janet dailey- the healing touch by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online

bit of your property that she hasn't seen before."
    "You mean they're just roaming around, God knows where?" His irritation and anxiety levels were rising by the minute. Not only had she dropped by uninvited, but she had absconded with his kid, too. The nerve of that woman!
    "Ah... I wouldn't be worry in' if I were you, Mr. Michael," Bridget said, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel, embroidered with violets and daisies. "Rebecca used to come here all the time when she was a wee lass. Knows the place like the back of her own hand, she does. I'm sure they won't lose their way."
    "Did you give your permission for this.. .excursion?" he asked.
    She turned and flashed him one of her famous smiles. "I did, indeed. Thought it was the very thing for the little miss. She needs a friend or two, she does, to do things with."
    "Well... I..." He didn't know exactly what to say, so he tilted his beer bottle and chugalugged the first third. Common sense told him that he was overreacting. Bridget was right. Katie did need a friend. And Rebecca was a responsible adult; at least, she appeared to be. So he probably had nothing at all to worry about.
    He just wasn't comfortable not knowing exactly where his child was and what she was doing. Anything could happen to her, and he wouldn't know.
    "In the future," he said, "I'd like for Katie to stay at home when I'm away, unless I've given my permission."
    Bridget looked surprised and a bit hurt, but she nodded agreeably. "I beg your forgiveness, Mr. Michael," she said. "But I thought, as long as she was here on your property, with Rebecca to watch over her, it would be-"
    "Yes, yes," he said, holding up one hand. "I understand. I'm not angry with you. I just wanted to make my wishes clear."
    "Oh, they are, sir. Very clear, indeed."
    Michael heard halting footsteps on the back porch and the sound of voices. Katie's and Rebecca's.
    "See there," Bridget said. "Back, safe and sound, the both of them."
    Michael crossed the kitchen to open the door for them. But when he looked outside, he saw something that made his heart nearly stop.
    His Katie wasn't safe and sound after all. Rebecca was carrying the girl in her arms, and there was blood all over them both.
    He threw open the door, rushed out onto the porch and grabbed Katie away from Rebecca. "What the hell did you do to her?" he shouted as he searched his daughter for the source of the blood. She felt cold and her clothing was wet, but she wasn't crying and didn't appear to be particularly upset.
    "She's all right, Mr. Stafford," Rebecca replied. "It looks much worse than it is. She has a small cut on her foot, and it bled quite a bit at first. But if s stopped now and it isn't serious."
    "Where my daughter is concerned, I'll be the judge of what's serious or not." Michael didn't like the woman's nonchalance. So everything was fine, huh? Easy for her to say; it wasn't her kid who had blood smeared all over her.
    "I'm okay, Daddy," Katie said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I stepped on a sharp rock and cut myself, but Dr. Rebecca wrapped my socks around it and carried me all the way back so that I wouldn't get dirt in the ow-wwie."
    Michael looked down at the bloody sock wrapped around his daughter's foot and felt a sick, dizzying sensation of being out of control. Good God, anything could have happened and he wouldn't have been there.
    Turning around, he carried Katie into the house, nearly colliding with Bridget, who looked equally distressed.
    "Poor little lass," she murmured. "Lay her on the sofa, Mr. Michael, and I'll fetch a cold compress right away."
    "No, we're not going to waste time with that," he snapped. "I'll take her straight to the hospital."
    Rebecca caught up with him at the front door. "Mr. Stafford, if you want to take her to a doctor, that's certainly your choice. But I assure you that the wound isn't that serious. It isn't even big enough to require a stitch. I had intended to bring her back, clean the cut and close it with