Free Lakeside Reunion by Lisa Jordan Page A

know I hurt my arm?”
    Stephen blinked back sudden warmth in his eyes. He cleared his throat. “I don’t know for fact, but I’m sure she does.”
    â€œAm I going to die like Mommy?”
    â€œSomeday, Ty, but not right now. I’m sure your arm hurts enough to feel like you are, but trust me—you’re going to be around for a long while if I have anything to say about it.” Stephen slid an arm under his son’s shoulders and drew him against his chest. He kissed Ty’s hair. “You’ll be with me for a very long time, Ty, my man. Hush while I pray for you. Lord, thank You for medicine and doctors who help us. Thank You for Ty. Please take away the pain so he can sleep. Amen.”
    â€œâ€™Men. Love you.”
    â€œLove you, too, partner.”
    Tyler snuggled closer. His chest rose and fell in a steady motion as his body relaxed.
    Stephen closed his eyes and tried to relax his body so sleep would overtake him. Instead, his parting words to Lindsey kicked around inside his head. Mel had given him an earful when he called to ask her to check on Lindsey. He deserved every word. He acted like a jerk. Lindsey deserved an apology. If she’d let him close enough again to give it.
    But he wanted more.
    He rolled onto his back and flung his other arm above his head. He rapped his hand on the slats of the mission-style headboard. His wedding ring clanked against the wood.
    He fingered the gold band. A symbol of his promise to his wife. The wife he honored while she was alive. But she was gone now.
    Maybe God was giving him and Lindsey another chance. He couldn’t seek a relationship with her while wearing another woman’s ring.
    Sometimes he wished he had a handbook detailing the rules of losing a spouse. When to take off the ring. When to date. How to make his son’s life easier.
    Careful not to disturb Ty, Stephen slid his arm out from under his son and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He sat on the edge of the mattress and twisted his wedding band, remembering the last five years from those first tentative months when Stephen and Bethany had treated each other like polite strangers to those moments when they’d become a family. Picnics in the park, outdoor cookouts and family game nights…they’d worked hard to create positive memories for Ty. Until Bethany’s pain and fatigue confined her to the bed where she’d stayed until her last dying breath.
    He scrubbed his hand over his face, not surprised to find his eyes damp. He loved her. A terrific wife and mother, she’d also become a good friend. Couldn’t he at least be faithful to Bethany’s memory? He needed to preserve her memory for their son. Instead, he wanted another chance with Lindsey.
    Hauling himself to his feet, he strode to his dresser, twisted the ring off his finger and placed it in the bottom drawer of his valet box, next to his grandfather’s watch. He flexed his fingers, and then ran his thumb over the indentation in his finger.
    A mark only time could ease.

Chapter Six
    S omewhere between the haze of sleep and waking, Lindsey had the brilliant idea she could commute between the inn and Shelby Lake. Maybe she could dip into her savings to hire a live-in nurse for Mom—hey, the inn could wait another year for a new roof. Maybe Grandma and Aunt Claire would be willing to lend a helping hand.
    Yeah, right. As if they didn’t have enough to do.
    Okay, so maybe commuting wouldn’t work.
    She tucked the blankets under her chin and rolled over to slide back into the dream she had been having until the commuting idea shook her awake.
    Something wet dropped into her ear.
    Her eyes shot open.
    She flopped onto her back in time to see another drop bubbling from a tealike stain blooming across the ceiling. She rolled out of bed and stood next to it. What in the world?
    The water droplet left a mark in the depression of her pillow.
    Lovely.
    What an