Free Time to Heal (Harlequin Heartwarming) by Karen Young Page B

make his own meals, she decided. While she microwaved the bacon and whipped eggs, her thoughts turned to Jake. He’d obviously been reluctant to leave Michael alone with her. She wondered irritably what he’d thought. That she’d say something cruel or spiteful? Surely he knew her better than to think she’d be unkind to a child. Even a child thrust into her life under these bizarre circumstances.
    “Do you want me to put out some jelly?”
    Startled, she turned quickly and found Michaelstanding just behind her. “Oh. Um, yes.” She waved a hand toward the refrigerator. “There’s strawberry and peach. Get them both out.”
    But not grape. The grape jelly was for Scotty.
     
    B REAKFAST WAS a little more relaxed than dinner had been the night before. After Jake showered, shaved and dressed for work, he stopped at the door of the kitchen where Rachel and Michael were setting the table. They worked well together, he decided after observing them a few minutes. Unlike Scotty, Michael responded quickly and obediently to Rachel’s soft directions. Even at six, Scotty had challenged her every command. It was because he sensed her reluctance to refuse him anything, as Jake had pointed out more than once. She adored Scotty, and he had blatantly exploited her love. Jake’s mouth twisted wryly. That shouldn’t prove a problem with Michael.
    They were just finishing breakfast when the phone rang. Jake answered, and before he’d said half a dozen words, Rachel knew it was something out of the ordinary. She got to her feet and began stacking plates.
    “It’s an accident with injuries on the interstate,” Jake said, replacing the receiver. “Maybe a fatality. The dispatcher wasn’t sure. Three units are on the scene, and an ambulance is on the way.” Apossible fatality definitely canceled any plan to take Michael.
    She dried her hands on a towel. “You’d better go, then.”
    Jake turned to Michael. “Mike, I’m sorry. From what the dispatcher said, this one could take a while to clear away. I don’t know when—”
    “Don’t worry,” Rachel told him. “I’ll take him shopping and then, if you’re still tied up, I’ll go with him to school to see about enrolling.”
    Jake sent her a quick, grateful look. “I’ll wrap it up as soon as I can,” he promised. For a second, he hesitated, wanting to kiss her or, failing that, just to touch her. But she’d already turned to the sink. Instead, he squeezed Mike’s shoulder. “Lend a hand with these dishes, son.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Jake grabbed his keys from the counter. With one final look at Rachel, he left.
    Wishing for his own unmarked Ford, Jake got in the big police car that he’d driven home the night before. He’d taken it because he’d seen the look on Mike’s face when he’d spotted it parked in front of the station. It was juiced up and loaded with every available piece of modern police paraphernalia known to man and, to Jake, unwieldy as a tank. Now, gunning the unfamiliar vehicle to a speed that would get him to the interstate as fast as possible, he wished again for his own car. He wasa man who liked the familiar. He also preferred driving an unmarked vehicle. He wasn’t quite sure why. To most of the criminal element of Kinard County, Jake McAdam’s face was as familiar as the president’s, so it didn’t really make much difference.
    Today the demands of his job weighed heavy on him. He hadn’t wanted to leave Michael. Not so much because Mike would be disappointed, but Jake didn’t want Rachel to feel he’d shifted the responsibility for Michael onto her. God, it was such a mess! He felt like a man torn. He wanted his wife, wanted the chance to put together the pieces of their life that had nearly shattered when Scotty disappeared. But he wanted Michael, too. The almost instant affinity he’d felt with the boy grew stronger by the minute.
    Please don’t make me have to choose.
    He rounded a curve, and the accident scene was before