Read Online The Cowboy's Homecoming by Brenda Minton - Free Book Online Page B

Bethtore the top off the antiseptic wipe and pulled it out for Keira.
    â€œClean the wound and then we’ll put this on it.”
    Keira nodded. She gasped when the wipe hit the cut, but she cleaned it and the side of her face before taking the Band-Aid from Beth.
    â€œThanks, Kenny.”
    â€œMaybe you all should stick around here until the responders can get up there and clear things up a little.” Kenny’s gaze shot past Beth to Keira and Beth knew what he meant. She wondered if that was his idea or the idea of one of his supervisors, someone who didn’t want Keira on hand when they found her husband.
    â€œWe have to go back.” Keira’s voice was shaky. “Kenny, thank you for thinking of me, but I have to be there.”
    Kenny handed Beth the first aid kit. “In case you need it.”
    Beth backed the truck up the same way Jeremy had earlier. She turned and headed back in the direction of the Hanson farm.
    And she prayed, because God wasn’t the dictator that Chance had wanted her to believe. God hadn’t forced her to stay in a marriage that kept her prisoner to a man who beat her and locked her in the bathroom when she talked about leaving.
    God hadn’t wanted that for her. And now she was free. She was free and she knew that God heard her prayers.
    Sirens behind her warned that the emergency crews were on the way. She pulled to the side of the road and allowed the big yellow truck and first responder rescueunit to pass. She followed them up the long, rutted driveway that led to the Hansons’ place.
    When they pulled up to the barn, Keira jumped out of the truck. One of the first responders stopped her. She fought against him, wanting to get close to the barn.
    Beth hurried to her side. “Keira, let them find him. If we stay back, they’ll be able to work more quickly.”
    Keira slumped against Beth’s side. “I can’t do this. I can’t stand here and I can’t breathe.”
    â€œSit down.” Beth eased the woman to the ground. “Slow down, breathe easy so you don’t pass out. When they find Mark, he needs to see you here, waiting for him. He’s going to need for you to be calm.”
    Keira nodded but she was still gasping, still sobbing. And Beth wasn’t going to tell her she shouldn’t be upset. She would be frantic if it was someone she loved in that barn.
    She scanned the area, looking for Jeremy. She spotted him, pulling boards off the building. He’d pulled on leather work gloves and he ripped at metal from the caved-in roof. He turned, as if he knew she was watching. His smile was weary, his T-shirt soaked with perspiration. She curled her fingers around the cuffs of the shirt he’d given her.
    He pulled off more boards and then went down on all fours and crawled into the hole he’d made. Beth wrapped her arms around a sobbing Keira and held her close.
    â€œThey’ll find him,” Beth whispered, to herself and to assure Keira.
    Seconds ticked by and then minutes. Beth glanced at her watch. The tornado had hit more than two hours earlier. She tried not to think about how seriously injured Mark might be and what that amount of timemeant to him. She closed her eyes and prayed they’d find him soon.
    Boards and metal scraps were being tossed aside. Men worked with crowbars and anything else they could find to move the rubble of the barn. Neighbors had shown up to help.
    â€œHere he is.” Jeremy shouted the alarm from somewhere under the pile of lumber.
    Keira jumped up, wobbling. Beth held on to her arm.
    â€œKeira, we have to stay back.”
    They watched as several men ran to join Jeremy, who had backed out of the tunnel he’d made in the rubble of the barn. An ambulance pulled closer. Its blue lights flashed. The crew moved silently, pulling medical equipment and a stretcher from the back of the vehicle.
    The first responders continued to remove the rubble that