The Strange Healing Read Free

well.  Thank you.”
    Phil assured her, “You’re welcome, Sara.  I just hope I can find those two again and get them behind bars, where they should be.  Are you ready for a few questions?”
    She nodded. “I’ll try, but I don’t know that I can help you much.  I’ve never seen them before, and didn’t even notice them until they were there and talking to me.”
    “ What did they say?”  Phil asked.
    Sara shook her head. "I don’t remember exactly.  Something about going to a party with them or something, and I told them no.  The shorter guy said they weren’t asking, they were telling, and that’s when I knew I was in trouble.  The tall man grabbed me and started pulling, but that’s when Heath appeared, thankfully.” 
    She was looking at Heath now, and he could see her shaking.  He tightened his arm around her and tried laying her head against his chest.  She readily let him, and he wrapped both arms around her a couple minutes, until he felt her relax a bit again.  He assured her, “You’re okay now, sweetheart.”
    They stayed like that several minutes.  Heath could feel the tension in her slowly leave, as he rubbed her back.  Just as he felt her relax, she jerked her head up off his shoulder and jumped back away from him.  “I’m sorry, Heath.  I don’t know what came over me.  I don’t usually act like this.”
    Totally confused, Heath tried putting his hand over hers, but she pulled away.  He studied her a bit as he asked, “Like what?  What are you sorry for?”
    She was obviously flustered as she said, “I don’t normally fall all over guys like that.  I’m sorry.  It won’t happen again.”
    Heath quietly tried to explain, “Sara, that wasn’t falling all over anyone.  You’ve just had a very traumatic event, and you were just accepting the comfort we were trying to give you.  You did absolutely nothing wrong.”
    “I’ve taken advantage of your kindness enough.  I’ll just be going now.  Thank you again, all of you.”
    All three of them were looking at each other in shock as they watched her quickly get up and start walking away.  Heath got to his feet and went to her before she’d taken three steps.  “Sara, come back here, please.  I don’t want you going off alone.”
    “ I’ll be fine.  I’ve wasted enough of your time.”
    He put his hand on her arm and stopped her.  Pulling her around to look at him, he told her, “Sara, you’re not wasting my time.  You may not have noticed, but I was on my way over to you when you were attacked.  I was planning on introducing myself and asking you to have dinner with me.”  He paused a bit before asking, “So, what do you say ? Dinner?”
    Heath could tell she was hesitant, and he added, “If you’re nervous about being alone with a man you don’t really know right now, I completely understand.  Would you have dinner with all three of us?  We can go to a public place.  There’s a nice Italian restaurant not far from here that we all like.  Would you join us, please?”
    She still looked uncertain, when Heather jumped in.  “Oh, yes, please do !  That sounds great.  We can tell you a little about this area while we eat.”
    She looked at all three of them, and Heath could tell she was very unsure.  “Please?”  He smiled when he saw the hint of a smile on her lips.
    “Okay, if you’re sure.”
    Phil assured her, “Oh, we are.  And I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m getting hungry. "  The other two both agreed.  After assuring Sara she looked fine, they gathered up their blanket and cooler and went back to their SUV.  Heath asked Sara about her car, and found she’d walked there, so they didn’t have to worry about that. 
    Dinner went well.  Heath kept a close eye on Sara.  She was quiet, not saying much, but seemed much more relaxed, and appeared to be enjoying herself.
    After dinner Sara said, “Hey, I want to thank all of you for dinner, and everything you’ve