stopped the tall, broad, well-muscled driver jumped out, hurling obscenities and gesturing wildly as he advanced on her.  Frozen in place by the sound of the one voice she would never forget, she barely heard his words as the shock and surprise of seeing him added to the pain in her ankle and had her swooning dramatically at his feet.

* * * * *

Ted darted forward the last few steps and managed to catch the woman before her head made contact with the sidewalk.  He laid her gently on the grassy verge and quickly checked for a pulse, relieved to find it fast but steady.

Had he hit her after all?  He hadn’t thought so.  Thanking the necessity of keeping up a valid first aid certificate, Ted did a quick check of extremities and came away with blood on his hands.  Looking closer, he realized that his fender must have clipped her left ankle.  He discovered a bloody gash surrounded by swiftly swelling flesh.

After calling 911, he carefully removed her sneaker and stocking to expose a swollen but gracefully arched and tapered foot.  He smiled briefly as he noticed the nails colored a deep shade of purple and wondered who this woman was.  He grabbed his first aid kit and his daughter’s fluffy seat cushion out of the truck and wrapped her injured foot, propping it up the best he could to reduce swelling.

As she was still out cold, he decided it would be prudent to check for head injuries.  The thick fall of silken, platinum colored hair reminded him of another woman years into the past.  He was certain that recollection was what caused him to be slow hitting the brakes. When he pushed the wavy tresses off her face, he got his first good look at the woman lying prone before him.

Shock, extreme and paralyzing, held him rigid in its grip as he looked upon the face of the one woman he thought never to see again.  Old memories, hauntingly familiar, assailed him as they surfaced, speeding through his mind one after another, like a film recorded at leisure and played back at fast speed. 

The golden, carefree days and nights of the summers leading up to graduation included long, leisurely walks, picnics at the beach, movies at the drive-in theatre and plenty of time to explore each others needs, wants and dreams.  No one had ever understood him like Jemma Leigh.  His memories brought forth an idyllic time full of love and laughter, yet they’d been destined to come back to earth with a crash.

The approaching sirens broke through his haze of memories in time to avoid reliving the final days of their romance.  With a sigh of relief, Ted got to his feet, more than willing to let the paramedics take over.  If he was correct, and there was really very little doubt, he figured he’d be the last person Jemma Leigh would want to see when she regained consciousness.

He gave his statement and, though free to go, voluntarily hung around, waiting and watching from the sidelines in hopes of Jemma Leigh waking up and being all right…part of him irrationally afraid she wouldn’t wake up at all.

The ambulance attendants worked quickly and efficiently, rewrapped her ankle and placed Jemma Leigh onto a stretcher, which they loaded into the back of the ambulance.  She was still unconscious. 

Ted watched as the ambulance pulled away, sirens screaming.  As there was nothing more he could do, he turned to climb back into his truck and spied the pharmacy bag lying where Jemma Leigh had fallen.  He scooped it up and decided to drop the purchases off at her parents’ house before he picked up his daughter and headed home.

*****

Jemma Leigh woke to a high-pitched wailing sound and tried to sit up but couldn’t, only then realizing she was strapped down in a moving vehicle.  Before she could panic or even give voice to the questions floating around in her head, there was a flurry of movement in her peripheral vision.

One of the paramedics kneeled beside her in an instant.  “Don’t be alarmed, Miss Harding.  The straps are for your own protection.  You can’t be expected to hold on in a moving vehicle when you’re unconscious.”

“Unconscious?”

“Yes.  You were knocked unconscious when the truck hit you at the corner.  Don’t you remember?”

“I remember hearing the truck and jumping back to the sidewalk.  I was standing there, watching the approach of a rather irate driver when everything became foggy.  I don’t remember anything after that.”

“We couldn’t find any signs of a head injury.  Is it possible you just fainted?”

“I’ve never fainted in my life!” she exclaimed.

“Shock does strange things to people, especially when there’s personal injury involved.”

“Shock I can understand, after seeing that monster of a truck coming directly at me, but I jumped clear.  How could there be personal injury?”

“You have a nasty abrasion on your left ankle.  It’s going to require stitches, at the very least.”

“What?  How?” she asked, confused, finally becoming aware of a gentle throbbing in her foot.

“The driver found blood on his front fender.  Your ankle got a good clip before he managed to stop.”

At mention of the driver, Jemma Leigh’s thoughts returned to Theodore Garrity.  The moments they’d shared during high school and summer vacations were still mighty precious, turning her dreams into an erotic oasis on more than one occasion over the years.  Why did she have to have a close encounter with him of all people… and on her first day back, too?  What was he doing in town?  Her mother told her he’d married and lived out west somewhere. 

The cessation of movement brought her back to the present predicament and she gave the paramedic a questioning look.

“We’re at the hospital.  The staff here will have you stitched up good as new in no time.  You’ll soon be on your way as long as there are no internal injuries.”

“Hopefully sooner.  I don’t have time for this.”

“Some things you have to make time for and having that ankle tended to is one of them,” he answered as another paramedic opened the rear doors, helped roll the stretcher out of the ambulance and into the emergency department.  The smell of antiseptic and disinfectant assaulted her nostrils as they wheeled her over to the nurses’ station.

When the nurse came out to greet them, Jemma Leigh stated, “Hi, I need to make a phone call.”

“I’ll bring you a phone just as soon as we have you settled in an examining room,” the nurse assured her.

But as luck would have it, emergency wasn’t busy that day and the doctor arrived as they transferred her from the stretcher to a bed.  He was tall, with short blonde hair and electric blue eyes, extremely good-looking, concerned and gentle.  “Good afternoon, Miss Harding.  I’m Dr. Harrison.  Heard you had a run-in with a truck and the truck won,” he stated, turning a megawatt smile in her direction.

Wow!  She wondered what had happened to draw so many handsome men to this backwater town.  This guy seemed almost too perfect…good looks, a sense of humor and a secure, good paying job at that.  Clueing in to the silence surrounding her, she shot a shaky smile at the doctor and said, “I prefer being called Jemma Leigh.  The truck was much bigger than I was and all it got was a bit of skin off my ankle.  I think the fact that I’m still here means I won that round.”

“Either that, or God isn’t ready for you yet,” Ted quipped sarcastically from where he stood in the doorway listening to the exchange.  “Maybe it was just my excellent reflexes that saved your hide.”

“You always did have a strange sense of humor, Teddy.  You should pay more attention when you’re behind the wheel of that brute.  What are you doing here?”

“Just checking on the invalid.  I was worried when you didn’t immediately regain consciousness.”

“As you can see, I’m fine.  No insurance claims pending, so now you can go.”

“Consider me gone,” and, surprisingly, he left without a good-bye or a backward glance, just as he’d done...

Pain, piercing and immediate, quickly brought her mind back to matters at hand as the doctor examined her ankle.  Physical pain of any kind, she decided, was preferable to the myriad emotional aches and pains brought about by dwelling on thoughts of the past and what might have been.

“Definitely needs a stitch or two but I don’t like the look of all that swelling.  Might be just a bad sprain but I’m sending you to get your picture taken, just in case.”

An orderly, also good looking in a rakish sort of way, arrived to take her to x-ray.  Shortly after their return to the emergency department she was sent to the plaster room for a cast.  Just her luck!  Her ankle was broken in two places! 

Damn truck!  Now what was she to do?  Jemma Leigh had come home on a mercy mission but now had to be on crutches for the next six weeks.  She should’ve hired a nurse for her mother and stayed away.  Nothing good had ever happened to her in Sommerville.

Several hours after she’d arrived, the emergency room nurse was wheeling her to the exit when Jemma Leigh realized she’d have to call someone to take her home.  Her father, partially blinded as diabetes took its toll, had lost his license.  Knowing her mother was way too sick after her chemotherapy treatment to attempt driving a vehicle Jemma Leigh opted to call for a taxi.  She had just requested the use of a phone again when Ted materialized in front of her.

“I thought you’d left,” she stated, her fingers beating a nervous tattoo on the arms of the wheelchair.

“Free country, last time I checked, and I don’t take orders easily,” he answered.  “It goes against the grain.”

“So does your presence,” she said as she reached for the phone the nurse brought over, turned the wheelchair around and tried to ignore him as best she could.  But, oh my aching heart!  Ignoring him was much harder to do now than it had been years ago.  He had definitely grown into one heck of a gorgeous specimen of manhood.  It was all she could do to keep from licking her lips when she glanced his way, her eyes definitely at the wrong height for calming her libido.

“As it happens, I dropped off your purchases at your parents’ house and explained what happened.  Your mother asked me to make sure you got home all right and I assured her I would.”

“I’ll get home without your help, thank you very much,” she replied sarcastically.

“If you’re thinking of calling a cab, don’t bother.  It would take them about half an hour to get here for a five dollar fare.  I can take you.”

“I’d rather wait, even if it means having to pay someone for their time.”

“Stubborn as always, but so am I.  I’m also bigger and stronger so don’t make me resort to brute strength, Jemma Leigh.  Besides, I promised your mother.”

Thinking how sensuous her name still sounded on his lips, she gave her head a mental shake and retorted, “Yeah, and we both know how much your promises are worth, don’t we, Teddy?”

“Give it a rest, Jemma Leigh.  Your mother doesn’t need to have added worry on top of everything else she’s been going through.  Let me take you home.  It’s the least I can do.”

“Ready to do penance, Teddy dear?” she all but snarled, still not over the shock of seeing him again.  “Too little, too late.  But I will allow you to drive me home so my family doesn’t have to worry any longer than necessary.”

“Don’t forget to stop by the pharmacy and get your crutches,” the nurse reminded.

As she passed the phone back, she noticed the amused expression on the other woman’s face and Jemma Leigh knew she’d openly listened to the exchange-taking place.  Heck, it was hard for her not to overhear them, standing as close as she was to Teddy.

“You must remember to stay completely off that foot for forty-eight hours.  We can let you borrow the wheelchair for that long.  Teddy will return it when you’re finished with it, won’t you Teddy?”

Jemma Leigh witnessed a wink and a smile for the nurse as he replied, “Sure thing.  Let’s get going.”  He took control of the wheelchair, wheeling her out through the double doors and across the asphalt parking lot to where he’d parked his truck. 

“Just how do you propose to get me up into this thing?” she asked, slightly miffed that he’d been flirting with the pretty, red-haired nurse and her sitting right there.  She knew right away she should’ve kept quiet when he just smiled and opened the door.  “Oh, no you don’t,” she warned, keeping a firm grip on the arms of the wheelchair.

“You have two choices, Jemma Leigh.  First, you can behave yourself and let me lift you onto the seat in the cab or, secondly, I will lower the tailgate long enough to lift chair and all into the back of the truck.  Of course, even with the braking system in place on the chair, you’d be jostled around and it wouldn’t be too good for your busted ankle, but I’d get you home like I promised.”

One look at his belligerent face assured her he wasn’t joking and as she let go of the chair arms, resigned to her lack of choice in the matter, she allowed Ted to lift her onto the front seat of the truck and close the door, storing the chair in the back.  She felt his presence strongly in the confined space as he got behind the wheel, started the truck and headed toward her parents’ house.  Not a word was spoken during the short journey as she reflected on her own private thoughts.

Being in his arms for those few brief moments had Jemma Leigh tingling in response to the manly muscles she felt as he moved, lifting her easily.  Seated so close to him in the confines of the front seat, she could smell the earthy aftershave he’d always worn.  Damn!  She didn’t want to be attracted to him again.  Why did he have to be so gorgeous, thoughtful and caring?

Pulling up in front of the house, Ted parked the truck.  “Wait here,” he stated before getting out, retrieving the chair and placing it on the front verandah. 

“Wait here,” she mimicked, wondering sarcastically where she was supposed to go and how she would get there.  Both reluctant and eager to be held in his arms again, a little longer this time, she tensed in anticipation as he returned to the truck and opened the door to lift her out. 

She wrapped her arms securely around his neck and held on, relishing the feelings of warmth and security as he lifted her bodily into his arms and carried her across the yard and up three steps to deposit her gently in the wheelchair.  As he sat her down, Jemma Leigh caught on to how his body was reacting to the forced intimacy.

“Nice to know I can still get a rise out of you, Teddy.”

“Great to know you still pucker up for me so nicely, too,” he said, looking pointedly at her pert breasts where her turgid nipples protruded against the thin, summery material of the blouse she was wearing.

He wasn’t even the slightest breath winded from carrying her and, at five foot nine inches, she was no lightweight.  Ted graciously played the gentleman and held the door open while she wheeled herself into the house.  Jemma Leigh turned as quick as she could to close and lock it but realized, too late, that Ted had followed her inside. 

Her cast thumped his shin and a lightning bolt of pain had her holding her breath in an effort to avoid voicing the colorful epithets that came immediately to mind.

“Whoa, there,” Ted laughed as he jumped out of her way.  “You could seriously injure someone maneuvering your wheels that way.”  Taking control of the wheelchair once again, he pushed her toward the living room where her parents were.

“At least my maneuvering didn’t end up with you in a cast,” she replied, then muttered under her breath, “yet.”

“You wouldn’t be in one either if you had paid more attention to where you were going.”

By unspoken agreement, they sparred no more upon entering the living room.  Her father was seated in his favorite chair, a black leather recliner that had seen better days.  He was totally engrossed in a baseball game on television and her mother, always weak and exhausted after a chemo treatment, was dozing fitfully on the sofa.

“Hi, Dad.  I’m home.”  Jemma Leigh spoke softly so as not to disturb her mother. 

“I can see that,” he grumped.  “I’m not totally blind you know.”

“How has Mom been feeling today?”

“How should I know?  She seemed the same as always after one of her treatments.  At least this is the last one for now.  Mind your manners, girl, and offer your man a seat and something to drink.”

“He’s not my man and he was just leaving,” she stated in a rush of indrawn breath and a pointed look in Ted’s direction as he grinned at the spin her father had put on things.

“That’s right, Mr. Harding.  I promised your wife I’d make sure Jemma Leigh got home all right but I can’t stay.  I’ll drop her crutches off shortly, but then I need to be getting home.” 

“Isn’t home a few thousand miles away?” she asked hopefully.

“Not anymore.  I’ve taken the position of school principal here in Sommerville.  I’m home to stay.  What about you?”

“I accepted a teaching job here and came home early to help out while Mom’s recovering but, thanks to you, that’s not going to happen.”

“I’ve got broad shoulders, Jemma Leigh.  I can handle it.  But some of the blame is yours, you know.  Maybe you’ll learn to pay more attention next time you’re out and about.”

He certainly did have broad shoulders, she mused before hearing his last sentence.  “Which should be in about six weeks thanks to the plaster on my ankle,” she huffed.

“You only have to stay off your foot for forty-eight hours to allow the cast to set.  After that, you’ll be able to get around on the crutches.”

“Oh, goodie!  I’ll be able to hobble around and do my chores in no time.  Tell me, Mr. Garrity, do the stores in town deliver?”

“Not that I know of and the name is Ted, as you well know.  Why do you ask?”

“Because I won’t be able to drive until this cast comes off.”  At his puzzled look she informed him, “My car is a five-speed standard shift.”

She watched his expression soften as clarity dawned and he offered, “If there’s anything you need, call me.  I’ll be glad to help out.”

Before she could answer the way she wanted to her father spoke up saying, “That’s mighty neighborly of you, Ted.  We’ll sure need the help now that both women are laid up.  You staying out at the homestead with your parents?”

“Yes, sir.  You have their number?”

“It’s in the book, ain’t it?” Harvey grumped in answer.

“Yes, it is.”

“Then we’ll be in touch,” Harvey replied, turning back toward the television as the game came back on, signaling that his part in the conversation was over.

Ted walked back over to the front door and, stepping onto the porch, his attention returned to Jemma Leigh.  “I’ll be back shortly with the crutches.  Did they give you a prescription for the pain?”

“What do you care?”

“I don’t, but it did occur to me to make the one trip do as you can’t get them yourself.”

“Oh.  Okay.”  Digging into her back pocket she pulled out the prescription and handed it to him.  “I don’t know how much it will cost and I don’t keep much cash on me.  If you can wait a minute I’ll see if Dad has any money.”

“Don’t bother.  I’ll pick it up and you can pay me back later.”

Feeling tired and drained emotionally and physically after her ordeal, she could only nod as he headed for his truck.  But fatigue did not prevent her from noticing how well his jeans fit as he strode down the walkway.  What a derriere!  He’d sure grown up and filled out in all the right places.  Too bad history didn’t bear repeating but there was a little too much water under the bridge to renew their relationship.  Besides, didn’t her mother say he was married when she mentioned him living in Alberta? 

She was still sitting on the front porch, totally lost in her memories and musings when he returned a short time later.  He helped adjust the crutches for her height, passed over the pain medication and turned to leave.

“Thanks, Teddy,” she mumbled, knowing her pain-glazed eyes were registering the strain she was under. 

“No problem,” he stated, “Get one of those pills into you and get some rest, Jemma Leigh.  I’ll check on you later.”

As the truck backed out of the driveway her son, Zachary, came outside.  “Who was that in the truck?  Why are you in a wheelchair?  What happened?  Are you okay?  Is that cast for real?  Can I sign it?”

Laughing for the first time that day, her mood lightened considerably as Jemma Leigh faced her inquisitive son.  “One question at a time, okay?  That man is Ted Garrity and earlier today I stupidly tried to cross the road in front of his truck.  I’m fine but my ankle got clipped when I jumped out of the way and now it’s broken.  So the cast is for real and I can’t put any weight on that foot for a couple days, hence, the use of the wheelchair.  Yes, you can be the first to sign.  Got a pen?”

“Not right now.  Why was he here?  To apologize?”

“No.  He waited around and gave me a drive home because he knew I wouldn’t be able to walk back.”

“He shouldn’t have hit you.  Doesn’t he know how to drive?”

“Of course he knows.  He’s actually a pretty good driver and I shouldn’t have been daydreaming while crossing the road so it’s just as much my fault as his.  Let that be a warning to pay attention when you’re out and about,” she grinned.  “Speaking of which, where have you been?  I expected to see you come running when I got back.”

“Grandpa said if I could swim I could take Rusty and go down to the creek.  I told him I wasn’t allowed to swim alone but I took Rusty for a walk anyway.  I don’t think he gets much exercise, Mom.  He chased after everything that moved then waded into the creek to swim and cool off when we got there.  I didn’t know dogs were such good swimmers.”

“Sure they are.  You must remember learning the ‘dog-paddle’ when you took swimming lessons?”

“Yeah, but I never thought about it much.  Can you take me swimming later?’

“Not with this cast on.  I’d never make it there and back, let alone be able to rescue you if something happened.”

“Mo..om!  I’m a good swimmer.  You said so and so did my swim coach.”

“Yes, you are, but accidents happen and I don’t want you to get hurt.  There’s no lifeguard on duty at the creek like there was at the pool we used to go to.”

“I’m not going to get hurt,” he insisted.  “Besides, what else is there to do around here?  Grandma’s sick and Grandpa sits and watches TV all day.  I don’t have any friends here.  Now you can’t even walk.  Great summer vacation this is,” he pouted.

“We’ll figure out something.  In the meantime you can help me get supper ready.”

“Grandpa already has supper on the stove.  Chicken soup or stew he called it and he’s in there now making dumplings.  What’re dumplings?”

“Dumplings are like biscuits only they’re cooked on top of the stew for extra flavor.”

“Yuck!” he groaned as he made a face.  “Do I have to eat them?”

“You do if you want dessert.”

His little face brightened.  “What’s for dessert?”

“Not much… just your favorite kind of pie.  Lucky for you I made it before walking to town.”

“Lemon meringue?” At her nod he hit her a high five.  “Yay, Mom.  You’re the best!  Let’s go eat,” he stated enthusiastically as he grabbed hold of the wheelchair and spun her toward the door.  “I’ll drive.”

“As long as you can maneuver this baby sensibly, you can drive.  I don’t need any more broken bones.”  Laughing together as they entered the house, trying not to bang her sore foot on the doorframe, they managed to get to the kitchen in time to set the table for their meal.





***This novel is complete if anyone is interested in reviewing/commenting.***