Free Montana Secrets by Kay Stockham Page B

I’ll be back in a little while with breakfast and we’ll discuss your therapy.”
    â€œI’m not going to therapy!”
    Grace ignored his bellow and shut the bathroom door with an annoyingly soft click.
    Seth cursed and slapped his fist down on the arm-rest of his chair, swearing again when pain streaked up his arm. Stubborn woman. She’d probably stand outside until he was in the shower, waiting to find an excuse to barge in so she could humiliate him.
    He glared at the door and then reached back to turn the lock. A grunt escaped him as he dragged his shirt over his head, ignoring the hamper near the sink and letting it drop to the floor. She wanted something to do? Grace could pick up after him, at least that would give Maura a break.
    The drawstring of his pants hung in his lap in a loose knot. He freed the strings and shoved, tossing his upper body from side to side in the chair, inching the cotton pants down. He had to stop and rest twice, but he finally got the material out from under his butt, wondering more than once why God had bothered to keep him alive.
    He shoved the pants down his legs and yanked them off his feet, sweat dripping off the tip of his nose. His arms shook, his whole body was hot. Even his legs. He leaned back in his chair, out of breath now that the task was finally completed, then groaned as he spied the clock on the wall.
    It had taken him seven minutes to get his freakin’ pants off.
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    O UTSIDE THE BATHROOM Grace watched the clock on Seth’s bedside table, counting the minutes and listening closely as Seth cursed and grumbled and struggled to free himself from his clothing. Finally she heard the shower door rumbling as it slid open and closed.
    Relieved that he’d finally managed, she glanced around the room and froze at the sight of Seth’s rumpled bed. The sheet he’d held on to with such a death grip hung over the side, and despite her will to the contrary, her face heated.
    Moaning, she closed her eyes and shook her head. How embarrassing. For them both. But not unusual, and although in some cases impotence was a problem, maybe it wouldn’t be for Seth. She hoped not, but only time would tell. Spinal injuries in men could take on a number of facets, one of which was the ability to have an erection, but not the ability to maintain one.
    Regardless, that was a subject she wasn’t about to broach with Seth anytime soon, not if she could help it.
    Noting the time, she left his room. In the kitchen, Maura gave her a sympathetic smile but didn’t comment on Seth’s shouting, and the woman’s red-rimmed eyes said all too clearly her morning hadn’t gone well, either. In surprisingly easy silence they prepared two breakfast trays, and Grace lifted one with a murmur of thanks and carried it down the hall past Seth’s room. She put that tray on the card table she’d already prepared in the gym and went back for the second.
    As she entered the kitchen, Grace broke the silence. “Maura, you, uh, might want to take yourbreakfast upstairs and hang out a bit when Lexi wakes up. You know, keep her out of earshot.”
    Maura laughed softly, the sound sad. “Going to be that bad, huh?”
    Grace shrugged, careful to keep the second tray balanced. “Maybe. I honestly never know what’s going to happen.”
    Maura tilted her head to the side, unable to hide the tears welling in her eyes. “If he would just try,” she whispered, her hands braced on the counter. “I keep reminding myself of how much he’s helped us, but we helped ourselves, too, you know? Why won’t he?”
    Grace tried to think of something to lighten the mood. “He’ll get there. If it’s any consolation I’ve had worse patients.”
    â€œReally?”
    She nodded, relating several quick stories about the patients she’d encountered who’d cursed her, smacked her and even spit on her. Her