A Time To Heal

“I’d forgotten how much fun we used to have.”

“One bad event can destroy a lot of good memories.”

Kat’s face closed up and she looked away, smile gone. Seth wished he’d kept his mouth shut.

“Hey, look at that sky.”

“I see Venus,” Kat said, focused upward, and Seth was relieved to have skirted the issue that always drove her away. They had never talked about it. The topic of their mistake, their shame, their loss and guilt was like a wall between them.

Was he falling for Kat all over again? Was that what was happening here?

The haunting cry of a whip-poor-will sounded in the woods behind them. He understood the loneliness in that call. Loving had cost him too much, but not loving left him empty.

And under the circumstances, he didn’t know what to do about either one.

MILLS & BOON

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LINDA GOODNIGHT

A romantic at heart, Linda Goodnight believes in the traditional values of family and home. Writing books enables her to share her certainty that, with faith and perseverance, love can last forever and happy endings really are possible.

A native of Oklahoma, Linda lives in the country with her husband, Gene, and Mugsy, an adorably obnoxious rat terrier. She and Gene have a blended family of six grown children. A former elementary-school teacher, she is also a licensed nurse. When time permits, Linda loves to read, watch football and rodeo and indulge in chocolate. She also enjoys taking long, calorie-burning walks in the nearby woods. Readers can write to her at [e-mail], or c/o Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279.

A Time To Heal

Linda Goodnight

“For I know the plans I have for you,”

declares the Lord.

“Plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.”

—Jeremiah 29:11

This one is for you, the faithful readers who buy

my books, who write me letters and e-mails filled

with sweet encouragement. I am grateful for every

single one of you. You are a blessing.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Epilogue

Questions For Discussion

Chapter One

“I’m never going back.”

Dr. Kathryn Thatcher lay in the wooden porch swing, one arm slung across her eyes, her weary body soaking up sun.

She hadn’t been outside in such a long time she’d likely suffer second-degree burn. But the old family home at Wilson’s Cove, Oklahoma, was tailor-made for lazing around, something the career-driven Dr. Thatcher never did. Until now.

Three days and counting since she’d asked her medical director for a leave of absence and walked out. In truth, she wanted to resign, but he’d talked her out of it. Didn’t matter. She was done, finished, through.

Too many dead kids would do that to a person.

“A few days’ rest and you’ll be ready to go again. You’re just tired.”

Kat’s sister, Susan Renfro, sat on the top step of the long wooden porch, fingers laced around one knee, short dark unruly curls gleaming in the sunlight. She’d gained more weight, something Kat was not about to mention, considering Susan had never lost the extra twenty pounds from Sadie’s birth four years ago. Three kids and a love for Southern comfort cooking had destroyed her sister’s former cheerleader body.

Who was she to talk? She’d added a few pounds, too, and her idea of exercise was running from one exam room to another.

“I’m more than tired, Suz,” Kat said, though she couldn’t deny the exhaustion. “Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for the medical profession.”

Memories of that last, terrible night pressed in. Kat shivered, still hearing the incessant rain hammering against the glass E.R. doors as ambulance after ambulance arrived, carrying victims from a five-car pileup on I-35. Thirty-six hours of blood and death, the worst of it being that all the fatalities were teenagers.

“A career in medicine is all you ever wanted, Kat. It’s who you are.”

Lately, Kat wasn’t sure who she was or what she wanted.

Her older sister meant well, but she had no idea what an E.R. physician’s life was like.

Like most girls in Wilson’s Cove, Susan married her high school sweetheart the summer after graduation and settled down around the 700 acre recreational lake, content to raise a family and take care of the family’s rental cabins. She’d never gone to college, much less spent years working eighty hours a week until she was a zombie inside and out. She’d also never had to bear the news to parents that their beautiful, fresh-faced sixteen-year-old would never graduate from high school.

“Becoming a doctor was all I wanted as a kid. I’m not a kid anymore.” She’d gone into medicine to save lives. Lately, all she’d done was sign death certificates.

“Then, what do you want?”

“I don’t know.” There was the truth. She wanted to be happy. She wanted to feel joy. She wanted some intangible something that lacked definition. But if she admitted as much, she’d get a sermon. To her sister, life revolved around faith in God. That was fine for Susan. Religion hadn’t worked so well for Kathryn. She and God had let each other down a long time ago.

“I’m being sued,” she said.

“For what?” Susan frowned and sat up straighter, ready to defend her baby sister. The sight warmed a cold spot inside of Kathryn. That was the great thing about family and one of the things she’d forgotten in her long absences from the cove.

“For being a doctor, I guess. I never even saw the patient, but I wrote and signed a discharge summary for his chart. Therefore, I am as liable for his death as the blood clot that killed him.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Happens all the time.” Another reason she was back in Wilson’s Cove for good. She was tired of fighting the system.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing I can do except let the lawyers duke it out.” And sit by while her malpractice insurance jumped into yet another exorbitant bracket.

“Well, that’s just wrong.”

Kat agreed, resentment boiling up inside her like a geyser. But if she followed that train of thought, she’d have a stroke.

Closing her eyes, she tried not to think at all, a major problem for a woman whose mind never stopped churning. She was always thinking, always working, always planning. Sometimes she wanted to scream for her mind to shut up.

April was here and, oh, how she loved the wild Oklahoma spring. With iron determination, she concentrated on the sights and sounds, anything to wash away the memories of her work in Oklahoma City.

Lilacs and peach blossoms scented the air with gentle sweetness, and the hum of bees and other insects filled the afternoon. A butterfly hovered on one of Susan’s geranium pots, a splash of yellow on fuchsia. Spring meant new beginnings, new growth, the rebirth of nature after a long, hard winter. For a silly moment, Kat wished she could be a tulip or a daffodil, ready to burst into newness.

“Guess who I saw this morning?” Susan asked after a long period of silence.

“I give up,” Kat said, lazily opened her eyes to peer into Susan’s clear blue ones. “Who?”

With a Cheshire Cat grin, Susan tugged at the toe of Kat’s tennis shoe. “Seth Washington. He asked about you.”

Kathryn’s stomach quivered, and she sat up, pulling her foot away. Even though Susan had made a point of keeping her apprised of Seth’s life ever since he moved back to Wilson’s Cove last year, Kat tried never to think about the boy she’d loved in high school.

“How did he know I was here?”

“Oh, come on, Kat. This is Wilson’s Cove. Everyone in town knew you were home fifteen minutes after you stopped for gas at the Quick Mart.”

“Oh.” She’d almost forgotten the invisible information line that zinged from one side of the lake to the other, especially when the news concerned one of its own. The summer people came, camped, fished and left. But Kat’s family had been here long before Wilson’s Lake became a popular vacation spot, had owned most of the land at one time. The locals knew her, were proud of her, too, because she’d gone off to the big city to become a doctor.

Well, now she was back. Wonder what they’d think of that?

“Aren’t you curious about him?” Susan was relentless when she got something into her head. And Seth Washington seemed to be her favorite subject whenever she talked to her baby sister.

“No.” They’d had this conversation before.

Kat finished off an icy glass of Susan’s fresh lemonade to prove how uninterested she was. In the few times she’d been back to the cove, she’d made a pointed effort to avoid the new lake ranger. “Not interested.”

“Liar.” Her sister swatted Kat’s lily-white leg. “I’m going to tell you anyway. Donna down at the Quick Mart says he’s divorced. Has been for a long time, though he kept that quiet at first. He probably never got over you.”

Kat made a rude noise in the back of her throat. “Don’t be silly. That was years ago. He married someone else.”

“So? He’s divorced now. Rumor says his wife left him for another man, and that’s why he quit the Houston police force and moved back to the cove.”

The rumor made Kat’s chest ache. Seth was a great guy, or had been when she’d known him. He deserved better. “Gossip is a sin, sister dear.”

For a second, Kat wished she hadn’t mentioned sin. She didn’t want to get Susan started on the church thing. They’d grown up in a Christian home and Susan had stayed true to her faith. Science and experience had taken Kat in a different direction, and the difference had caused more than one lively discussion between the sisters.

But Susan didn’t go there this time. Instead she stuck out her tongue. “It’s not gossip. It’s the truth. And you want to hear everything I have to say about Seth Washington whether you admit it or not. Even the part about how good he looks in his lake ranger’s uniform.”

Kat rolled her eyes heavenward, though the image of Seth in any kind of uniform was one she’d carried since first hearing he’d become a cop in Houston. But she and Seth had made their decision all those years ago and their painful history did not bear rehashing.

“Did you know his mama has Alzheimer’s? She’s in a nursing home in Tulsa.”

“Oh, Suz.” Seth and his mother had always been close. No doubt her illness was the real driving force behind his return to the cove. “That’s awful.”

“Seth drives up to see her every week. I’ve heard Virgie doesn’t even remember him.”

Kat fought against a tide of empathy and lost. The boy she remembered would be devastated by such a loss. She couldn’t bear to think about it. Not now. Not when she didn’t want to think about Seth at all.

“Is there any more lemonade in the fridge?” she asked, and then pushed off the swing to saunter inside the house, letting the old-fashioned storm door clap shut resoundingly behind her. Even then she could hear her smart-aleck sister’s tsk-tsking.

A moment later Susan was in the kitchen beside her.

Braced for more Seth updates, Kat was slightly deflated when Susan said, “Are you still as inept in the kitchen as always?”

“Yep. But I’m sharp with a scalpel. Could probably surgically dissect a chicken for you.” She made a slashing motion with her hand, à la Zorro. Then she paused in midslash and cocked her head toward the noise coming from the back of the house. “What’s that racket?”

“Probably Shelby and Jon fighting over the remote.”

“Oh, that’s right. Today’s Saturday. I forgot about the kids being here.”

Her sister gave her a long, sad look. “Do you realize how pathetic that is? To forget about kids? To forget about the man you once loved? But to want to leave the profession that you gave all that up for?”

“Don’t start in, Susan. If I’d wanted kids or a husband I would have stayed here in Wilson’s Cove instead of fighting my way into medical school.”

But she had wanted those things. Seth. Children. Susan didn’t know nearly as much as she thought she did. Regardless of the feminist movement and all the other hype, Kathryn had found out the hard way that a woman couldn’t have everything.

“What are you going to do if you don’t go back to medicine?”

Kat shrugged as she reached into the fridge for the big round pitcher filled with lemonade. Freshly sliced lemons bobbed like tiny yellow lifejackets.

She thunked the pitcher onto the scarred pedestal table. Gnaw marks along one edge served as permanent souvenirs from one of the kids’ teething episodes. Knowing Susan, Kat figured she’d never let this table go because of those teeth marks.

“I have investments,” she said in answer to Susan’s question. “Maybe I’ll open a business.”

“Here?” Susan snorted. She took out a bowl and tossed in a half-dozen fat potatoes. “Like what? A bait shop? A snow-cone stand?”

Kat stared at the Colonial-blue corner cabinet, pretending to give the suggestions serious thought. “I haven’t had a snow cone in a long time. I use to love those things.”

“Business is lousy in winter.” They both laughed and Susan said, “The convenience store on Main is up for sale.

“Hmm. No. Too inconvenient.”

They laughed again, feeling silly. She and Susan hadn’t kidded around this way in forever. No wonder she was depressed and burned out. She had no life.

“Here.” Susan shoved the bowl of potatoes at her. “If you’re such a hotshot with a scalpel you should be able to peel these for dinner while I put together the chicken casserole.”

Kat groaned for effect before setting to work. Actually, she didn’t mind helping in the kitchen as long as Susan didn’t ask her to fry chicken or make gravy. Her idea of a home-cooked meal was microwavable Lean Cuisine. The rest of the time she lived on machine sandwiches, and doughnuts left in the doctor’s lounge by drug reps looking to make brownie points.

Other than knowing medicine, Dr. Thatcher was pretty much useless, a grim reality considering her decision to leave the field behind.

Susan, on the other hand, was Miss Susie Homemaker in the flesh. She loved to cook, sew and constantly tried out new ideas for renovating the old farmhouse or the rental cabins. Last year she’d gone into Colonial mode and painted all the cabinets blue. Currently, she was trying her hand at faux finishes. The woman never stopped creating and beautifying the world. It was who she was, a fact that kept Kat from complaining about Susan’s attempts to “fix up” her life in the same way she fixed up houses.

Kathryn took a fat potato from the bowl, challenging herself to peel the spud in one long curly piece.

“I’m moving over to the cabin tomorrow,” she said.

“Did you ask Danny?” Susan’s husband was in real estate and handled most of the rental property around the lake.

“It’s my house.” She lifted a shoulder to scratch her itchy nose. “Why would I have to ask Danny?”

“Because you told him to rent it out. You’re never here.”

“I’m here now.” Kat caught her bottom lip under her top teeth and stilled the flow of irritation. She had told Danny to rent the place. No use getting huffy now. “Is my cabin rented out?”

“Yes, it is.” Slowly wrapping an onion in plastic wrap, Susan turned to look at her. “Is staying with us so bad?”

“You have three kids, Suz. This place is Grand Central Station.”

“But the house is big and roomy. And you could use some TLC from the people who love you and can put up with your arrogant moods.”

“I am neither arrogant nor moody.”

“Ho-ho! And wet dogs don’t stink. This is your big sister you’re talking to. I know all your secrets.”

The thought grabbed Kat right in the center of her chest and squeezed. No, Susan didn’t know one of her secrets. But Seth Washington did.

Kat loved her sister and the noisy bunch of nieces and nephew, but she also needed her own space. After dinner she made excuses and went for a walk to clear her head.

The family home rested more than two hundred yards back from Wilson’s Lake, but the water sounds and smells carried on the breeze. A familiar trail led through the trees and underbrush to the shoreline. Still another meandered to the east toward Kat’s cabin. Without conscious decision, she headed in that direction, curious to see who resided there in her absence. After all the effort she’d put into making the cabin a lovely retreat, Kat didn’t want to live anywhere else. Maybe she could convince the renter to find another place now that she was home.

As she traversed the woods, a thousand other thoughts plagued her. She worried about the effect her abrupt departure from the medical center would have on the other staff members, about the patients she’d turned over to other physicians, but most of all she wondered about the future. As clichéed as it sounded, today was the first day of the rest of her life, and she didn’t know what to do with it. She’d worked too long and too hard to remain idle for any extended period of time.

The old trail hadn’t been used in a while and the blackberry thickets were taking over. Thorny vines, sprinkled with tiny white flowers, reached out and grabbed her exposed legs. She slowed long enough to direct the growth elsewhere, mentally marking the spot for later in the summer when black, juicy berries could become a cobbler. In Susan’s capable hands, of course. Certainly not hers.

As she rounded into the clearing at the side of Kat’s Cabin, as the family had dubbed the two-bedroom cottage, her spirits lifted. Though she spent little time here, she felt better knowing the small A-frame was available when she needed a break. And boy, did she need the familiar comfort of home right now.

The air was alive with spring smells and sounds, but her house was quiet. A bright-red riding mower was parked beneath a drooping mimosa tree in the front yard. Someone had recently cut the grass, but that someone was nowhere to be seen.

Kat craned her head toward the backyard where the fishing dock extended far into the lake. No one there, either.

She knocked and the action felt odd given this was her house. When no one answered, she reached under the top porch step. When her fingers touched the plastic holder, she grinned. The key was right where she’d left it.

Telling herself that she only wanted to check the place out, to make sure the renter was taking care of her property, Kat opened the door and stepped inside.

Nothing much had changed. Her living room furniture, a comfortable mix of favorite pieces, had been moved around to accommodate a big-screen TV. A basket of folded laundry rested on the couch and several magazines were stacked neatly on her maple end table.

Out of curiosity she moved closer, saw the laundry was mostly men’s shirts and socks, and the top magazine was a recent edition of True Crime. So, a guy had rented her cabin. At least he was fairly neat.

She wandered into the kitchen, found the room tidy and clean except for a peanut butter jar on the counter and a butter knife and a glass in the sink. Though she’d had no qualms about entering the cabin, she opted against climbing the steps to the loft bedrooms. A bedroom was personal and private.

Crossing to the rounded row of windows that looked from the country kitchen toward the lake, she peered out. The lake was serene; the fading sun glowed orange and gold across the glassy surface. In the distance a pair of boat fishermen stood silhouetted against the sky, fishing rods arched into the shimmering water. Kat breathed in slowly, deeply, refreshed just to be here. There was something so serene and calming about Wilson’s Lake.

Susan was right. Kathryn needed time to rest and unwind. And there was no place better on earth than her own private, isolated cabin. Whoever lived here would simply have to move. Maybe she could make him a deal. She was willing to help him find a better place and pay the difference in rents. Her mental and emotional health was worth the expense. Money wasn’t a problem. She had plenty of that. As a kid, she’d dreamed of the day she could say those words. But now that she had money, she never had time.

Well, she was taking the time.

Suddenly her tranquility was shattered. The front door banged opened, slammed against the wall and reverberated on its hinges.

Kat’s heart behaved in much the same way. It slammed hard against her rib cage.

A powerful voice yelled, “Put your hands in the air! Do it now!”

Kat spun around to explain, but the words froze on her lips. The biggest gun she’d ever seen pointed straight at her. Her mouth went dry and her knees began to tremble. She slowly raised both hands.

“Don’t shoot,” she squeaked, afraid to move, afraid to take her eyes off that deadly weapon. Had Danny rented her cottage to a serial killer? She started babbling. “I’m sorry. I should have waited for you to get home. I just…”

“Kat?” That quick, the man lowered the gun and stepped from the shadowed living room into the kitchen sunlight.

Kat’s wobbly knees almost gave way.

Standing before her, looking fierce and manly and more ruggedly handsome than she remembered was Seth Washington.

Chapter Two

“What do you think you’re doing?” Grim-faced, Seth slid the Glock into his back waistband. “I could have shot you.”

He stood glaring at her, stance wide, shoulders tense as if he still might.

How did she respond to that?

Blood pounded in her ears, and the metallic taste of fear burned in the back of her throat. Over the years she’d treated any number of gunshot wounds, and she knew the damage a weapon of that caliber could do to the human body. But she’d never had one pointed in her direction. A shudder passed over her.

Seth must have noticed her distress. He stalked across the room, gripped her upper arm with incredibly strong fingers and led her to a chair. She slid gratefully onto the cane-bottom seat. Seth moved away, ran some water and came back with a glass.

“Drink this.”

She obeyed, gulping down the fresh well water in a vain attempt to cool the fire of adrenaline pumping through her blood at Mach-2 force. Fingers trembling against the glass humiliated and annoyed her. She was a confident woman, unflappable in an emergency. At the moment she was a mess.

Seth crouched in front of her chair, bringing with him the woodsy scent of outdoors. Head cocked to one side, he raked her face with hawklike scrutiny. His strong jaw flexed a couple of times and his nostrils flared. She wasn’t sure if he was furious or worried.

A few times over the years, she’d fantasized about seeing him again, but this was one scenario that hadn’t occurred to her. Not even close.