Read The Doctor's Devotion (Love Inspired) for Free Online

pulled out a chair for her at Grandpa’s table, covered in a crisp red gingham cloth and place mats she’d made as a child. Homesickness overloaded Lauren’s emotions.
    As always, his kitchen smelled of cinnamon, her favorite toast. The kind she’d made for her parents that fateful morning.
    She’d been so excited to show them that Grandpa had taught her how. Same toast she’d clutched in that irrevocable instant when she’d found the two most important people in her life barely breathing.
    Life as she knew it had suddenly crumbled and fallen through fragile fingers.
    Today the smell didn’t repel because she equated it with Lem, her lifeline after her parents had died. In those days, Lem talked unceasingly about how heaven was the promise that she’d see her parents again. He told stories of what Jesus had to go through in order to whisper that promise to mankind.
    Memories flooded back through a river of time and nearly swept Lauren off her feet. Every coloring page she’d perfected at this table, every dish she’d set and every summer meal she’d eaten. All with Grandpa. He’d become her mom and dad rolled into one.
    How could she have abandoned him all these years? Yet hadn’t he encouraged her nursing dream?
    She swallowed a hard lump and ran her hands across the country tablecloth. How could one forget a rickety table meant for six, yet set for two, that housed a million happy memories?
    “Never get rid of this, Grandpa,” she whispered hoarsely.
    Mitch looked up, eyes sharpening. Grandpa paused, and unlike Mitch, his gaze seemed to fade back in years. Perhaps to meet hers at a time and place where their memories mingled and played. Toys. Crafts. Food. Games. Baking. Devotions. Love. Life. Loss. Hard times. Happy times. Tears. Fun. Stories. Laughter. Learning. Faith. Family. A bond no two others shared.
    Until Mitch.
    And that upended Lauren’s world more than he could know.
    Slowly, Lem set a steaming plate of sausage and eggs in front of her. “Still like ’em scrambled best?” Gentle remembrance and solid knowing seeped into Lem’s life-and-loss-wizened eyes. He’d been through everything she had and more.
    He knew every tear she’d cried, every boy she’d liked, every stunt she’d tried and every piece of toast she’d ever burned. An unfortunate many.
    No one knew her like Grandpa. In fact, no one knew her at all except Grandpa. Not even her Texas friends. Life suddenly felt very lonely. Yet had Mitch come to know her through Grandpa’s gift—the power of story?
    Suddenly Grandpa’s vast love for books and storytelling held greater meaning. He loved words so much, he’d used Grandma’s life insurance money to found and fund the local library, something Grandma had always wanted yet never lived to see.
    What would become of Lauren if Grandpa died at seventy? Irrational or not, fear welled. Lauren had a tough time quelling it, even as Mitch and Grandpa eyed her with growing concern. Panic pulsed through her. She took deep breaths to calm down.
    Didn’t help.
    “Yep, still—” For some reason, her throat clogged.
    They’d shared so much. She and Grandpa.
    No two people possessed the treasure of memories they cherished. Not even Mitch, who studied them gently now.
    Yet Mitch and Grandpa had undoubtedly made their own trove of memories. Suddenly and without warning, she wanted in.
    Back into Grandpa’s life.
    Grandpa shuffled contentedly to the stove to continue his domestic dance of eclectic hospitality. As his comforting and familiar clatter of pans resumed, Lauren sized up her foe.
    Mitch stared at her with precision, proving he’d picked up on her envious vibes. Hopefully he’d see her need to resume her rightful place in Grandpa’s heart and life and back off a bit.
    If she thought she was determined, it was no match for the titanium will steeling his liquid silver eyes and chiseling stony angles in the jaw he tenaciously jutted.
    Instinctually she knew he’d been a rock for