Read Online Mercy by Julie Garwood - Free Book Online Page A

completely isolated. There’s a hospital there on the north side. It’s old, but adequate,” he added.
    “Do your sons live in Bowen?”
    “Remy, my oldest, is out in Colorado. He’s a fireman and still not married,” he added. “He comes home every now and again. John Paul, the middle one, left the marines and moved back to Bowen a couple of years ago; he’s not married either. Too busy, I imagine. He lives in a nice little cabin he built deep in the swamp, and when he isn’t working the bar for me, he’s a carpenter. Last year we opened a brand-new high school, and John Paul helped build it. Daniel Boone is what it’s called. Named after a local celebrity.”
    “You don’t mean it’s named after the Daniel Boone who helped settle Kentucky . . . the frontiersman . . . is that what you’re saying?”
    “That’s the one, all right.”
    “You’re saying Boone lived in Bowen?”
    Jake shook his head. “No, son, we can’t boast that, but legend has it that Daniel roamed the area hunting and fishing. Of course, that was way back in the 1700s before Bowen was even a town. Still, we like to think that Daniel fished our waters and stayed a spell.”
    Theo managed not to laugh. It appeared that the people in Bowen were hard-pressed for local heroes.
    “Where does the name Bowen come from?”
    “It comes from the word
Bowie,
like in the knife.”
    “For Jim Bowie? Did he stop by too?”
    “We like to think he did.”
    “You’re putting me on.”
    “No, I’m not,” Jake insisted. “Of course, Jim didn’t show up at the same time Daniel did. He came years later, in the 1800s,” he said.
    “Are you sure you aren’t getting Daniel Boone mixed up with Davy Crockett?”
    “I sure hope not. The school’s already got the lettering on it in stone.”
    “Is there proof that Boone was in Bowen?”
    “None to speak of,” Jake admitted with a twinkle in his eye. “But we believe it to be true. Now, as I was telling you, the Bowen kids used to have to bus over to the fancy high school in St. Claire, but it just got too cramped. It was past time we had our own. We’ve even got a football team. We were all real excited about that last year . . . until we saw them play. Lord, they’re a sorry lot at best. I never missed a game though, and I won’t miss this year either because, now that my daughter is home, she’ll be going with me. Mike agreed to be the team’s physician, which means she’s got to sit on the sidelines and fix them up when they get hurt. We all know they’re going to get trounced again, but I figure I ought to be supportive of their efforts by showing up and cheering them on. We didn’t win a single game last year. We’ve got some real big boys, but they don’t know what to do when they get the ball. They don’t know how to hit either. You like to watch football, Theo?”
    “Sure,” he said.
    “You ever play?”
    “Yes, I did,” he answered. “High school, and college until I trashed my knee.”
    “What position? You’re tall and thick through the shoulders. I’d guess quarterback.”
    Theo nodded. “That’s right. It seems like a long time ago.”
    Jake had a speculative gleam in his eyes. “You ever think about coaching?”
    Theo laughed. “No, I haven’t.”
    “Mike might be able to fix up your knee for you.”
    “You must be very proud of your daughter, coming back home to open a clinic.”
    “Of course I’m proud of her,” he said. “I’m not going to let her work herself to the bone, though. There are other doctors in St. Claire, and they’ll be taking call for one another so each of them can have some time off now and again.”
    “Why is she doing surgery here in Brethren?”
    “To make some extra money. They call it moonlighting, but she’s finished now and won’t be coming back. Do you like to fish?”
    “I used to, but the last few years, there just hasn’t been any time for it,” he admitted. “I remember, though, there’s nothing like that