Four Nights to Forever Read Online Free PDF Page B

She was blinking rapidly, and tears danced at the corners of her eyes.
    Hell, even if Karen hadn’t hurt herself and they weren’t sitting in the waiting room watching the crowds stomp past the windows, he wasn’t going to act on his interest in Cassie. But he would try to comfort her; she was clearly very worried. He put a palm on her knee. The muscles under his hand tensed, then relaxed. When she turned her gaze from the floor back to his face, tears still flickered about her eyes, but her smile was stronger.
    Doug set his elbow in the curve between the chairs. Cassie’s shoulders relaxed, and she rested her head against him. Feeling a bit like a confused teenager at the movies, he put his hand around her shoulder. Her arm was warm under the silk of her thermal underwear top, and she was more toned than he’d expected. The position twisted his spine in strange ways, but he would stay here as long as Cassie needed him.
    “Thank you.” His fleece vest muffled her voice. “I needed this.”
    After an hour, they had only moved from their positions to remove layers of clothing and talk with the doctor about Karen, who was getting a cast and wouldn’t be skiing anymore this winter, but would otherwise be fine. Each time one of them had moved, though, they had returned to this position without exchanging a word.
    Doug’s right hip was starting to go numb when there was a knock on the glass door to the waiting room. The boy who had been riding the lift with Karen walked in, followed by Larissa, the kid’s ski instructor. Doug checked his watch. They must be taking an early lunch.
    “How is she?” Larissa asked with a tilt of her head toward the back area of the clinic.
    Cassie lifted her head off his shoulder before she answered, leaving his arm cold. “It was a clean break, so they’re setting it here. She should be out soon, if you want to talk to her.” The last bit was directed at the boy, who nodded.
    As if she’d been summoned, Karen swung out from the patient area on crutches, and Cassie eased up to her feet. “I forgot how much of a bitch these are to use,” Karen said before catching sight of the boy. “Oh, sorry, Nicky. I didn’t see you there.”
    “I’ve heard bitch before,” Nicky said, his voice loud with clear excitement at the excuse to say a swear word.
    “When we ran into your mom, you practiced what to say, so go talk to her,” Larissa said.
    Nicky nodded, his face a bit paler now that reality seemed to have overtaken the novelty of swearing. He swallowed and walked to where Karen and Cassie stood, as if the gray, industrial carpet led to gallows.
    Larissa sighed as she sat in the chair Cassie had emptied. Doug pulled his arm back and rested his elbows on his knees. “He does know it’s not his fault, right?” He was looking at Cassie, but there was always the chance Larissa would think he was looking at Nicky.
    “He does, although he had been goofing around with his pole and it got stuck between the slats of the chair,” she said. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Larissa’s head fall back against the top of the chair.
    “Bet he won’t do that again,” Doug said, full of sympathy for the kid. He’d ruined his marriage by learning the hard way not to do stupid shit and hurt other people in doing so. It was a rough lesson.
    “Probably not for a while.” Unease skittered across his back as Larissa lifted her head and leaned forward, her elbows also resting on her knees. “She’s pretty,” she whispered.
    “Yup.” He wasn’t stupid enough to pretend he didn’t know who Larissa had meant. Cassie’s helmet had smashed her blond hair against her head, her eyes were red from unshed tears, and the tension of the morning hadn’t left her face. And yet, pretty didn’t begin to describe how she looked.
    “I ran into Bear and Garrett,” Larissa said, referring to two of the three ski patrolmen who’d come to Karen’s rescue. “They’ve already crafted the story that