Read Online Worth the Trouble by Becky McGraw - Free Book Online

he.  After wheeling himself to his room, he grabbed clothes and showered in the master bathroom, on his own, using the shower chair and bars Terri had installed.  He even managed to shave, since Terri's mirror was lower than his mother's had been. 
    Ethan was sore, and grumpy, but had to admit he felt better than he had in months.
    Coming here had been a good idea , he was feeling stronger and for some reason the dark cloud he'd been living under was parting just a little.  It wasn't full blown optimism he was feeling, but it was a helluva lot more than he'd felt since the accident.
    His stomach growled and he put a hand over it and chuckled. 
    Hunger wasn't something he'd been plagued by either since the accident, but all the working out had definitely changed that too.  Ethan towel dried his hair, then tossed the towel into the basket in the corner, before wheeling himself out of the door and down the hall toward the kitchen. 
    Penny the cook had probably already served dinner, and he was late.  She wouldn't be happy.  The ranch hands weren't around, they were out on the trail with the guests, so the only ones at dinner would be family, and probably Roxanne. 
    Anticipation of seeing her again tickled in his chest.   He hadn't wanted to see her again in the condition he was in, but Terri had forced his hand and he was glad now.
    Thinking of her , that night in the hayloft, and the hot kiss they'd shared in the spa had him getting hard again and he grinned.  Everything definitely still worked.  After dinner, maybe he could get her to go on a 'walk' with him and he could taste her again.  Even after the shower, her cherry taste teased him.
    With a smile on his face, he wheeled himself into the dining room.  When he saw only his sister and Joel at the big table, his smile fell. 
    "Where's Roxanne?" he asked nonchalantly and wheeled himself up to the table.  The smell of the meatloaf on the platter in the center of the table teased him and his stomach growled again.
    "You hungry, little brother?"  Terri asked with a chuckle and took a sip of her sweet tea.
    "Famished," he admitted then dished himself up a plate and dug in. 
    "Where's Roxanne?" he asked again when he took a break to sip his tea.   He couldn't quite manage nonchalant the second time he asked.
    Terri dragged her eyes away from his and stared at her plate.  Joel cleared his throat and then told him, "She went to supper with the vet."
    The bite of biscuit Ethan had taken lodged in his throat.  After swallowing a couple of times he managed to wash it down with some tea. 
    "She what?" Ethan asked as evenly as he could manage.  Jealousy wasn't a familiar emotion to him, but he could recognize that is exactly what he was feeling.
    "I saw her out at the barn and she told me she was having dinner with Wes Jepson, the vet , so she wouldn't be up to the house tonight."
    "She date much?" Ethan asked with his fork hovering above his dinner.
    "Not that I know o f...I was kind of surprised too," Joel replied with a shrug then took another bite of his meal.
    "They're just friends," Terri blurted finally meeting his eyes.  Hers held sympathy that he didn't want to acknowledge.  That was the last thing he wanted to see there.  He was damned tired of people feeling sorry for him.
    He wondered if that's why Roxanne had kissed him earlier, she felt sorry for him.  Telling her all that shit about where he was mentally probably made him seem pathetic and needy.  Ethan really didn't know why the hell he'd spilled his guts to her.  All he knew was he damned well regretted doing it now.
    Now that he thought about it, i t was awfully strange for her to kiss him at all.  Considering the cruel things he had said to her, on top of refusing to see her since he'd been here, after their night in the barn, it was a damned miracle. 
    As hard as he had tried to make her angry so she would leave him alone, she hadn't even gotten pissed, and he knew she had a