A Week From Sunday by Dorothy Garlock Read Free Book Online

don’t know this Quinn Baxter. I’m not sure I want to go to his house. All of this was decided so fast.”
    “You’ll be perfectly safe with Quinn. I’d trust him with my seventeen-year-old daughter, and that’s saying a lot. He sounds gruff, but he’s really a pussycat when you get right down to it. The doctor said you might be able to help Jesse with exercises. If you do that you’ll be Quinn’s friend for life.”
    “I’m not sure I can help him.”
    “Neither Quinn nor Dr. Bordeaux expect miracles.” When Mildred saw the apprehension on Adrianna’s face, she continued: “Don’t worry. If it doesn’t work out for you to stay there, Dr. Bordeaux will help you find another place.”
    “But I’ve got to get a real job.”
    “Gabe said something about you playing the piano at the Whipsaw.”
    “That’s for the two nights a week they have a sing-along. I’m doing that to pay for the damage I caused when I slid into his truck. After that’s paid for, I’m sure it wouldn’t pay enough for me to live on.”
    “The Whipsaw is a rowdy place, but with Gabe and Quinn there, you’ll be all right.”
    “Is Quinn at the tavern every night?”
    “I don’t know about that, but Gabe runs the place—and by the way, he can make that old piano talk. He plays a ragtime style that sets the feet to tapping and the hands to clapping.”
    “They needn’t expect me to do that. I’ve only played for church services, weddings, and funerals.”
    “Don’t worry,” Mildred said for the second time.
    Adrianna wished people would quit telling her not to worry. None of them knew her circumstances. None of them had a man like Richard Pope trying to run their lives. Even now, her stomach turned at the thought of marrying him. Being his wife meant she would have to sleep with him.
Oh my Lord, I’d almost rather die than do that!
A shudder went through her and she closed her eyes for a moment. Mildred looked at her curiously.
    “Are you feeling ill?”
    Adrianna opened her eyes. “Oh, no! I was just thinking about something very unpleasant.” She looked down at her wrinkled skirt. Fastidious person that she was, it bothered her to be untidy. “I think I’ll go lie down for a while.”

    It was late afternoon, and Adrianna was dozing on her bed when Mildred came to the door of her room. “Quinn’s here. He’s early.”
    Adrianna groaned inwardly and got up from the bed. She dreaded facing that big uncouth man again. He made her nervous. She didn’t feel threatened by him as she had by Richard Pope, but he scared her in a way no other man had ever done. She cringed when she heard the heavy footsteps coming down the hallway. The door flew open and Quinn stood before her.
    His hair looked as if he had been in a tornado. He had a scowl on his dark face, and his teeth were clenched. She could see the muscles dance in his cheek. He wasn’t liking this.
    “Mr. Baxter,” she said, “I don’t like this arrangement any better than you do. As soon as my car is fixed I’ll be on my way and mail you a check for the damages to . . . your supplies.”
    “How do I know your check would be any good? Come on, I don’t have all day. Let’s go.”
     

 

    Chapter 5

    A DRIANNA TRIED TO keep up with Quinn’s long strides as he led the way down the street. She was fuming because he didn’t trust her to mail a check for what she owed him. The businesses that lined Main Street began to give way to residential houses; most of them were identical to those near the doctor’s office. A couple of blocks from the church, Quinn turned to the north onto a side street.
    “You doing all right? It’s not much farther.”
    Ahead, a tall row of hedges lined the street. Their branches and small green leaves still glistened from the rain. Tiny flowers had begun to pop from their tight buds and filled the air with a sweet, fresh fragrance. A scattering of petals had been loosened by the rain and lay on the pavement.
    They turned up a walk