Love Song Read Online Free PDF

teddy bear and held it in front of him. “Cute, huh?”
    Her face lit up. “He’s adorable.” Pursing her lips, she playfully pinched his cheek. “Does duh big cowboy like to snuggle wiff his teddy?”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Not in the last twenty years or so.” Testing it at the store didn’t count. He handed the stuffed animal to her, and she immediately hugged it. He grinned.
    She held it up to the light. “He has the cutest face, and he’s so soft and cuddly.”
    “Guess that’s why I thought of you when I saw it.” He almost groaned out loud. How had he let that slip out?
    “Anybody ever tell you that you’re sweet, cowboy?” she asked quietly.
    “Yeah, at least a dozen times a day.” He started the Blazer. “Go on in the house, songbird, so I’ll know you’re safe.”
    She attempted a smile, but as she turned away, clutching the teddy bear as if she were a lost little girl, he caught the shimmer of tears in her eyes. He ached to gather her in his arms and hold her tight. He knew she must miss her friends and busy lifestyle. She was sick, lonely, and separated from everything important to her. She’d probably be attracted to any man who showed her tenderness. Easy pickin’s.
    When she was inside the house, he gunned the engine and sped down the street, barely slowing at the stop sign three blocks away. He was halfway to the ranch before he realized he was going twenty miles an hour over the speed limit. He shook his head and lifted his foot off the gas pedal. “Lord, I’m gettin’ in deep here. I feel like a teenager in love, and now I’m driving like one. I’m blowing it, Lord. I don’t know how to handle this situation. How can I ease her loneliness without hurting her? Or myself?”
    Wade drove the rest of the way in silence, waiting for God’s direction. A single thought kept running through his mind, but he didn’t know if God was speaking to him, or if he only heard the anguished cry of his own heart.
    Just love her.

     

CHAPTER 4
    By Saturday, Andi could tell a definite improvement in her strength. Although she still grew tired quicker than normal, she wasn’t worn out all the time. Yet, she couldn’t seem to shake the blues. When she had seen the doctor in Sidell the day before, he told her not to worry, that feeling down was common with anemia. He assured her that once she completely regained her health, she’d be the lively, enthusiastic performer she’d always been.
    She wasn’t so sure. Sitting alone in Dawn’s living room, she gazed at her great-grandmother’s 1906 Lester Upright Grand piano. Andi was well acquainted with its deep, rich tone. At one time, she would have gone to it the minute she got up, perhaps playing for an hour before hunger forced her into the kitchen. She looked over at her acoustic guitar in the corner, untouched since she had arrived. No song ran through her mind or sprang from her heart. Her once fervent desire to sing had disappeared. Music no longer filled her soul.
    “Snap out of it, Carson.” She jumped to her feet. “It’s a beautiful day. Perk up.” Dawn was at an estate sale in the next county and had invited Andi to go along. Although it sounded like fun, Andi was afraid she would get too tired and had declined. She didn’t want her cousin to feel obligated to leave the sale until she was ready.
    She walked out onto the back porch and stretched in the warm morning sunshine, continuing her self-directed pep talk. “You just need some fresh air and to do something besides sitting around, turning into a sofa squash.”
    Spotting a flower bed in need of weeding, she strolled down the steps and plopped on the grass beside it. The weeds were small and the ground soft from the rain two nights before. As she plucked the little villains from around the partially blooming red geraniums, some of her tension and frustration eased. A red cardinal landed in the elm tree nearby. Andi leaned back on her elbows and watched the bird watch her.