Read Online Annie's Song by Catherine Anderson - Free Book Online

she’d be thin again, and her parents would stop looking at her so sadly.
    Alex had a pounding headache, and Edie Trimble’s shrill voice made the pain explode behind his eyes.
    He sat before the hearth in the judge’s study and wished himself far away from here. A woman’s tears always made him feel a little panicky, probably because he hadn’t been around many females. Maddy, his housekeeper, a stalwart old gal of fifty-three, wasn’t given to tearful displays, and he could scarcely remember much about his stepmother, Alicia.
    “Please, James,” Edie pleaded. “Let me take care of her here. She won’t understand if we send her off to a strange place to stay with people she doesn’t know.”
    The judge raked a hand through his thinning hair and cast a flustered glance at Dr. Muir. “Daniel, say something.”
    The physician shrugged. “What can I say? Edie is absolutely correct. The girl won’t understand, and she’s bound to be upset if you farm her out to strangers.”
    His temper fraying, the judge threw up his hands. “What else can I do?”
    Daniel rubbed his chin. “Keeping her at home isn’t possible?”
    “What of the scandal?” the judge cried.
    “Ah, yes, the scandal.”
    By the physician’s tone, it was abundantly clear he was unsympathetic to James Trimble’s concerns about his political career. Personally, Alex was of the same bent. If Annie were his daughter, he liked to think her welfare would be his first priority, his professional endeavors second.
    “Perhaps I can do some checking around and find a suitable home in which to place Annie,” Alex offered.
    Edie turned tear-swollen eyes on him. Alex pushed up from his chair and braced an arm on the mantel.
    “The ideal thing would be to find a grandmotherly sort to care for her, someone who’d be willing to take Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    Annie in for the duration of her pregnancy. I’m sure that we can find such a woman if we look hard enough.” To emphasize his point, Alex held up his hands. “The girl is only four months along. We have some time to play with.” Looking to Edie, he said, “As for her being confused and upset by a change of residence, there’s nothing to say you can’t go with her and stay until she’s settled in.”
    Edie touched a hand to her throat. She looked to the judge for confirmation. “Could I do that, dear?”
    Trimble nodded. “I don’t see why not. The trouble will be finding such a woman.” Flashing Alex a hopeful look, he added, “If we could, it’d be ideal, the answer to everything.”
    Feeling guilty beyond measure because his brother had caused all of this upheaval, Alex was quick to say, “Leave it to me. Dealing in horseflesh as I do, I’ve made acquaintances in other towns. I’ll begin writing inquiries in the morning and will post them Monday. It may take a bit of time, but we’ll find someone who’ll take Annie in.”
    Edie stepped into her husband’s arms and dissolved into another bout of tears. Though he sympathized with her, Alex was eager to get out of there. Once again assuring the Trimbles that he would begin making inquiries come morning, he escaped into the hall and made a bee-line for the foyer. He was outside on the porch before he realized the good doctor was right behind him.
    “A bad bit of business, this,” Daniel Muir observed.
    To Alex, that seemed an understatement. He couldn’t forget, not for an instant, that Douglas was responsible. “Yes, it is that. God knows, I wish I could undo it, but I can’t.”
    As they descended the front steps, the doctor took off his jacket, hooked it by the collar with his thumb, and slung it over his shoulder. “It’s fair to middling warm tonight, isn’t it? I was about to suffocate in there.”
    Accustomed to working out of doors during the heat of the day, Alex hadn’t noticed the stuffiness. He looked up at the starlit sky. “We could do with some