Heart Of Texas. Mary Baxter Lynn

efficiency apartments—was part hers.

      Though Quiet Haven was already five years old, it had the appearance of just having opened. That was due to the way it was run, something Sara and her partners were in total agreement about. Cleanliness and quality care was their motto.

      The personal and financial sacrifices she had made in order to become an owner were well worth it, more so now, since this was where her mother would likely live out the rest of her life.

      With thoughts of Katherine in mind, Sara increased her pace and headed toward her mother’s large corner room in the assisted-living wing. As she passed down the carpeted hall, she saw several women with canes and walkers. She smiled and spoke a few words to each before moving on.

      Finally reaching her mother’s door, Sara opened it. Katherine was sitting in her favorite rocker, facing the garden.

      “Mamma.”

      Katherine Wilson swiveled, and when she saw her daughter a smile brightened her face. “Hi, darling. Come in.”

      Sara crossed to her mother’s side, leaned over and kissed a rouged cheek, then eased into an adjacent chair. “So, how was your day? Any pain in the old hip?”

      “Not too bad.”

      Sara sighed. “You wouldn’t tell me if the pain was excruciating.”

      “Now, now, you know better than that,” Katherine admonished in a soft, gentle tone.

      Sara grabbed a fragile blue-veined hand and held it. If she had any regrets, it was where her mother was concerned. The reason she had left Dallas in the first place was to take care of Katherine after she fell and broke a hip.

      However, when her mother was released from the rehab unit at the hospital, she refused to live with Sara or let anyone live with her. Much to Sara’s chagrin, it was Katherine’s choice to move into Quiet Haven. Even her younger sister Alice, who lived in St. Louis with her family, hadn’t been able to persuade her mother to change her mind.

      So far Katherine seemed to have no regrets. And while Sara would’ve preferred to have had things her way, she had learned to respect, if not accept, her mother’s desire for independence.

      “How are you today, my dear?” Katherine asked in her soft voice.

      “Busy.”

      “That’s wonderful.”

      Sara squeezed her mother’s hand, thinking what an attractive woman she still was, even though she was in her late sixties. Like her, Katherine was tall but with a much stouter frame that was now slightly bent from osteoporosis. Still, her hair was thick and a lush color of gray that matched her eyes.

      While she might look weak and fragile, she wasn’t. She was headstrong to a fault, a fact Sara had difficulty with as Katherine was her underpinnings; her daddy having died of a heart attack years earlier. Because Alice lived so far away, it sometimes seemed as if she didn’t have a sister, that it was just her and her mother.

      “Why don’t you have supper with me?” Katherine’s eyes held a teasing glint. “We’re having lasagna.”

      Sara wrinkled her nose. “My least favorite, which you well know.”

      “Well, you can’t blame me for trying. It certainly wouldn’t hurt you to put some meat on those thin bones.”

      “Don’t you start. Rosa’s already been on my case today.”

      “About what?”

      “Oh, the usual,” Sara hedged, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. While her mother’s body was failing, her mind was as sharp as ever.

      “She worries about you being alone just like I do.”

      “Now, Mother, don’t start. I’m fine the way I am.”

      “That’s absurd. You don’t have a life. All you do is tend to the sick and afflicted both at the office and here.”

      Sara laughed.

      “It’s not funny, especially when the only man in your life is older than your mother and a codger to boot.”

      “Why, Mother, I can’t believe you’re talking about Uncle Newt like that, especially someone who’s been and still is a lifelong friend.”

      Newton Frazier was a retired chiropractor who had become her mentor and whom she visited on a regular basis.

      “That’s the problem. He’s my friend and shouldn’t be yours. Besides, he’s not a good influence on you.”

      Sara laughed and shook her head. “That makes absolutely no sense. If it weren’t for Uncle Newt, I wouldn’t have this practice and you know it.”

      “You’re right, of course, but you need to be around young people, not us old folks all the time.”

      “You let me worry about that, okay? Besides, I’m trying to convince Newt to move here. He’s getting too old and much too feeble to live alone.”

      Her mother gave an unladylike snort. “Good luck. His head’s as hard as yours.”

      Sara hid her smile. “Look, I’m happy with my life the way it is. So give me a break. Now, about my sister, have you heard from her lately?”

      “As a matter of fact, I got a letter today.”

      “How are things with them?”

      Katherine suddenly looked troubled. “I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I sense all is not well between her and Dennis.”

      “That’s nothing new. You know Alice—if there isn’t a crisis in the making, she’s not happy.”

      “That’s not a nice thing to say.”

      Sara shrugged. “It’s the truth. Anyhow, if there is trouble, they’ll straighten it out. They always do.”

      “You’re right. It’s just that I was hoping she and the kids could pay us a visit.”

      “Maybe they can,” Sara said, dropping her mother’s hand and rising to her feet. “I have to run, Mamma.”

      “But, honey, you just got here.”

      Sara leaned over and grazed Katherine’s cheek with her lips. “I know, but I have some errands to run.”

      “Of course you do, darling. Don’t pay any attention to this selfish old woman.”

      “You may be old, but you’re not selfish,” Sara returned in a teasing voice.

      “Are you all right?”

      Sara was taken aback by the sudden and unexpected question. “Why do you ask?”

      Katherine’s forehead wrinkled into a frown. “I don’t know, really. You just look tired, as if you didn’t sleep.”

      Sara hadn’t, but she didn’t intend to tell her mother that. Her encounter with Clark Garrison had preyed on her mind until the wee hours of the morning. She wondered how he’d fared this morning, if his back remained in place. If not, she was sure she’d know soon enough.

      “I’m okay, Mamma. You worry too much.”

      “You need a man friend.”

      “Oops, now I know it’s time to go.”

      “Sorry,” Katherine said.

      “No, you’re not, but I guess that’s why I love you.”

      Katherine gestured with her hand. “Go on, skedaddle, get out of here.”

      Sara was still shaking her head when she passed by Zelma’s room only to stop dead in her tracks and blink. As if he sensed he was being watched, Clark looked toward the door. When he saw her, he stood and walked toward her.

      “You look surprised,” he said without