Chapter 4

Cathy woke up stiff and sore. The effects of her fall were setting in, and she ached all over. She got to the kitchen and started coffee, then went back to her room to shower and wash her hair before she put the ankle wrap back on. She was letting her hair air dry as she put on pants and a t-shirt, then rewrapped her ankle before going to the kitchen.

After a few sips of coffee, she heated up the last of the biscuits and sausage gravy and thought of Duke Talbot with every bite. She couldn’t imagine why someone that good looking was single, but her spidey senses hadn’t set off any warnings that he was bad news. Still, she reminded herself she’d just met him. There could be any number of reasons he was unattached, none of which were her business.

She took a couple of pain pills after she ate, then grabbed an ice pack and went into the living room, covered herself over with a blanket and settled into the recliner with the cold pack on her ankle, waiting for the pain pills to kick in.

* * *

Duke woke just after daybreak, but when he heard rain on the roof, he knew morning chores were going to be messy. He rolled over on his back and began mentally going over the tasks for the day.

He’d still been up when Hope came home last night, and he knew today was her day off, so she was likely sleeping in a bit.

Jack tried to be protective of Hope, but she was just as strong-willed and independent as her sister Mercy, and somehow that became what was most special about her. Lord knows Jack was forever smitten.

Duke sighed. He really didn’t want to grow old alone. He wanted to be smitten, too, but for whatever reason, he’d never found that certain someone. And the very next thought that went through his mind was of Cathy Terry.

He wondered if she’d been able to sleep much last night and if she needed help with anything. He’d left his number with her, but he knew she wouldn’t call, which left the next move up to him, so he got up, showered, shaved and dressed, then made up his bed before he went downstairs to start breakfast. Because of Hope’s work schedule, he and Jack did most of the cooking and cleaning, and Hope kept up with most of the grocery shopping, because she was in Blessings almost every day.

He began by starting coffee to brewing, then stirred up a batch of drop biscuits and put them in to bake before browning some sausage patties. When they were done, he took the meat out of the skillet and made gravy in the drippings.

By then, the biscuits and coffee were done, and he could hear Jack moving around upstairs. Likely, the aromas of frying sausage and fresh coffee were hard to ignore. He cracked a half-dozen eggs into a bowl to scramble, and then poured them in a skillet to cook. He was taking them up into a bowl when Jack and Hope came into the kitchen.