âHi, honey, Iâm home.â
Jeff laughed as he said those words, somehow believing Diane would understand his little joke as he walked inside the kitchen.
That belief disappeared when a loaf of bread flew through the air and plopped against his faceâcourtesy of Diane.
âDo you know what everyone in town is saying? They think weâre sleeping together. They think Iâm trying to catch you. Everyone in the grocery store thinks Iâm a kept woman!â
Which explained her reaction to his teasing. âAh. I guess my words werenât too funny, huh?â
âOh, you were hysterical,â she replied, slight tears in her eyes. âArenât you worried about what everyone thinks is going on here?â
âNo. I mean, weâre both adults, single. If people want to believe weâreââ He broke off, unable to even talk about sleeping with Diane without reacting to the thought.
âPretty soon theyâll be expecting wedding bells!â Diane exclaimed with a groan.
Jeff felt a groan coming on himself. Because the thought of Diane and him and wedding bells wasnât creating the same reaction at allâ¦.
Sheâd hoped this day would never come.
Diane Peters shook herself, determined not to think in those terms. After all, most people would consider her to be a lucky woman.
Fresh out of law school, sheâd just been offered a position with the most prestigious law firm in the area.
The area of Cactus, Texas.
It wasnât that she didnât like Cactus. It was her hometown, and she had a lot of good memories from her childhood. Her family had never been wealthy, but theyâd been happy. She and her five brothers and sisters had shared adventures and laughter.
When she was thirteen, however, her father had died suddenly. Her mother had been a great cook and housekeeper, a devoted wife and mother. But she was a disaster as a breadwinner.
Diane sighed as she slowed down for the curve in the narrow road that led to her childhood home. Suddenly she threw on her brakes. A car rested half in the ditch, half on the road, the driver side crushed.
Diane frowned. The car hadnât been there when sheâd driven by an hour ago. As she slowed to a stop, a small face appeared at the back window.
A child? Someone was in the car? She slammed her old Volkswagen sedan into Neutral, pulled up the handbrake and jumped out of the car. Then she ran for the other vehicle.
âAre you all right?â she cried before she even got to the car.
The toddler, whose face sheâd seen from the road, pressed her face against the glass, smearing it with big, fat tears.
Diane wanted to cuddle the baby to her, but she saw the other two occupants. The fact that the driver and the little boy in the back seat werenât moving made them her first priority.
Without opening the car door, she called, âJust a minute, baby,â before she turned around and ran back to her car to find the cell phone her sister Katie and her husband, Gabe, had given her. Thank God.
She dialed Docâs number, grateful she still remembered it.
âDoctorâs office.â
âThis is Diane Peters. Thereâs been a wreck on FM 29. A lady and two children are hurt. I donât know what to do. Can Doc come?â
âWeâll get help to you. Have you called the sheriffâs office?â
âNo, Iââ
âWeâll call for you. Help should be there soon.â
The click in her ear reminded Diane to move. She tossed the cell phone into her front seat and rushed back to the car. The driver door wouldnât open. The back door, though slightly damaged, did open partially after she tugged on it for several minutes.
The toddler grabbed for her.
Dianeâs first inclination was to hold the baby, but she left her buckled in the car seat to see if she could help the others. The lady driver was unconscious. Sheâd bled quite a lot, but the bleeding appeared to have stopped. Diane felt helpless. She could quote laws, but she knew nothing about serious injuries.
She turned her attention to the little boy. Reaching across the child seat, she touched his denim-clad leg. âAre you awake?â she asked.
He stirred but the only response was a moan. She didnât see any blood, however, so she didnât know anything else to do. Sheâd read that moving an injured person could cause more problems. Since it was summer in Cactus, she didnât even have a jacket she could use to help prevent shock.