AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He laughed, the sound grating against his sore head. “Thanks for everything you’ve done. I appreciate it more than you know. “
“You would have done the same for me. Hell, you’ve done more than that the last couple days.”
“All I’ve done is stick around.”
“You’ve supported me, protected me, and helped spark an idea that could be life changing.”
Intrigue moved him the tiniest bit closer to her. “How did I do that?”
She bit her bottom lip, as if unsure she should share.
Wanting to encourage her, he reached out and rested a hand on her knee. “Please. Tell me. I could use a distraction.”
“I want to ask Mrs. Collins if we can turn the food pantry into a women’s shelter.” She blurted it out as if she’d been holding back the thought for days.
He absorbed her words, turning them around in his mind. “Was this why you wanted to take a closer look at the house earlier?”
She nibbled her thumbnail and nodded. “I want to get out of my head. Use my hands and my passion to create something beautiful. Just like you did with this place.”
The softness of her voice made a lump grow in his throat. “I think that’s a great idea. As long as Mrs. Collins agrees. It would be a lot of work for her. Much more than what she’s taken on already.”
“I could help, and there have to be more people in the community who would volunteer or use their skills to create something wonderful for women and children in need. If I can find a way to make it work, would you help with the construction? I’m sure the house wouldn’t need much. There are plenty of rooms that only need a good scrubbing and some furniture. We could even transform some of the communal living spaces into specialty rooms to help with childcare or rooms for support groups. The possibilities are endless.”
Her excitement made her come alive, and he had no trouble seeing her vision. The only issue was if Mrs. Collins would be willing to use her entire home for community outreach instead of the small section she currently utilized for the food pantry.
He didn’t want to extinguish any of her enthusiasm, but he also wanted to make sure she understood how much she’d be asking of Mrs. Collins. “Your idea sounds amazing, and I’ll help any way I can, but do you think Mrs. Collins would be on board to use her entire house for something like this?”
Uncertainty twisted her lips. “She’s so passionate about providing a safe space for those in need. I hope she’ll want to, but I don’t want to place any pressure on her. I’ll make sure she knows I can find another place for this. I mean, getting the funds for her remodel required some donations from the community. If that’s what I have to do for a shelter, I will. I can feel it in my gut that this is something I need to see through. My past might be bumpy and filled with pain, but I have a support system to help. Not everyone’s that lucky. I want to change that.”
Pride swelled in his chest. “You will.”
She beamed. “Thanks. Can you help me figure out how to approach Mrs. Collins? I need to bring her a well-thought out plan, not simply bumble out whatever comes to mind. The doctor said you should rest tomorrow, so this will give us something to do.”
“Rest isn’t an option. Not with everything going on. We need to get to the bottom of things, and the first place we need to go is the bank to get answers about the construction company’s account. There has to be something I’m not seeing, and odds are not all the information is filed away in the office. The bank will have everything I need.”
Her wide grin quickly melted into a frown. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Positive. I need something concrete to explain this shit so I can pass it along to Deputy Wells. Until then, all we have is speculation of wrongdoing and suspicions. Two things that won’t do a damn thing.”
“And what about Matthew?”
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “If we don’t have more answers by this time tomorrow, we’ll fill him in on everything we’ve found.”
“Okay,” she said, not sounding sure of his plan. A beat of silence passed before she continued. “You should probably get some sleep. It’s late.”
His body nearly leapt from the couch at the suggestion, but he wasn’t ready to tell her goodnight. To get up and walk away from her. “Let’s stay here a little while longer. I want to hear more about your ideas for a shelter.”
She shifted, stretching her legs long until her feet brushed against his thigh.
Unable to resist, he cupped her foot in his hand and waited for her smile of appreciation before gently kneading her soft skin as he listened to her describe every last detail of her new dream.
Awareness slippedinto Laura’s consciousness, trickling into a dream she couldn’t quite grasp yet didn’t want to leave. Dark edges muted the details, but she didn’t want the warm and fuzzy feeling encasing her body to vanish.
She was safe. She was protected. She was happy.
Unable to fight it any longer, she blinked open her eyes and her gaze landed on Cade’s sleeping face at the other end of sofa. The contentment buzzing through her intensified into something more.
She studied him as moments from the night before came back to her. He’d rubbed her feet and never took his focus from her as she laid out her vision for a women’s shelter in Pine Valley.
