Mending Hope (Contemporary Western Romance) (License to Love Series:Book 2) Read Free Page A

he noticed that there was a slight indention on her ring finger where a ring had recently sat.  Although he tucked this information away for later, he decided not to bring it up now.
    “Clara was on her way to your house then when her radiator in that old truck blew up?” he asked.
    “Yes.  The truck was her brother’s.  She was hoping it would make this trip without any problems, but I guess it was just too much to ask of the old thing.”
    “It almost made it, and that’s saying something for a truck with that many years and that many miles on it,” Woody replied proudly.
    “I guess so,” Alyssa answered. “Now it’s your turn.  Spill.”
    “Well my brother Shad is the one who found Clara on the side of the road and he brought her truck in to get it fixed up,” Woody started.  “Since it was on a weekend, he offered her the use of one of the farmhand apartments.”
    “Okay, so that was on Friday?” she asked.
    “Late Friday night,” Woody reciprocated.  “Then a freak electrical storm came through on Saturday and knocked out the power.  The guy came in posing as an electric company worker and tried to kidnap Clara.  Shad stopped him and our sister Melinda arrested him.”   
    “That’s a very simplistic view of what happened,” Alyssa answered dryly.
    “I’m a pretty simplistic guy,” admitted Woody.  “If you worry too much about the details, you’ll end up getting lost in them.  All I needed to know was that they were safe.  The ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of everything else doesn’t seem to matter.”
    “I don’t think I have ever looked at life that way before, “ Alyssa said as her blue eyes looked at him with a haunted edge to them.  He knew from experience that there was a sense of loss and conflict there which had lasted for years.  There was a moment of silence while the waiter set their food down. 
    When they were once again alone at the table, Woody continued his thoughts.  “If you worry your whole life about the big picture, I think you miss everything else that’s going on around you.  Right now, this moment is king.”
    “I like that…” she said before they started eating.  
    *
    As soon as lunch was finished, Woody drove Alyssa out to the farm where she got to see Clara for the first time in years.  When the Volkswagen pulled up in the driveway, Alyssa spotted a blonde woman running down the dirt path to greet them.  Alyssa had expected someone a lot less exuberant. However, the woman who was running at her was fresh faced and happy. 
    “Alyssa!” Clara exclaimed as she threw open the door to the Thing and pulled Alyssa into a tight hug before the car had even stopped rolling.  “It’s so good to see you!”
    “Same here,” Alyssa told her, pulling back from the hug to look into her friend’s face.  “I gotta say though, Stanhope agrees with you.”
    Clara reached up and pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at the same time.  “Really?”
    At that moment a taller version of Woody stepped up behind Clara and held out his hand.  “Hi, I’m Shad, Woody’s brother.  I’m glad that you found his shop safely.” 
    Then he put his hand on Clara’s shoulder and looked into her eyes with such a tender look that a warm blush instantly colored Clara’s cheeks.  Alyssa knew then that it wasn’t the town that had been good to her, but rather this man who had put a smile on her face.
    “Yeah, although I’m sure that my sneaking in and accosting him about Clara probably wasn’t what she had in mind when she sent me the letter,” Alyssa replied, smiling as Woody rounded the front of the car to join in on the conversation.
    “Ah, that was nothing.  You were just worried.” Woody said as they started walking back to the house. 
    “It sounds like I had a right to be,” Alyssa said turning to look at Clara.  “Are you okay?”
    “I’m much better now that I know he’s safely behind bars.  He has a name and a face