Free His Healing Touch by Loree Lough Page A

the door—
    —and froze when the first face she saw belonged to a tall, willowy blonde.
    “Hiya,” the woman said, pushing past Kasey. “So nice of you to include me, last minute and all.” She gave her wad of pink gum a final pop, then giggled.
    “Kasey,” Wade said, sliding an arm around the petite brunette beside him, “this is Marcy. Marcy, Kasey Delaney.”
    “Nice to meet you.” Kasey stepped aside. “Please, won’t you all come in?”
    “It’s gettin’ dark early these days,” said the blonde. “You get many trick-or-treaters in this neighborhood? I imagine you do…all these little tiny houses so close together. I’ll just bet there are five kids in every one of ’em.” The gum went snap, and she giggled again.
    “This is Carole,” Marcy said, once Kasey closed the front door. “We’ve been friends since junior high and—”
    “What’s that…that smell? ” Carole wrinkled her nose.
    Kasey held her breath. She usually didn’t wear perfume, but had decided that for tonight she’d spritz on a bit of her mother’s Ambrosia.
    “What smell?” Wade asked. “All my schnoz detects is something good to eat.”
    Carole shook her head and grimaced. Holding her stomach, she said, “Eww…I hope it’s not something Italian. ” One hand over her stomach, she added, “I can’t do spicy food, y’know.”
    Kasey was doing her best not to meet Adam’s eyes, because it was fairly obvious that Carole had come as his date. The notion hurt more than she cared to admit, considering she’d only met him yesterday. Still, it seemed an insensitive, inconsiderate thing to do—bringing an uninvited guest. But then, to be fair, she hadn’t told him he couldn’t bring his… woman.
    Well, that’ll learn ya, she thought, straightening her back. “Let’s go into the family room,” she suggested, forcing a bright smile, “and I’ll get us all some iced tea to sip while we’re waiting for the—”
    Carole waved a red-taloned hand in the air. “Oh, no. No can do,” she sputtered around the wad of gum. “Caffeine makes my li’l heart go pitter-pat, pitter-pat.” Winking at Adam, she sidled closer to him. “I’m savin’ that for—” she batted her eyelashes suggestively “—later.”
    Kasey searched Adam’s face, hoping for a sign there had been some mistake, that this loud, aggressive woman was not his date. Because she would never have guessed Carole to be his…type. Unfortunately, his lopsided grin told her nothing.
    “Carole’s in public relations. She just relocated here from Washington, D.C.,” Marcy explained, as they filed into the family room.
    Kasey managed a stiff smile. “Congratulations.” And to Adam, she said, “You must be very proud.”
    He blinked. Looked from Kasey to Carole, from Marcy to Wade, then back at Kasey. “Proud? Well…sure,” he said, as Carole snuggled closer still.
    “I’ll get the iced tea,” she announced. “Carole, would you prefer a soda? Or maybe some herbal tea?”
    “Got any wine? Wine I can do.” She winked at Adam. “It makes me… mellow. ”
    “No.” Kasey thought of Aleesha, and the example she’d tried to set for the girl even before becoming her adopted mother. “We don’t have alcohol in the house. Ever.” She wondered if Carole chewed gum to cover up the odor of tobacco on her breath. “No tobacco products, either.”
    Carole sighed deeply. “Okay. I guess I can settle for some herb tea. You got honey? Or do I hafta use sugar? ’Cause processed sugar is really bad for a woman’s complexion….”
    She fought the urge to say, I’ve got honey, honey. Instead, Kasey simply said, “Make yourselves comfortable.”
    Alone in the kitchen, she pressed her forehead to the cool, smooth surface of the white refrigerator. As she had lain on the sofa in his cozy living room last night, she’d considered the likelihood of a woman in his life. But that woman? Surely Carole hadn’t helped decorate the cabin….
    She held her