Read Online Save the Last Dance by Roxanne Rustand - Free Book Online
Authors: Roxanne Rustand
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though that thought renewed her silent tears every time.
I wish I could go back…do things right. Take back things I’ve said…I’d be a better wife. A better mom.
The silence of the hospital mocked her as she hesitated at the doors once again, then resumed her pacing.
At the sudden ring of her cell phone she nearly jumped out of her skin, then fumbled to pull it from her jacket pocket. Her heart raced as she squinted at the name on the screen.
“Tom?”
“How are you holding up, Kate?” Jared’s law partner’s voice was warm and sympathetic, but she could hear a note of hesitance, too.
“All right, I guess. No—” She shoved a hand through her hair. “It’s awful, waiting to hear. Casey won’t arrive till sometime tomorrow, and Sylvia’s on her way.”
“But no news is good news, right? He must be holding up in surgery or they would’ve come outto tell you by now. I’m just so sorry I can’t be there with you.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to be. H-how’s Neta?”
“She’s doing okay.” The single word held a weary acceptance that spoke of all the trials they’d been through with his wife Neta’s recurring cancer and coping with their three young children. “I hate to keep you on the phone, but thought you should know that a deputy came out to see me tonight. He left just a few minutes ago.”
“About the accident?”
“And about the deceased. We talked at the house, then drove to the office and looked over the planner that Jared keeps on his desk. We couldn’t find anything about an appointment this afternoon. There weren’t any messages on his office phone, either, and his cell was destroyed in the fire.”
Icy fingers clenched Kate’s stomach, sending a queasy feeling up her throat. “You have no idea who that woman could have been?”
“None.” After a long pause, Tom added, “But there’s a lot I don’t know about what Jared is handling now.”
“Me, too. I know the free clinic is a wonderful concept. There’s such need in this county, and it’s great that he wants to help. But, well…”
“We’ve gotten a few anonymous, threatening calls here at the office, and I know you’ve had some, too.” Tom cleared his throat. “I think he’s taking on some difficult adversaries.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” She shuddered, thinking about the hours she spent on near-deserted roads, going out on farm calls alone. The relative isolation of her own clinic and the house…and the fact that Jared was alone in that free legal clinic into the wee hours of the night.
“The sheriff said he was going over there in the morning to check the appointment book.”
Kate swallowed hard. “That woman was probably just a client.”
“Of course—of course she was, Kate. Maybe she was a spousal abuse case who walked in off the street and needed a ride to the women’s shelter.”
But the likelihood of that, with the accident so far south of town, was slim, and they both knew it.
Tom and Jared had been partners since graduation from law school, and he knew about the marriage problems Jared and Kate had been through. His reassurances were those of an old, close friend, but she could hear the overly positive note in his voice.
“The thing now is to just get through this surgery and the recovery,” he added gently. “Right?”
“Absolutely. Everything else can be resolved later.” Kate sent up another brief prayer, begging for that to be possible. “I—I’ll call you whenever I hear anything more.”
“Day or night, honey. Neta and I will be by the phone.”
Kate snapped her phone shut and dropped it in her pocket. A wave of loneliness and sorrow threatened to buckle her knees, and she sank into a nearby chair, wishing someone would walk through the surgical suite doors right now and make the world settle back onto its axis and—
She blinked at the gaunt apparition sitting stiffly in the farthest corner of the waiting room. “ Sylvia. I didn’t hear you
I wish I could go back…do things right. Take back things I’ve said…I’d be a better wife. A better mom.
The silence of the hospital mocked her as she hesitated at the doors once again, then resumed her pacing.
At the sudden ring of her cell phone she nearly jumped out of her skin, then fumbled to pull it from her jacket pocket. Her heart raced as she squinted at the name on the screen.
“Tom?”
“How are you holding up, Kate?” Jared’s law partner’s voice was warm and sympathetic, but she could hear a note of hesitance, too.
“All right, I guess. No—” She shoved a hand through her hair. “It’s awful, waiting to hear. Casey won’t arrive till sometime tomorrow, and Sylvia’s on her way.”
“But no news is good news, right? He must be holding up in surgery or they would’ve come outto tell you by now. I’m just so sorry I can’t be there with you.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to be. H-how’s Neta?”
“She’s doing okay.” The single word held a weary acceptance that spoke of all the trials they’d been through with his wife Neta’s recurring cancer and coping with their three young children. “I hate to keep you on the phone, but thought you should know that a deputy came out to see me tonight. He left just a few minutes ago.”
“About the accident?”
“And about the deceased. We talked at the house, then drove to the office and looked over the planner that Jared keeps on his desk. We couldn’t find anything about an appointment this afternoon. There weren’t any messages on his office phone, either, and his cell was destroyed in the fire.”
Icy fingers clenched Kate’s stomach, sending a queasy feeling up her throat. “You have no idea who that woman could have been?”
“None.” After a long pause, Tom added, “But there’s a lot I don’t know about what Jared is handling now.”
“Me, too. I know the free clinic is a wonderful concept. There’s such need in this county, and it’s great that he wants to help. But, well…”
“We’ve gotten a few anonymous, threatening calls here at the office, and I know you’ve had some, too.” Tom cleared his throat. “I think he’s taking on some difficult adversaries.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” She shuddered, thinking about the hours she spent on near-deserted roads, going out on farm calls alone. The relative isolation of her own clinic and the house…and the fact that Jared was alone in that free legal clinic into the wee hours of the night.
“The sheriff said he was going over there in the morning to check the appointment book.”
Kate swallowed hard. “That woman was probably just a client.”
“Of course—of course she was, Kate. Maybe she was a spousal abuse case who walked in off the street and needed a ride to the women’s shelter.”
But the likelihood of that, with the accident so far south of town, was slim, and they both knew it.
Tom and Jared had been partners since graduation from law school, and he knew about the marriage problems Jared and Kate had been through. His reassurances were those of an old, close friend, but she could hear the overly positive note in his voice.
“The thing now is to just get through this surgery and the recovery,” he added gently. “Right?”
“Absolutely. Everything else can be resolved later.” Kate sent up another brief prayer, begging for that to be possible. “I—I’ll call you whenever I hear anything more.”
“Day or night, honey. Neta and I will be by the phone.”
Kate snapped her phone shut and dropped it in her pocket. A wave of loneliness and sorrow threatened to buckle her knees, and she sank into a nearby chair, wishing someone would walk through the surgical suite doors right now and make the world settle back onto its axis and—
She blinked at the gaunt apparition sitting stiffly in the farthest corner of the waiting room. “ Sylvia. I didn’t hear you
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