Read Online Home by Nightfall by Alexis Harrington - Free Book Online

still tucked in his shirt collar, he jumped up from his chair, tipping it over, and leaned forward, as if seeing something beyond the table that wasn’t there. He held the napkin over his nose and mouth. “Damn it, Whippy, hang on! Viens maintenant! It’s just a little farther—grab my hand. Don’t you worry, I won’t leave you out here!”
    Suddenly, his body jerked as if he’d been struck by an invisible force and he flung up both arms with the impact. He dropped to the floor and slumped against the china cabinet behind him. The dishes in the cabinet clattered and something fell off one of its shelves. Riley looked stunned and puzzled. Then his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness, falling to his side.
    “Oh, my God,” Jessica said, leaping from her own chair. She flew to his side and Susannah knelt across from her. Between the two of them, they straightened him out on his back.
    Around the table, the boys, Cole, Shaw, and Tanner sat staring, slack-jawed, frozen in horrified surprise.
    Jessica grabbed Riley’s wrist to feel for a pulse and put her ear to his chest. “His heart is racing like a rabbit’s.” But his face was drained of color, and except for his labored breathing, he looked dead.
    “What’s wrong with him?”
    Jess shook her head. “It looked to me like he was reliving a bad experience in battle. He even spoke French.”
    Cole, stirred from his initial shock, scrambled to join them. “What did he say?”
    Jess shook her head. “I only know a few words, just enough to recognize the sound of the language.”
    “What the hell is this all about?” Shaw demanded, revived enough to speak. “I thought he couldn’t remember anything. It seems to me he remembers just fine!”
    Susannah couldn’t hold back her frustration any longer. “Old man, for the love of God, just shut up and eat your supper!” she snapped, glaring at the crabbing patriarch at the end of the table. “You’re the one who probably brought this on.”
    “ I did! I was tryin’ to help, to cheer him up.”
    How did he dare wear such an indignant look? “You can see how well that worked.” Acid laced her words. “Don’t ‘help’ anymore.”
    “All right, all right, can we please have some order here?” Jessica interrupted with a stern tone. “We need to take care of Riley.”
    Cole lifted his head. “You boys take your plates and eat in the kitchen. Pop, you go with them.”
    Wade and Josh, eyes still as big as saucers, grabbed their food and ran through the kitchen and out the screen door. But Shawheld fast. “I have as much right to be here as any of you do, sonny boy.” He struggled to his feet and stumped over to them.
    After several minutes of the women patting his face and slapping his wrists, Riley came around, looking groggy and disoriented. He tried to focus on Susannah. “ L’étrangeté? ”
    She took his hand. “What? Riley, I don’t understand French.”
    Jessica interjected, “Did you hurt yourself? Hit your head?”
    “Non…c’était l’étrangeté.”
    “Oh, Riley.” Susannah lowered her head and pressed the back of his hand to her cheek. A flood of compassion and remorse filled her. To be lost in a world where nothing was familiar—how terrifying it must be. She lifted her face again and saw Tanner watching her with an assessing expression.
    “Do you know where you are?” she asked. It was so difficult to see this once strong and capable man flat on his back, almost as fragile as any convalescent she’d ever seen.
    “Are you hurt?” Jessica repeated. She looked baffled, but Susannah could almost see her mind working, searching for a way to deal with this problem, obviously one she had not encountered before.
    “ L’étrangeté? ” he asked again.
    “This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Jess said.
    “In English, Riley, in English,” Susannah urged.
    He frowned at her, suddenly angry. Yanking his hand from hers he barked, “ Chèvre têtue! Je m’appelle Christophe!