Read Online A Gift from the Past by Carla Cassidy - Free Book Online

his shoulders. He had a garden trowel tucked in the back pocket of his jean shorts and hoped if the treasure was around the base of the flagpole at Hazel’s that it wasn’t buried too deep.
    â€œI’m not sure how you got Sarge to agree to start going to physical therapy, but I’m grateful that he’s finally agreed to go,” Claire said. “I’ve been trying to get him into therapy at the hospital since his stroke.”
    Joshua smiled. “Ah, but you were probably using logic and reason to try to get him to go. I merely appealed to his male vanity. I think he has a crush on Mrs. Iverson.”
    â€œNo way,” Claire replied with a disbelieving burst of laughter. “You heard what he calls her.”
    â€œYeah, but I thought I detected a bit of affection in his voice.”
    A tiny thoughtful frown creased her forehead. “Now that you mention it, Wilma is always doing little things for Sarge. Although she constantly tells him he’s a crabby old coot.”
    â€œHer husband passed away before I left Mayfield. She’s been alone a long time. Maybe there’s a bit of romance blooming.”
    For a few minutes they walked in silence down the shade-dappled walk toward Hazel’s property. Joshua found himself thinking about the kiss they’d shared the night before. It had been everything he remembered…and more.
    Someplace in the back of his mind, he’d thought that kissing her again would somehow release him from his memories of the past—finally and forever release him from her. But there had been no release. Rather, the kiss had merely served to deepen his ambivalence where she was concerned.
    He wanted her, but after five years of abstinence, was that really so strange? Anyway, even after all this time, the thought of making love to anyone other than Claire seemed alien and somehow wrong.
    He couldn’t quite imagine what life would be like if he tried to get back with her, nor could he quite imagine what his future would be like without her in it.
    â€œYou’ve gotten very quiet,” she said, breaking into his thoughts.
    â€œJust thinking,” he said.
    He wondered what would happen if he said his name? In the days that he’d been back in Mayfield staying with Claire, neither of them had spoken his name once.
    He gazed at her, as always enjoying the play of sunshine in her beautiful hair. “Do you think about him, Claire?” he asked softly.
    Her footsteps faltered just enough for him to know she knew exactly who he meant. He held his breath, unsure if he should expect some sort of an explosion.
    There was a long moment of silence, then she expelled a tiny sigh. “I think of Sammy every day,” she finally replied. The name hung in the air, bringing with it memories of both incredible joy and indescribable pain.
    â€œI wake up in the morning,” she continued, “and in that instant before full awakeness grips me, I find myself listening for him.”
    Joshua reached out and took her hand in his. For a second he thought she was going to pull her hand away. Instead her fingers entwined with his, but she kept her gaze averted from him.
    â€œI remember how first thing in the morning he’d stand up in his crib and yell ‘Dada.’”
    â€œMama,” she countered, a ghost of a smile curving her lips. “He’d shout ‘Mama.’”
    It was an ancient argument, a bantering from the past that had always been delivered good-naturedly. Nearly every morning for the two years of Sammy’s life, Joshua and Claire had each tried to take possession of Sammy’s words.
    â€œYou remember the morning he fell out of bed?” She looked at him, her eyes shining.
    How well Joshua remembered that morning. He and Claire had been indulging in a bout of pre-dawn lovemaking when they’d heard a thud. Horrified, the two of them had raced from their bedroom into Sammy’s, terrified of