Read Baby, Come Home for Free Online Page A

her mind? She wanted to say something smart and cool, but her tongue was paralyzed. Kendall’s mouth opened, but Nikki interrupted whatever greeting he’d been forming.
    “What happened here?” she asked, gesturing to his wrapped hand.
    “Kendall was hanging a picture for me and smashed his thumb with a hammer,” Rachel said, unwinding the cloth. “He hurt it really bad.”
    “I just need a Band-Aid,” Kendall argued, still staring at Amy.
    Hearing his voice again was a shock to her system. Years of travel and experience hadn’t changed his deep tone or his rolling accent. She averted her gaze to his pulpy thumb, fighting the urge to reach out to him. It frightened her how easily she could fall back into old patterns around him, but knowledge was power. She would endeavor to spend as little time alone with Kendall as possible.
    Nikki was looking back and forth between Amy and Kendall. “Let’s get your hand cleaned so I can have a better look,” she said, leading Kendall away.
    “I’m coming with him,” Rachel announced, confirming Amy’s suspicions that she and Kendall were an item.
    “Why don’t you stay here and wash up?” Nikki suggested in a kind but firm voice, indicating Rachel’s own bloodstained hands. Nikki looked back at Amy. “Let’s have dinner tonight?”
    “Sounds good,” Amy called.
    Kendall looked back at her, too, as if she were an apparition, then disappeared with Nikki.
    Amy exhaled. So much for a dramatic reunion. Apparently Marcus had kept his word to stay mum about her arrival. Was it because he knew that Kendall didn’t want her here?
    “I hope he’s okay,” Rachel murmured. “His thumb was bleeding like a stick pig.”
    “I think you mean ‘stuck’ pig,” Amy volunteered, still stung by the sight of Kendall and Rachel together. Although what had she expected? Of course Kendall had gotten on with his life. Probably many, many times.
    Rachel squinted at her. “I know you…Amy, right? You were a patient at the dermatologist where I used to work in Broadway.”
    “Right. Amy Bradshaw.”
    “Rachel Hutchins,” the woman offered. “Are you just now answering the newspaper ad?”
    “No. I’m a structural engineer. I was hired by Marcus Armstrong to rebuild the covered bridge over Timber Creek.”
    Rachel’s face lit up. “You’re kidding? I love that bridge. In fact, the man Nikki took away was Marcus’s brother, Kendall. He was helping me hang a picture of the covered bridge in my bedroom when he smashed his thumb.”
    “Really?” Amy was surprised at how normal her voice sounded. Evermore Bridge had been her and Kendall’s place. It hurt to know he was sharing the memory of it with someone else.
    Rachel nodded. “If you need a picture of the way it looked before, I can get you one.”
    Amy bit down on her tongue. Rachel couldn’t know she’d committed every detail of the bridge to memory. She glanced down at the bloody cloth Rachel held that had been wrapped around Kendall’s thumb—it was a cropped pink T-shirt that read “Maybe, Baby.” She’d also memorized every detail of the body of the man Rachel was apparently now cozy with.
    “Thank you,” Amy managed to say.
    “Hello, Rachel.”
    The women turned to see Dr. Cross standing there, gazing up at Rachel as if she were a movie star.
    “Hello, Dr. Cross,” Rachel offered as if she were addressing a pesky child.
    “Do you need attention?” he asked, then stabbed at his glasses. “Medical attention, I mean.”
    Rachel glanced down at her hands. “No…this isn’t my blood.”
    His face fell. “Pity.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “I didn’t mean it’s a pity you weren’t hurt…I meant…that is…” He cleared his throat, then tapped the clipboard he held. “I was going through my list of patients who’ve had a flu shot and couldn’t help but notice that your name is missing.”
    Amy wryly watched the man’s bumbling attempt to flirt with the blonde who towered over him by a good eight