Read Online Small-Town Brides by Janet Tronstad - Free Book Online Page B

jealous or something,” Mandy continued. She sounded like she wasn’t hearing anything Rene was saying. “Just so I’d know he felt the same way I do.”
    Rene gave up. Pure wistfulness filled Mandy’s voice. Being in love could be lonely. Rene knew that. For herself, she was surely missing—Rene stopped. She almost forgot. She should be missing Trace. But the face she wanted to see right now wasn’t his. She had a sinking feeling when she realized the face she was hoping to see belonged to Clay. She was no better than Mandy, longing for something that just wasn’t there.
    â€œHow’s she holding up?” Charlie asked as he walked into the room. He’d gone to make another phone call to the small hospital in Miles City.
    â€œWorried,” Rene said with a smile toward Mandy.
    â€œThey’ll be back soon,” Charlie said as he bent over Mandy. “Then we’ll take you to the hospital. Just as a precaution.”
    â€œI could go without Davy if I have to,” Mandy said with a quick glance at Rene. “He can follow me for once.”
    â€œGood for you,” the older man said as he straightened up and looked at Rene. “You need to eat something, too. There’s more soup in the kitchen. Go get yourself a bowl. I’ll wait with Mandy.”
    â€œI’m fine,” Rene said.
    â€œThat’s an order,” the older man said. “I don’t want to have two patients.”
    Rene had to admit her legs were a little cramped from sitting on that folding chair. “I’ll be back.”
    â€œMaybe you can see them from one of the windows,” Mandy said.
    â€œI’ll look,” Rene said as she walked out of the room.
    She hadn’t let herself think about what it meant that the men weren’t back yet. They obviously hadn’t found Davy right away or they would all be sitting in the church by now warming up.
    Rene walked down the hall and crossed the back of the sanctuary to get to the entryway. She opened the door and walked out on the front steps. The blizzard had stopped and everything was quiet. The sky was growing lighter in the east as the sun started to rise. She looked down the only street and saw the tracks of Clay’s truck. The houses were all white with snow, and the little town looked peaceful. There was no sign in the distance of Clay’s truck coming home, though.
    If there was anything but snow-covered hills around, she would wonder if Davy had taken this opportunity to leave Mandy. It was hard to respect him when he hadn’t already married the young woman. No one needed to wait until Idaho to take their wedding vows. Mandy had assured her that they were both eighteen. There were churches all along the road there and any number of ministers willing to marry them. She wondered if the guy was a complete flake.
    Rene turned around and went back into the church. All they could do was to wait.
    Â 
    Clay was fed up with love. He and Conrad had managed to find the missing Davy just before daybreak and they’d worked hard to bring him back to the road. The skinny kid had cramps in his legs and his feet were half-frozen. Butinstead of letting them put him in the truck, he’d used what little strength he had to walk over to the car he’d almost driven in the ditch just hours before. He stood there and refused to go anywhere until Mandy came back.
    â€œI can’t leave her. I love her,” the exhausted young man said as he held onto the door handle of the car for support.
    â€œShe’s safe,” Conrad told him for the third time, trying to coax him over to the truck. “She’s waiting for you in the church in Dry Creek.”
    Davy looked pathetic, but he didn’t move. “She’s going to have my baby. She’s everything to me. And I haven’t even married her.”
    Clay shook his head. Davy didn’t look any older than Mandy. Both of them were too