Winter's Secret by Lyn Cote Read Free Book Online Page A

Rodd stay so calm? Another burglary might happen tonight. "What do I do now?"
     
    "What would you normally do after bringing a patient in?"
     
    "I'd get him settled and go on with my calls." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Olie eluding the nurse's attempts to get him to sit in the wheelchair. Olie, not now.
     
    "Then do that."
     
    "Is that all you want me to do?" Let down, she thought he'd have another duty for her to carry out.
     
    "I want you to act as normal as you can."
     
    His words spoken so seriously hit her sense of humor. What had he expected her to do—start toting her grandfather's rifle? break into song? She grinned and said in an exaggerated tone, "Well, Sheriff, I'll do my best at acting normal ."
     
    There was a pause. "Sorry." His voice sounded sheepish. "I didn't think about how that sounded."
     
    "That's all right." Her grin waned. Even in the midst of her anxiety, she wished she didn't feel so unsure around this man who kept creeping into her thoughts regardless. Just the sound of his voice shredded her resistance. "Isn't there anything else I can do?"
     
    "I'll take it from here. Just act—"
     
    "I know, act normal. Okay." The nurse was waving for her. "I'll let you go, Sheriff, but I expect you to call me tomorrow." She found herself almost shaking her finger at the phone. "And I mean it."
     
    "I will."
     
    "I'll be praying for you."
     
    "Good-bye and thanks."
     
    Act like nothing is going to happen—how can I do that? What if someone gets hurt tonight ?
     
    The other nurse squawked with frustration.
     
    Wendy hung up and hurried over to help the agitated nurse.
     
    "Mr. Olson, please!" the nurse said, still trying to corral Olie into the wheelchair.
     
    "I don't need any wheelchair. I can walk, lady." Olie sidestepped the nurse again.
     
    "Olie Olson!" Wendy barked. "Sit down."
     
    The grizzled gray-haired man paused.
     
    "Now/" Wendy finished.
     
    The old man, still grumbling and frowning furiously, sat down.
     
    Wendy reached his side and bent to adjust his foot supports on the chair. "If you didn't need to be here, I wouldn't have brought you in."
     
    "My heart may not be ticking just right, but I'm not crippled, Wendy."
     
    "No one said you were. Why are you complaining? The complimentary wheelchair ride is just part of our blue-ribbon service." Wendy winked at the nurse over Olie's head. "Now I'm going to wheel you to your room." She pushed the chair down the hall toward the patients' wing. "Should we call your son at home or at work?"
     
    "Ted's sleeping. They switched him to nights at the truck stop. Don't call him till 4 p.m. That's when he gets up."
     
    "I'll have to give that pleasure to you, Olie. At four, I'll be about done for the day and heading home." About that time the sheriff might be setting up his trap. A shard of fear sliced through her. Don't take any chances, Rodd.
     
    Olie glanced up at her, his bravado slipping. "Stop back by here then. I'll be ready to leave this place. Old Doc will send me home. You wait and see. You youngsters think you know best, but I know better."
     
    "Old Doc will have you taking tests," Wendy said wryly. She entered his room and stopped beside his bed. "Now put on your hospital gown. I expect you to follow doctor's orders."
     
    Olie stood up and straightened slowly, painfully. "I'll follow doctor's orders, but you tell that woman to steer clear of me." He pointed a finger at the nurse who had followed them.
     
    "The nurse will be following doctor's orders too, so don't you give her any guff." Wendy shook her finger at him. "The sooner you do what you're told, the sooner you get home."
     
    The grumpy man gave her a glum look.
     
    It caught her heart. When she was a child, she'd often spent after-school hours doing homework at the Black Bear Cafe, where her mother had been a waitress. Every time Olie had come into the cafe, he had given Wendy red-and-white-striped mints. She softened her voice. "Promise?"
     
    He