Arizona Cowboy Read Free Page A

dad. You’ll have to call me Clyde.”
    Mary helped him out of his seat, then nodded at his wife. “All right then. Tell Katie to set you up with Ava. It was good to see you again.”
    When they’d exited, she shut the door and turned toward Ava. “You, my dear, have just received the biggest compliment of any therapist who’s graced our office.”
    She frowned, trying to remember everything Clyde Watkins had said to her. She knew he’d been sizing her up during the session. Though he’d followed through with the exercises Mary guided, Ava could tell he’d paid attention to what she was doing.
    Mary pushed the intercom button to her husband’s office. “Rick, are you in there?”
    His voice carried through the intercom. “Yeah. I’ve got a client in five minutes.”
    Mary pushed the button again. “Can you come here a sec?”
    “Sure.” Within a few moments, he walked into the room. “Is something wrong?”
    Mary smiled toward Ava, who swallowed the knot in her throat. Her boss seemed pleased, but Ava had no idea what she had done. Mary pointed toward her. “Ava will be leading Clyde Watkins’s therapy session next time.”
    Rick’s eyebrows rose. “No way.”
    His wife nodded. “Can you believe that?”
    Rick smiled as he patted Ava on the back. “Your sweet, humble spirit shines through. Mary and I both knew you were the right addition to our clinic that very first interview.”
    Ava’s heart swelled at the sincere praise of her bosses, and she’d done nothing to deserve it. She understood fully why the Millers had more clients than they had time in a day. Their encouragement was heartwarming. “But I didn’t do—”
    Mary placed her hand on Ava’s. “We know you’re a good therapist. You have the education, the recommendations, the references that tell us you know your job. But not everyone has the right heart.”
    Rick added, “Clyde won’t go to anyone but Mary. The old coot won’t even see me.”
    Mary gently elbowed him in the gut. “You’re just jealous.” She turned to Ava. “Seriously, we’ve had interns come and go. Clyde has always said no to their assistance.” She looked at her husband. “We’ve always joked that if we found someone Clyde approved of, we’d keep him or her forever.”
    Rick lifted his arms in surrender. “Guess that means you can stay, but I’m going to have to find other work. The man still won’t see me.”
    Mary giggled as she placed a quick kiss on his cheek. Ava drank in the affection between the two. She’d rarely seen a couple with such open, sincere appreciation for each other. It was what she longed for in a relationship.
    An image of Holden developed in her mind. She shook her head, reminding herself she was at her place of business.
    “I feel very honored.” As Ava spoke the words, thankfulness to God for leading her to this job washed over her afresh.
    Mary looked at her. “Do God’s guiding with a humble spirit, and you’ll never go wrong.”
    * * *
    Holden pushed away from the kitchen table. “Dad, I don’t think I’ve eaten this much for breakfast...” he thought for a moment, calculating how many years it had been since the younger of his two sisters married “...in more than three years.”
    His dad stood, scooping up their plates, and turned toward the sink. “I felt like I was wasting away with that stomach bug for more than a week. I was starving.” He put the lid on the butter. “You do dishes.”
    “No problem.” Holden made his way to the sink and turned on the hot water.
    His father stuffed the jelly, milk and butter in the refrigerator, then turned back to Holden, leaning against the counter. “Listen, I was thinking about riding into town today.” He nodded toward the table. “Read in the paper that the electronics store has those Blu-ray disc players on sale....”
    Holden bit back a chuckle as he nodded. Ever since his sister Traci had bought him a DVD player for Christmas, their dad had become a complete