Healing Hearts Read Free

together, to finally finish her master’s degree and become a medical social worker. But nine months ago, she finally did just that. She knew more than anyone the power of animals to heal a broken heart.
    * * *
    Later that evening while his sister slept, Dominic paced the hospital room. This was the last operation—at least he hoped so—the one the doctors said would give Madison a chance to regain her ability to walk. But there was no guarantee, thanks to the extensive damage to her legs. Each limb had multiple fractures from the plane wreck. When the rescuers had arrived on the scene, they had been surprised anyone had survived the crash. His father and second wife hadn’t, along with Madi’s beloved pet, Zoe. All the money in the world hadn’t been able to bring his dad back, and it might not be able to give his sister the ability to walk or run.
    His cell phone vibrated. He strode to the corridor to answer the call. It was the one he’d been waiting for but dreading from the second in command of his clothing and textile company. “Yes, what’s happening?”
    “Not good, Dominic,” Samuel Dearborn said, in a voice full of exhaustion that matched how Dominic felt. “Three of our employees were kidnapped. The rebels are demanding two hundred thousand each.”
    Dominic’s stomach clenched. “We have to do whatever is necessary to get our people back. But this is it. I won’t be threatened again and again. We’re moving the factory back to the United States. We should have done that six months ago when the rebels grew stronger.” But at that time his life had fallen apart, and his focus had been on burying his father and stepmother. Then he had to take care of his dad’s business affairs, especially Winter Haven Ranch, as well as make sure his younger half sister got the care and medical treatment she needed.
    “When will you be able to come back to Houston?”
    “Don’t know. I’m still needed here. Keep me updated.” After Dominic hung up, he leaned back against the wall, the quiet in the hallway not the comfort he needed. But what would that be, exactly? His sister healed? Yes, but something else wasn’t right.
    Was it the situation in Costa Sierra? Maybe. He’d never been totally convinced that had been the best move for his company. The profit levels had gone up, but look at what he was dealing with now. He couldn’t risk any more of his workers being taken for ransom.
    His gaze fixed upon a scene painted on the wall across from him. A little white dog holding a ball in its mouth looking up at a boy. The dog reminded him of Zoe—the dog that had died in the plane crash, the one his sister had been crying about earlier when that woman—Abbey Harris—had visited with her black Lab.
    For a few seconds an image of the social worker flashed into his mind. Her pert face, framed by medium-length chestnut-red hair, had held his attention, but what had kept him looking at her in the hallway were her eyes, looking like swirls of milk chocolate. Inviting. Full of concern. Could she and Gabe truly help his sister?
    A scream pierced the air—a scream from Madi’s room. Dominic raced inside and scooped his sister into his embrace while she lay in bed. “I’m here. You aren’t alone.”
    Madi shook against him, sobbing and clinging to him. It had taken the rescuers twenty minutes to get to her in the plane wreck. She’d been there alone. Trapped.
    The only thing that seemed to calm her was his reassurances that she wasn’t alone, that he was there for her. The few times he hadn’t been, he’d gotten a frantic call from the housekeeper or a nurse at the hospital. That was why he always stayed in the room with her and hadn’t yet returned to his life in Houston.
    “I won’t leave you, Madi,” he whispered over and over until her cries subsided. “Ever.”
    She pushed her hair back, her eyes red, her face pale. “You weren’t here.”
    “I’d only gone out into the hall for a minute.” He sat