Healing Her Spirit (Serenity Springs Book 2) Read Free

beat when she looked back in his direction.  She had always had that effect on him.  “Why won’t you take the pain medicine the doctors prescribed you?” she demanded.  Damn, he loved the fire in her eyes.
    Narrowing his gaze, Clint asked, “How do you know I’m not taking them?”  She was right, he wasn’t.  He had not touched them after the first few days.  He hated the way they made him feel groggy and loopy.  He needed to be in control of his body and his actions.
    “You wouldn’t be hurting the way you are now if you were taking something for it,” Lacey answered as she turned to look out the window.  “Men can be so stubborn sometimes.” 
    Watching Lacey, it hit Clint hard that he had somehow lost any chance he had of showing this amazing woman how he really felt about her.  Clint had spent the majority of the past year pursuing Lacey.  It started out with having a cup of coffee at the diner one morning when he went to school early.  After the first couple of times sharing a booth with her in the crowded diner, it had become a habit.  Then Clint happened to see Lacey with her son, Ethan, at the park one evening while out for a jog.  He spent the next hour talking to Lacey while Ethan played on the playground.  Running into each other at different places became somewhat of a game to them.  If they happened to see each other, they would start a casual conversation which would end up in an hour long discussion. 
    Lacey had become his obsession until just three months into their relationship, if you could call what they had shared a relationship.  One night while sitting on the park bench, Clint had made the mistake of picking up Lacey’s hand, lightly running his fingers over her palm.  Looking at her, it felt like he was drowning in her heart-stopping gaze.  Thinking it was finally the right time to show her how he really felt about her, Clint leaned in and lightly brushed her lips with his own.  When she gasped in surprise, he pulled back and froze at the shocked expression on her face.  As Clint watched, Lacey gently pulled her hand out of his and stood.  Calling to Ethan, she told Clint goodbye quickly before leaving with her son. 
    Lacey had suddenly changed her normal routine and stopped appearing in the same places around the same times like she normally did.  The one time Clint had seen her at the diner, she got up from the table when he walked toward her to sit down, acting as if she didn’t see him.  The lost, dazed look in her gaze surprised Clint but when he tried to get her attention, all he got was a trembling smile. 
    Confused as hell, Clint had finally stopped trying to spend time with Lacey.  He had thought he was giving her time, but then he heard a couple of months ago that she was dating one of the x-ray technicians at the hospital.  It had broken his heart, but he’d tried to move on thinking it obviously was not meant to be.   
    Now, here she was, standing in his hospital room.  Clint just did not have the energy to deal with this right now.  He was weak, exhausted, and just plain angry.  Heaving a huge sigh, he rested his head tiredly against the pillow and rasped, “What are you doing here, Lacey?”
    Her eyes widening at his abrupt tone, Lacey put her hands on her hips and responded, “I’m here to check on you, obviously.  The same thing I have done every day since you were admitted into the hospital.”
    Eyes narrowing, Clint growled, “Bullshit, Lace.  I haven’t seen you once the whole time I’ve been here.  You have made it perfectly clear over the past few months that you don’t want to be with me.  So, just get the hell out.”
    Lacey stared at him in stunned surprise.  Clint couldn’t blame her.  In all of the time they had known each other, not once had he ever spoken to her the way he was now.  But, dammit, he was hurting.  Not only physically, but his heart hurt too.  He loved Lacey, and she obviously did not feel the