Read Online The Accidental Bride by Denise Hunter - Free Book Online Page A

him on the way over. Where’s your daughter?”
    â€œAt a friend’s.”
    â€œPerfect.” He held out his arm. “Your chariot awaits.”
    She looked toward the dusty new pickup and let out a feeble grunt. The paleness of her skin frightened him. He’d pick her up and throw her over his shoulder if he thought she wouldn’t put up a fight and hurt herself worse.
    Plus, the feeling that coursed through him when she willingly took his arm . . . well, that was worth more than money could buy.

10
    D r. Garvin hung the X-ray on the wall and pointed with his crooked index finger. “Right there.”
    â€œIt’s broken?”
    â€œNo doubt about it. See here where this hairline runs . . .”
    No, no, no, she couldn’t have a broken foot. She had a ranch to run—money to raise, somehow. A daughter to feed and animals that depended on her. God, what are You doing? You’re killing me here .
    Shay closed her eyes and breathed deeply. The antiseptic smell choked her. Her foot throbbed despite the painkiller Dr. Garvin had given her. She’d just have to load up on the stuff and hobble around. What choice did she have?
    She could do this. How long could it take to heal anyway? A couple weeks? It was just a tiny little hairline break. The worst of it would be facing the I-told-you-so she had coming from Travis when she left the exam room.
    â€œCan you just wrap it or something?”
    Dr. Garvin’s hand fell from the X-ray, then he pushed back on his oversized spectacles. She’d interrupted his monologue, but she didn’t care about the fifth metatarsal and whatnot.
    â€œYou are your daddy’s girl, Shay. Bottom line, you’ll be in a splint six or seven weeks. You’ll need to stay off the foot for at least a week. After that, crutches.”
    â€œWait, stay off the foot?”
    â€œCompletely off.”
    Ha! And who was going to feed her horses and clean the stalls and put out salt blocks and chase the bulls back to their pen and fix the fences they plowed through?
    â€œI know that’s going to be hard, but it’s imperative that you stay off it.”
    â€œAnd who’s supposed to run my ranch while I lounge around the house?”
    â€œHire it out, Shay.”
    She pressed her lips together. Right. And what was she supposed to pay a hand with—a smile?
    She couldn’t make her mortgage payments now. Not to mention she was running up a medical tab she’d be paying off till she retired unless Dr. Garvin accepted payment in the form of barbed wire baskets. She could only pray he wouldn’t charge extra for off-duty hours.
    â€œListen, I won’t charge you for my time tonight, just the medical supplies and such, if that’ll help you out any.”
    The old feelings came back with a rush. Teachers bringing her a pair of jeans because they’d noticed Shay’s inching upward. The cafeteria cashier setting a milk carton on her tray even though she had no milk money that day. She knew she should be grateful for charity, but she hated it. Hated the way it made her feel, like she was lower than everyone else. Like they pitied her. She hated being pitied most of all.
    Shay ground her teeth together. Oh, to have the luxury of saying, Don’t be silly. Just put it on my tab, and I’ll settle up when the bill comes .
    She pried her teeth apart and forced herself to speak. “Thanks, Dr. Garvin.” The words tasted like wet sawdust.
    â€œNow, let’s get that foot splinted up so you can get home to your girl.”

    Thirty minutes later Shay was settled in the passenger side of Travis’s truck, a packet of information in one hand, a bottle of pills in the other, and a set of crutches in the bed behind them.
    Travis pulled onto Main Street, his thick fingers wrapped around the vibrating steering wheel. She had to give him credit. When she’d hobbled out to the lobby, there hadn’t been one