Cowboy For Keeps. Debra Clopton
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ask me. He came along and asked and you jumped at the chance.”
Amanda felt a twinge of agreement with that statement. Was that what she’d done? “I learned a long time ago that there are some things you have no control over. That God is in control of our lives and he has a plan.” She just hadn’t expected it to hurt so much—after all, she’d already faced this reality once in her life at the age of fourteen when the doctors had explained to her that they’d had to give her a complete hysterectomy while they repaired all the internal damage she’d sustained in the accident that had almost killed her. She was blessed to be alive and she’d thought she’d come to peace about her life and her circumstance. But she’d been wrong. After Jonathan ended their relationship, her emotions had spiraled into a tailspin. She’d been struggling for the last month to cope—not sleeping and turning down each job Amanda had offered her.
It didn’t make sense. She had a full life. Her career as a physical therapist specializing in children’s needs had been borne from that accident. Because she knew she couldn’t have children of her own and because she’d had to be fitted with a prosthetic leg at such a young age, she’d been drawn to help kids.
She was good with children, especially those in need of prosthetics. She understood how they felt, and could relate to the many emotions they experienced because of the loss of a limb.
And it made her feel good because she had also been an inspiration to them when they realized life hadn’t ended. She’d helped them see that their dreams could still become reality wearing an artificial limb.
That wasn’t true for her anymore. Coming face-to-face with Jonathan’s choice, she’d also realized that she’d been living a lie.
She couldn’t have children of her own. She could never know what it felt like to feel that tiny, precious life growing inside of her. Suddenly it was unbearable.
With shaking fingers Amanda slid the folder of what was supposed to be her new assignment across the desk. “I want—” she paused, digging deep “—I need to move to adult cases only.”
Amanda couldn’t withstand the sympathy in Joyce’s gaze any longer. Pushing out of the chair, she moved to stand beside the large window overlooking the busy streets of San Antonio. The thunderstorm that had been hanging over the city all morning had finally given in and was raging full force. She could relate as a violent streak of lightning flashed across the sky. An explosion of thunder immediately followed. She took a shaky breath and reminded herself that she’d overcome so much in her life. She’d thought she’d had it all under control. What a lie that had been. “Jenny told me she had to back out of that long-term job in the hill country. The one with the man in the plane crash.”
Joyce didn’t look pleased. “She did, but you don’t want that. It’s—” Joyce stopped speaking and sank into her seat behind her desk as Amanda turned from the window. “It’s a tiny town almost a hundred miles from any town of any real size. You don’t want to go there—”
But she did. “That’s exactly what I want.” She felt ill but knew this was what she had to do.
“No, it isn’t. This is a three-month on-site assignment. You don’t—”
“I do.” She moved to stand across the desk from her boss. How could she make Joyce understand that she was trapped in a dark hole and the idea of this job seemed like a crack of light showing her the way of escape? A lifeline had been revealed. “I have to do this job. It’s exactly what I need.”
“But,” Joyce started. They held gazes for a long moment and Amanda was almost certain that Joyce could see into Amanda’s damaged heart.
“Give me the chance,” she urged her. “You know I can do the job.”
Another long moment passed. “They want someone with more experience.”
“I have enough experience.”
“You know…” Joyce murmured thoughtfully as she tapped her fingers on her chair arm. “You actually might be perfect for this job. The other brothers said they thought their brother was depressed. You could help with that. You know about that journey.”
Yes, she did. It was what she was fighting off from happening to her again. This job gave Amanda a ray of hope. Her heart kicked up and the constriction eased when Joyce reached for a file on the top of the stack on her desk. A file labeled Wyatt Turner.
“I was going to have to turn this job down because Jenny couldn’t do it. You know how I hate to pass up jobs. But are you sure this is what you want? I’m comfortable with the idea of you doing the job. I just want to know your state of mind is okay.”
The very idea of spending three months in a tiny town away from everything was what Amanda needed. Her eyes hurt with unshed tears of relief. “I’m sure.” She hadn’t been able to pray since Jonathan broke off their engagement, but she found herself praying now that she would get to do this job.
“Wyatt Turner is a man of means,” Joyce said at last.
“He can afford to hire a full-time PT to help him all day if he chooses, and so he’s doing it. You will be coming up with not only his daily therapy, but also helping out with other things he might need—acting as his personal assistant or cooking if he wants you to. It’s an odd job, but the pay is excellent and I promised his two brothers that I’d find the perfect person or I would turn the job down.”
“No need for that. It sounds wonderful—”
Joyce held up a hand. “Not so fast. The brothers said Wyatt is impatient with his injuries and will probably not be the easiest person to work with. Being a high achiever and fairly powerful man in his own right, he’ll probably be demanding. Are you absolutely certain you can handle this job?”
“I can handle it.”
“Why don’t you take his file and read over it carefully before you commit to this?”
Amanda didn’t need to look over the file. She knew she was capable of getting this man back on his feet. He might be demanding and he might take her for granted. But she could help him and he would help her by getting her away from San Antonio.
“I can do this job.” She met Joyce’s gaze with determined eyes.
Joyce studied her hard, clearly weighing the decision on all sides. “Then it’s yours,” she said at last. “I’ll let Wyatt’s brothers know you’ll be there on Monday.”
Amanda’s heart clamored with the first real excitement she’d felt since Jonathan’s words had slammed a hole in it. “Thank you,” she managed.
“Honey, I’m praying while you’re there you’ll realize that none of what Jonathan said is true.”
Amanda knew it wasn’t that easy to fix the emptiness that filled her. It was far more than Jonathan’s words that were affecting her. It was as if they’d released long-dormant emotions she hadn’t been able to experience as a young girl when she’d been told there were no children of her own in her future. Her being so young, the loss of a leg had been more devastating than the nebulous idea of being barren. But it was different when a man told a grown woman he couldn’t marry her because he wanted children she couldn’t give him. It had opened a wound she hadn’t realized was there.
She pushed that thought aside and focused on the positive moment now. “I just need to get away and get my head on straight,” she said, but she was afraid even that wouldn’t fix the emptiness and the loss that now gripped her heart fresh and new. “Please don’t worry. I can do this job.”
“Then it’s yours. I hear Mule Hollow, Texas, is a lovely little town even if it is off the beaten path. You do realize what town this is?”
With memories and intentions tangling in her mind, she hadn’t even given the name of the town any consideration. Now she shook her head.
“It’s the one that advertised for women to come marry their lonesome cowboys a couple