One More Dance by Roxanne Rustand (best ebook reader for pc txt) 📗

“Casey. He’s stable now. He’s doing fine. It was just a coincidence,” Kate soothed. “If anything, your voice would’ve helped him get through that crisis. Believe me. You mean everything in the world to your father and me, and nothing you could ever do would change that fact. Understand? Nothing.”

Tears spilled down Casey’s cheeks, and she shook her head slowly, her eyes filling with despair.

Kate led her over to the chairs in the far corner of the room and sat next to her, still holding her hand. “Do you want to tell me?”

Casey bowed her head, her silky blond hair falling in a curtain that hid her face.

“If we just get this over with, you’re going to feel better. I promise.”

“B-but it’s Dad who’s important right now, not me.”

“Casey...” Kate gently lifted her daughter’s chin. “Look at me. If you’re in any kind of trouble, we’ll do whatever it takes to help you.”

“You and Dad both achieved so much in school. I knew I needed to do something really good with my life, too.” Casey swallowed hard. “I didn’t want to ever disappoint you. Especially since I got to live, and your only son didn’t.”

A chill swept through Kate at her precious daughter’s revelation. Had she felt guilty about being a survivor all this time? “We would have loved Collin with our whole hearts, just like we love you. But you had nothing to do with his death. It was a fluke. You don’t have to replace him or be anything different because he didn’t survive.”

More tears trailed down Casey’s cheeks. “I—I just can’t do it anymore.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I wanted to go to medical school s-so you’d be proud of me. But I study day and n-night, and I still don’t have a 4.0. And I—I just got my final grades back in chemistry and physics, and they weren’t anywhere close. But I’ll retake the classes, I promise. And I’ll do better.”

“Oh, honey. This isn’t a tragedy. We only encouraged you because that’s what you said you wanted.” Kate felt her own eyes burn at her daughter’s obvious pain and disappointment. “We want you to follow your heart, and do what makes you happiest. If med school isn’t what you want, we wouldn’t dream of encouraging you to try.”

“R-really?”

“And the next time your dad wakes up, I promise that he’ll say the exact same thing. Cross my heart.”

JARED AWOKE WHEN KATE returned from the sheriff’s office an hour later. “I hear there was some excitement up here,” he rasped.

She took the chair next to his bed. “A little more than I like, believe me. How’re you doing?”

“Not as groggy.” He nodded toward an IV stand that had been brought into the room while Kate was gone. “They’ve brought me a PCA pump so I can control the pain meds myself.”

She reached for his hand. “I’m just so thankful to see you awake. Sylvia and Casey will be back in a half hour or so—they’ve been worried, too.”

“Casey’s here? And my mother?”

“And your sister’s plane gets in late tomorrow morning, though she’s on standby hoping for an earlier flight. Believe me, you gave us quite a scare. Are you up to hearing about it?”

Jared nodded. “I don’t remember much from the last couple days. Just bits and pieces.”

“Do you remember Patty coming to the legal clinic?”

He frowned, thinking back. “She wanted a restraining order and a divorce.”

Kate nodded. “The sheriff has interrogated her husband. He found out that Clark had threatened to kill her, so apparently she came back to you yesterday, pleading for help to get to her sister’s place down in Madison.”

“I remember...” He rolled his head against the pillow in frustration. “I remember she’d been shot, but she refused to go to the sheriff or a hospital. Said she needed distance fast or she’d be dead for sure. She planned to contact the authorities in Madison.”

“Clark confessed to breaking into my clinic and making the threatening phone calls. He was furious when he found his wife was seeking legal advice from you, and he was on a quest for revenge. He also confessed to shooting Patty and to running your SUV off the road. He seems to have a pretty strong policy about not leaving any witnesses alive.”

“Careful guy.”

“Until he wiped and ditched his unregistered throw gun after he shot her. That was the weapon she grabbed and brought with her. Another mistake was letting me make a final phone call to the clinic. Amy caught on and alerted the sheriff’s department.”

“Smart girl.”

Kate could see he was wearing out fast. “I’d better let you rest.”

“I need...I need to tell you something.” He gritted his teeth and paled, then eyed the analgesia machine, letting the delivery push button drop out of his hand. “Things have been hard. My fault. I decided...you’re right. It’s not fair...to you. Not anymore. I’m closing the legal clinic.”

These were the words she’d longed to hear for the past six months, maybe longer. If the clinic closed, there’d finally be a chance for them to spend more time together. There’d be freedom from the fear that gripped her heart whenever he worked there late at night.

And yet, it was totally wrong.

“You’d do that for me?” She’d been in love with him almost since the day they’d met, but now she felt that love radiate through her with even greater power, warm and deep and steady. A bond that would last for an eternity and beyond. How could she ever have doubted him?

He held her gaze with his. “It’s the right thing to do. For us.”

She shook her head. “I can’t let you do it, unless it’s really, truly what you want,” she said quietly. “That place has been your heart and soul. It has meant more to you than anything else in your career, and I won’t ask you to be less than the man you are.”

“Come