Free Orchard Valley Grooms by Debbie Macomber Page A

thinking she was the luckiest girl in town to have landed such a wonderful job. How times had changed! How much she’d changed.
    As she neared the hospital, Valerie felt a surge of reluctance. For nearly a week now, she’d practically lived on the CCU floor with only brief visits home to shower and change clothes. It had been a strange week, outside ordinary time somehow. Four years ago, when her mother was dying, she’d experienced something similar. But then her father and both her sisters had been there to share it. Now there were only two—Norah and her. And Colby…
    She pulled into the parking lot and found a vacant spot, then walked toward the main entrance, sorry to leave the sunshine.
    The minute she entered the lobby, Norah sprang up from the sofa she’d been sitting on. “I didn’t think you’d ever get back,” she said breathlessly. “What took you so long?”
    “I stopped at the park. What’s the matter?”
    “Steffie called from Rome. She’s flying home by way of Tokyo. I know it sounds crazy, but it was the most direct flight she could get. She’s hoping to arrive sometime tomorrow night. She wasn’t sure exactly when, but she said she’d let us know as soon as possible.”
    “How’d she make it to Rome?”
    “I asked her that, but she didn’t have time to explain. I told Dad she’d probably be here by tomorrow night.”
    Valerie felt herself relax. Until now, she hadn’t realized just how tense she’d been over Steffie’s situation.
    “Colby wants to see you,” Norah informed her next.
    “Did he say why?”
    Norah shook her head, frowning a little. “You two didn’t have an argument, did you?”
    “No. What makes you ask?”
    Norah shrugged vaguely. “Just the way he looked when he asked for you.”
    “Looked?”
    “Oh, I don’t know.” Norah was clearly regretting that she’d said anything. “It’s like he was eager to see you, but then relieved when I told him you’d gone into town.That might seem absurd, but I can’t think of any other way of describing it.”
    “I’ll catch him later.” For some reason, Valerie wasn’t quite ready to see him yet.
    “I’m sure he’ll stop by this evening.”
    “How’s Dad doing?” Valerie asked as they headed for the elevator.
    “Not so good. His breathing is more labored and the swelling in his extremities isn’t any better. That’s not a good sign. Colby’s doing everything he can to drain his lungs, but nothing seems to work. In the meantime, Dad’s growing weaker by the hour.”
    “He misses Mom even more than we knew,” Valerie whispered, thinking about the snapshots she’d picked up at Al’s Pharmacy. She wondered how often he’d visited their mother’s grave. How often he turned to speak to the woman he’d spent a lifetime with, remembering too late that she was gone.
    “What will we do if anything happens to Dad?” Norah asked quietly.
    A few days earlier, Valerie would’ve rejected that possibility, adamantly claiming their father wasn’t going to die. She’d stubbornly refused to consider it. She wasn’t as unyielding now.
    “I don’t know,” she admitted, “but we’ll manage. We’ll have to.”
    They were seated in the waiting room when Colby arrived. Valerie glanced up from a business publication she was reading and knew instantly that something waswrong. Terribly wrong. His eyes, dark and troubled, met hers. Without being conscious of it, she stood, the magazine slipping unnoticed to the floor.
    “Colby?” His name became an urgent plea. “What is it?”
    He sat down on the sofa and reached for Valerie’s hands, gripping them tightly with his own. His gaze slid from her to Norah. “Your father’s suffered a second heart attack.”
    “No,” Norah breathed.
    “And?” Valerie’s own heart felt as though it were in danger of failing just then. It pounded wildly, sending bursts of fear through her body.
    “We can’t delay the surgery any longer.”
    Norah was on her feet, tears