Read Online A Match Made in Texas by Arlene James - Free Book Online

injured man whose pride had obviously been as battered as his body.
    Her father had his faith and his family to help him overcome his loss and his health issues, but what or who did Stephen Gallow have? Only himself and his sports agent, as far as she could see.
    Was that why God had brought him here to Chatam House? Of course it must be. She’d already considered the possibility that Stephen Gallow’s sudden presence in her family’s life had to do with a loving God’s plan for her father, but God continually reached out to all of His creation. She must not forget that fact. It was as if God’s love for Stephen Gallow imbued her in that moment. Instinctively, she reached out a hand to him.
    That hand fell upon the covers blanketing his foot, his huge foot. That foot would make two of hers, and yet, she sensed that deep inside he was as lost and troubled as any little boy alone in the world. He might be a gladiator on the ice, but here and now he was a wounded patient in need of a kind, caring hand.
    “Can I get you anything?”
    He shook his head.
    “Are you in pain?”
    “No more than usual.” He flattened his mouth then said, “Not as much as earlier.”
    Accepting that she could do nothing more for him at the moment, she nodded and moved toward the door, saying, “I’ll just take your breakfast tray down, then.” Pausing, she looked back at him. “I could bring you a book. The aunties have quite a library, you know.”
    He lifted his eyebrows at that, but then he shrugged. Kaylie smiled and went out. She was halfway down the stairs, having left the tray in the dumbwaiter, when the new phone in her pocket dinged and vibrated. Surprised, she dug it out and peered at the screen.
    It read, “Sports. Thrillers. Sci-fi. Westerns.”
    She understood that he was telling her what sorts of books he preferred, most likely in the order that he preferred them. Awkwardly, she typed out a return message, pecking at the tiny keyboard with the tip of her forefinger. “See what I can find.”
    She watched as the message went on its way, then she went on hers, shaking her head. How odd that Stephen seemed to find it easier to reveal his tastes in a text message rather than in person. That seemed to say something important about him, something sad.
     
    As Kaylie had told Stephen, Hilda Worth and her husband, Chester, along with Hilda’s sister Carol Petty, had been taking care of Kaylie’s aunts and Chatam House for decades. The aunts considered them family, and since they lived in what had been the carriage house, they were ever-present fixtures about the estate, as much a part of it as the magnolia tree on the west lawn, the rose arbor on the east and the priceless antiques that comprised the majority of the furnishings. None of the family would treat the staff with less consideration than they would allow each other, which was why Kaylie went straight to the kitchen to clean up after her patient.
    That was exactly where Aaron Doolin found her, up to her elbows in the enameled, cast-iron sink. She rinsed the last dish and set it in the folding wooden dish drainer next to the sink before drying her hands on a towel and turning to face him.
    “I thought you left.”
    “Yeah, I thought I had, too, then I remembered to do what I’m paid to do.” He waved a sheaf of papers at her.
    “What are those?”
    Doolin trained his practiced smile on her. “We never discussed salary and what all.” It was the “what all” that made her narrow her eyes. Aaron rubbed hands together. “How does a thousand dollars a day sound?”
    She laughed, thinking it was a joke. “Ridiculous.”
    He grimaced. “Okay, eleven hundred.”
    Oh, now, this was absurd. No wonder Stephen had expected around-the-clock availability. She parked her hands ather waist. “You can’t be serious. What were you paying the last person?”
    “Nine hundred,” Aaron said, poking a finger at her. “What? You think we’re trying to go on the cheap now, pay