Read Online Just Down the Road by Jodi Thomas - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jodi Thomas
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woman like that since Lori Anne died. Sure, he had dreams ofwomen, but they were only fiction in his mind, not real flesh-and-blood neighbors.
Tinch expected to feel guilt for somehow betraying Lori Anne, but he didn’t. Maybe time had washed a little of the married feeling away, or more likely he’d just grown insensitive to the pain. Thinking of Addison was so far away from something that would happen, she might as well have been a fantasy. Even if he wanted to know her better, the doc would never allow that to happen.
Chapter 11
M ONDAY
S EPTEMBER 19
T RUMAN F ARM
R EAGAN SWORE SHE COULD FEEL HER HEART CRACKING as she walked through the rooms of her uncle’s house … her house. She’d tried to sleep most of Sunday after she’d made it home from the hospital, but today she had far too many things to do.
Only, the house seemed to call to her as the shadows grew long. Memories lined the walls of the old place that had been in the Truman family for more than a hundred years. Lifetimes of living mixed with her short time among them.
She thought of her first days here when she’d counted the hours until Jeremiah kicked her out. She’d shown up with nothing in her backpack but a few changes of underwear, a jacket, and a couple of old T-shirts.
Reagan remembered the day he’d given her a roll of money and trusted her to do what was right. Old Jeremiah had been the first person ever to trust her or believe in her. He’d set up a charge account for her at stores in town and told her to spend what she needed and never questioned her on a dime she spent.
She thought of the party when he’d handed her the deed to this place for her eighteenth birthday. He’d said he did it so she’d never have to worry about having a home.
As she picked up the newspaper he’d been reading when he’d had his last heart attack, she gulped down a sob. Reagan had been in the kitchen, but Foster Garrison, the live-in nurse, had been with her uncle when he dropped in pain. They’d rushed Jeremiah to the hospital. Everyone had done all they could to save him, but Reagan knew it was his time to go.
Funny thing was, Jeremiah knew it too. He spent his last days telling her not to overreact and to make sure she got the apple trees ready for winter.
Standing up straight, she realized she’d miss this old man who would always be her uncle even though they were not blood kin. She’d cried every night in the hospital waiting for death to finally come, but she wouldn’t cry anymore. He would think it foolish with all the work to do.
The knowledge of what she had to do, of who she was, settled in around her. She now owned an orchard, and if she didn’t take charge, all the apples wouldn’t be picked, packed, and delivered. Each year for the past four years she’d increased production. Now she had to meet demand or her business would suffer, not to mention all the pies and jelly in the state that wouldn’t get made. Her uncle had loved the trees, but she loved the business of it.
Though she’d come to Harmony as a runaway, Jeremiah not only had taken her in as his niece, but he’d made it legal. As far as everyone in town knew, she was the last Truman. And Trumans, like the Mathesons and the McAllens, founded this town and somehow were responsible for it. And now, unbelievably, she was a part of the history also.She not only had the farm and the business, she also had the town to care for.
Reagan walked out onto the porch and was surprised to see her next-door neighbor, Pat Matheson, sitting in the rocker Jeremiah always sat in.
“Evening, Reagan,” the old woman said. “I thought I’d drive over and watch the sunset with you tonight.” Her hands were almost as wrinkled as Uncle Jeremiah’s had been as she patted the rocker arm with each sway of the chair.
Reagan couldn’t get any words out as she took her chair that faced the west.
The old woman stilled and her fingers covered Reagan’s as they watched the
Tinch expected to feel guilt for somehow betraying Lori Anne, but he didn’t. Maybe time had washed a little of the married feeling away, or more likely he’d just grown insensitive to the pain. Thinking of Addison was so far away from something that would happen, she might as well have been a fantasy. Even if he wanted to know her better, the doc would never allow that to happen.
Chapter 11
M ONDAY
S EPTEMBER 19
T RUMAN F ARM
R EAGAN SWORE SHE COULD FEEL HER HEART CRACKING as she walked through the rooms of her uncle’s house … her house. She’d tried to sleep most of Sunday after she’d made it home from the hospital, but today she had far too many things to do.
Only, the house seemed to call to her as the shadows grew long. Memories lined the walls of the old place that had been in the Truman family for more than a hundred years. Lifetimes of living mixed with her short time among them.
She thought of her first days here when she’d counted the hours until Jeremiah kicked her out. She’d shown up with nothing in her backpack but a few changes of underwear, a jacket, and a couple of old T-shirts.
Reagan remembered the day he’d given her a roll of money and trusted her to do what was right. Old Jeremiah had been the first person ever to trust her or believe in her. He’d set up a charge account for her at stores in town and told her to spend what she needed and never questioned her on a dime she spent.
She thought of the party when he’d handed her the deed to this place for her eighteenth birthday. He’d said he did it so she’d never have to worry about having a home.
As she picked up the newspaper he’d been reading when he’d had his last heart attack, she gulped down a sob. Reagan had been in the kitchen, but Foster Garrison, the live-in nurse, had been with her uncle when he dropped in pain. They’d rushed Jeremiah to the hospital. Everyone had done all they could to save him, but Reagan knew it was his time to go.
Funny thing was, Jeremiah knew it too. He spent his last days telling her not to overreact and to make sure she got the apple trees ready for winter.
Standing up straight, she realized she’d miss this old man who would always be her uncle even though they were not blood kin. She’d cried every night in the hospital waiting for death to finally come, but she wouldn’t cry anymore. He would think it foolish with all the work to do.
The knowledge of what she had to do, of who she was, settled in around her. She now owned an orchard, and if she didn’t take charge, all the apples wouldn’t be picked, packed, and delivered. Each year for the past four years she’d increased production. Now she had to meet demand or her business would suffer, not to mention all the pies and jelly in the state that wouldn’t get made. Her uncle had loved the trees, but she loved the business of it.
Though she’d come to Harmony as a runaway, Jeremiah not only had taken her in as his niece, but he’d made it legal. As far as everyone in town knew, she was the last Truman. And Trumans, like the Mathesons and the McAllens, founded this town and somehow were responsible for it. And now, unbelievably, she was a part of the history also.She not only had the farm and the business, she also had the town to care for.
Reagan walked out onto the porch and was surprised to see her next-door neighbor, Pat Matheson, sitting in the rocker Jeremiah always sat in.
“Evening, Reagan,” the old woman said. “I thought I’d drive over and watch the sunset with you tonight.” Her hands were almost as wrinkled as Uncle Jeremiah’s had been as she patted the rocker arm with each sway of the chair.
Reagan couldn’t get any words out as she took her chair that faced the west.
The old woman stilled and her fingers covered Reagan’s as they watched the
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