Chapters (62)
- Cover
- Half Title Page
- Books by Katie Powner
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Ads
- Back Cover
“I haven’t had a shift yet this week, but if I’d been at the hospital, I would’ve stopped by June’s room to check on everybody.” Marge fussed with her hair, which frizzed around her face and reminded him of dandelions. Always popping up everywhere no matter what you did to get them under control.
“Uh, yeah.” He didn’t need her checking in or stopping by. “Which department do you work in again?”
“Pediatrics. But I could’ve snuck over to see you.”
He fiddled with the zipper on his jacket. “It’s probably good you didn’t have to make the drive to Ponderosa in the snow.”
“I wouldn’t have minded.” She gave him a steady look.
He looked away. “Well, I gotta—”
“I dropped off a pot of chili, but I wanted to see if there’s anything else you need.” Her smile grew bigger, if that was possible. “Such a scary incident with your mom. I bet you’re glad to be home.” She looked around, and her smile faltered. “Not that you’re home, I just mean, um . . .”
“Thanks.” He tried to return her smile and put her at ease. “That’s nice of you, but we’re fine.”
“Okay.” She crossed her arms, then uncrossed them. Then clasped her hands behind her back. “I was just thinking that with everything going on, you probably haven’t given any more thought to your birthday party.”
“My birth—?” He could feel Ralph’s eyes on his back. “Oh, right. Well, it’s still weeks away.”
“Less than two weeks.”
He opened his mouth but darned if he wasn’t flat-out speechless.
“Anyway,” Marge continued, “I wanted to offer to make your cake.”
“My cake?”
“One less thing for you to worry about. German chocolate’s your favorite, right?”
A birthday cake was not on the list of things he was or had ever been worried about. But she just stood there, shifting from foot to foot, waiting for a response. It was almost endearing. Wait, how did she know his favorite . . . ?
“You don’t have to decide now. We’ll talk again later.” She turned to go. “I’ll let you get back to work.”
As she scurried off, Mitch clamped his lips together and pulled his keys from his pocket. What had just happened? Against his better judgment, he allowed his gaze to slip over to where Ralph stood. Ralph raised his eyebrows, made a show of looking in the direction Marge had gone, then climbed into his truck.
Oh, heck. It was a done deal now. Some kind of story about him and Marge would be all over town by the time he got home from work. And he had Jeremy to thank for it.
THIRTY
