Free Time to Heal (Harlequin Heartwarming) by Karen Young

in a deep breath before lifting his eyes to hers. “I know that’s not possible.” He reached over and pulled another chair close. “Come over here and let’s try to sort this out.”
    For a moment, she hesitated. Then she tossed the flower away and sat down.
    “I told him I’d get him enrolled in school tomorrow.”
    “He needs clothes, Jake. If those rags he wore today are the best he has, then you’d better take him shopping first and then see about enrolling him in school.”
    “Yeah, I guess so,” Jake agreed with a sigh. He looked at Rachel. “What do you think, a couple of pairs of jeans and some shirts?” Suddenly he got out of the chair. “I don’t know what kind of stuff fourteen-year-olds wear nowadays! The only thing I’m sure about is sneakers. I haven’t seen a kid in years wearing a real pair of shoes.”
    “Clothes are the least of it. It’ll take more than a spiffy wardrobe to make Michael fit in.”
    He glanced at her. “What does that mean?”
    “You saw him at the dinner table. He didn’t think to wash up. He ate with his elbow propped on the table. He wouldn’t have used his napkin if I hadn’t said something.” She stared off in the distance, her expression stony. “His manners are deplorable.”
    “Only because he hasn’t had the advantages other kids have.”
    She shrugged. “Anyway, it’s your problem.”
    “I don’t see it as a problem, Rachel.” Jake struggled to control his temper. “Manners can be taught. He’s a good kid, he’s got a good heart. Andhe’s my son. Hell, I feel lucky that he managed to find me.”
    “Congratulations, then.” Rachel stood up abruptly. “I’m going in. You know where the extra linens are.”
    Jake got reluctantly to his feet. “You’re sure this is what you want?”
    She looked at him. “Does it really matter?”
    “Of course, it matters, Rachel! I don’t want this to destroy us.” The look he gave her was bleak. “We’ve already lost so much. We can work this out, but we both have to make the effort.”
    At the door, she stopped with her hand on the knob. “That’s just it, Jake. I’m not sure there is anything left.” She opened the door. “I’m sorry, but right now that’s the way I feel.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    W HEN R ACHEL WENT into the kitchen the next morning, the smell of coffee was strong, but there was no sign of Jake or Michael. Going to the cabinet, she took down a cup, glancing at the clock. Six forty-five. Jake sometimes went in to work early, but hardly ever at this hour.
    Her gaze strayed toward the hall and Michael’s room, where the door stood open. Taking her coffee, she headed that way. Except for a slightly rumpled look to the spread, his bed was empty. No discarded socks lay on the floor, no articles from emptied pockets littered any surface. There was no sign that anyone had spent the night there. Was he gone? Had Jake changed his mind, decided to take him someplace else? Feeling faintly anxious, she pulled the top drawer open. Inside, neatly arranged, were his meager belongings. She straightened thoughtfully. So he hadn’t gone away like a bad dream with the coming of daylight.
    And Scotty was still gone.
    Lying alone in bed last night, one thing had suddenly become clear to Rachel. She had believedthat nothing could hurt her again, that nothing could touch her emotions, because with Scotty’s disappearance, her ability to feel anything had simply gone away. Wrong. So wrong.
    Jake’s infidelity hurt.
    The fact that it had happened fifteen years ago and that they’d been having some really tough times meant nothing. All night long she’d wrestled with her tangled emotions. Underneath the anger, the betrayal, the seething need to pay him back in some way lurked the inescapable truth: she was hurt. She was crushed to discover that her mate had been unfaithful. Now all that remained was to decide what to do about it.
    She turned on her heel and walked quickly to the kitchen. Opening a cabinet,