Beginnings (Crawley Creek Prequel) Read Online Free PDF Page A

standing
position, waving at the driver to stop for her. Her surprise at
seeing her own husband made her giddy.
    “Seraphina, angel? What are you doing out
here?” Abe asked, jumping down from the truck and hurrying to her
side. “You’ve been crying; are you hurt? Should I go call an
ambulance?”
    “No! No, I’m fine, just emotional. The car
died on my way home from town, and I’ve been out here a while. I’m
hot and tired. Do you have a drink in your truck?” She fell into
him, her head seeking out the strength of his chest, and sighed
with relief that her wonderful man had once again rescued her.
    “There’s a bottle of water in the first aid
box under the seat. You go get in and cool off while I look at the
car.” He walked her over to the truck and helped her in before
disappearing under the hood of her broke down vehicle.
    It only took him a few minutes to make a
determination, and she was bummed to see him collect her purse from
the car and head back to the truck. Once inside, he shook his head,
“No good. You’ve got a busted radiator. We’ll have to have the guys
tow it back to the ranch.”
    “Oh, no! That’s just what we need on top of
everything else,” she sobbed, covering her face in her hands.
    While they were land-rich, right now they
were cash-poor, and making their bill payments each month was a
struggle. The idea of a large car repair bill just made the weight
of her problems seem that much heavier.
    “It’s okay, angel. We’ll see if we can find
a used radiator, or maybe it’s time to just get you a new car. I
don’t like you driving that bucket of rust around on these
highways. How long have you been out here?” Abe eyed the empty
water bottle in her hands. He reached out and ran his finger over
her cheek making her grimace.
    “Long enough to get sunburnt,” she said. “We
can’t afford a new car, Abe.”
    “We’ll figure it out. We always do,” he said
positively, lifting her hand to kiss her knuckles as he drove
toward home. “I’m just glad I came across you when I did. You could
have roasted sitting out there until someone realized you were
missing.”
    “Me, too. What were you doing in town?” She
let her head fall back against the back of the bench seat right in
the path of the air blower. The cold air stung her burnt skin, but
she wasn’t even going to consider moving.
    “I took that bench in that I built for Linda
Kilburn. Jack met me at the hardware store with the payment, and I
bought the supplies for the bed tables you wanted.”
    “Did Jack like the bench?”
    Abe nodded, grinning. “Loved it. Said, Linda
will be over the moon when she gets it on her birthday.”
    “I agree. It’s absolutely beautiful work,
but then, you always do a good job.”
    She loved the way he seemed to glow with the
praise, and her heart ached a little in her chest. Guilt was a
terrible weight to carry.
    “Abe, we need to talk…” she began.
    His eyes shot over to her, and narrowed.
“Yeah, we do.”
    Frowning back she wondered if he already
suspected her news. “Um, well, see, I’m not sure how to tell you
this—”
    The sound of barking dogs cut her off, and
she turned to see their pair of German shepherd pups running toward
the driveway as Abe parked the truck.
    “Looks like you’ll have a couple more
minutes to think on it.” Abe said, throwing the door open and
greeting the dogs.
    Frustrated with the interruption, Sera
opened her own door and eased down to the ground before he could
get around to help her. She saw the confusion on his face as she
limped past him and the excited animals to the house. It seemed
like the whole world was against her today.

Chapter 5
     
    Abe followed Sera in the house after he
found a couple of ranch hands available to go tow her car home. His
search for her took him all over the first floor and up to the
second floor, but it wasn’t until he heard the shower come on in
their master bathroom that he tracked her down. Entering