The Test of Love. Irene Brand

his voice to tremble slightly when he mentioned it? she thought. Local accidents didn’t usually cause a ripple in the news media unless the wreck was sensational, so what was unusual about the accident he mentioned?

      “I’m sorry to hear about your loss.”

      “It’s a miracle that I wasn’t killed too, and considering the physical suffering of the past few months, there have been times when I wished I had died, but I’m still alive and disabled. The surgeons have done all they can and suggested that I enroll in a rehabilitation program.”

      “What do you know about our work here at NLC?” Connie asked, wondering if Joseph was the type to readily accept the strict regimen required at the Center.

      “Not a thing,” he said, and added with a broad smile, “I’d never heard of the place until yesterday. But what difference does it make? My surgeon said that you could recommend a physical program to strengthen my thigh and leg. What else do I need to know?”

      “Quite a lot. You see, Mr. Caldwell, NLC’s focus differs from most physical fitness centers. Our goal is to heal the mind and spirit as well as the body.”

      He laughed shortly. “There’s nothing wrong with my mind and spirit. I have an injured limb. That’s all I want from you.”

      Connie swiveled in her chair toward the cabinet behind her. She took out several pamphlets and handed them to Joseph, and when he refused to take them, she laid the booklets on the desk in front of him.

      “I suggest you read those, Mr. Caldwell. You need to know the basic purpose of NLC before we can continue. I’ll be in the office working with my secretary, and I’ll talk with you again in a half hour.”

      Joseph’s gray eyes hardened, and he glared at her. He hadn’t picked up the brochures before she left the office and closed the door behind her. Kim turned questioning eyes in her direction, but Connie shrugged her shoulders and said, “Let’s check through the bills we need to pay this month.”

      They’d been working about three minutes when her office door opened abruptly. A sardonic grin spreading across his face, Joseph ripped the pamphlets she’d given him and dropped the pieces into the wastepaper container.

      “No, thanks, Miss Harmon. I won’t accept your services. I had enough Bible training when I was a child to do me a lifetime. I’ll come here for physical training, but nothing else.”

      “You apparently didn’t read enough to find out our application procedure, Mr. Caldwell. We have a limited clientele, and our staff decides who enrolls here. The patient doesn’t have the last word.”

      Favoring his left leg, and leaning heavily on the cane, Joseph turned toward the door. “Then I’m sorry I bothered you, Miss Harmon.”

      Well, that takes care of rebounding into his arms! she thought.

      Either from anger or fatigue, Joseph’s body trembled as he walked down the hallway, and his leg buckled when he reached the foyer. If there hadn’t been a couch handy, he’d have collapsed on the floor. Stifling a groan, he rubbed his thigh, which felt as if it was on fire. What was he going to do? Had he been too hasty in rejecting NLC’s services? Joseph considered himself a man of integrity and truth, but he hadn’t been completely honest with Connie Harmon. His life had been out of sync long before Virginia’s death, and his injury and the unsettling incidents following the accident had shattered his peace of mind. Over the past six months, he didn’t know which had been the most painful—his physical wounds or his mental anguish. Where had he gone wrong with Virginia? What had happened to the marriage that had started out so promising?

      When the throbbing in his leg lessened to a dull ache, Joseph stood and started toward the door, but he sat down again. He remembered what Dr. Melrose had said the day before. “Joseph, I can’t do anything more for you, but it is possible for you to be healed. You’re fretting about the circumstances of Virginia’s death, and that keeps you from concentrating on your recovery. Since you were driving, no doubt you feel guilty, and you’ll have to move beyond that before you’re physically well. I know a place that can help you.”

      He’d spent many hours thinking about Dr. Melrose’s recommendation, and he’d come to NLC this morning with a sense of anticipation. He was normally an even-tempered person, so why had he been so antagonistic toward Connie Harmon? Suddenly the answer was obvious. He’d experienced a physical attraction to her the minute she’d walked into the office, and he resented her because she’d sparked an emotional yearning he’d stifled for years. He had remained faithful to Virginia in spite of their problems, and after her death, he’d vowed to refrain from future involvement with women. Developing a romantic interest in Connie Harmon would be the worst thing that could happen to him now. Surely Dr. Melrose could recommend another facility that wasn’t operated by a young, attractive woman who had shattered his determination to avoid the opposite sex with one lovely smile.

      Joseph struggled to his feet again and started toward the door. He stopped and looked down the hallway. Was NLC his last hope for healing—and for living a normal life? If he left, would he always be physically handicapped? Did a new life await him if he stayed? He stood at the crossroads. Which way should he go?

      As they listened to his faltering footsteps, Kim and Connie exchanged glances. This wasn’t the first irate prospect they’d lost, but Connie knew that Joseph desperately needed their services. Unless he recovered his mobility, his ability to operate his ranch would be limited.

      “Too bad!” Kim said, her brown eyes wretched. “He’s a man who needs some help.”

      “But he’s apparently too proud to accept it. We can’t help those who won’t cooperate.” Drawing a deep breath, Connie said, “I’m not in the mood for bills, but we might as well ruin the whole morning. Do we have the money to pay our debts?”

      “Cheer up,” Kim said, as she handed Connie a list of current expenditures and receipts. “We’ll be a few dollars in the black this month.”

      Connie couldn’t keep her mind on their work, and she finally leaned back in the chair. “I’d heard that Mr. Caldwell was injured in an auto accident that also resulted in the death of his wife. Do you know anything else about it?”

      “Actually, I heard more about it than I wanted to,” Kim said with a laugh. “When Virginia Caldwell was killed, Rose gave me a blow-by-blow description of everything that happened.”

      Surprised, Connie asked, “Rose Nash? Our cook?”

      Kim nodded.

      “Why would she be interested?”

      “She worked for Virginia Caldwell’s family, the Perrys, for several years, when Virginia and her brother, George, were children. She was hired as the cook, but I’ve gathered she did some baby-sitting, too. The Perrys were rich socialites and they were away from home quite a lot. She also knew Joseph after he and Virginia were married.”

      “I try not to listen to gossip,” Connie said, “but since I’ve heard this much, I might as well learn what else you know. I’m curious about him, and also interested in why his surgeon suggested NLC when there are so many excellent health centers in Denver. Does Joseph need more than physical therapy?”

      “Virginia’s death was caused by a blow to the head, but the authorities questioned whether she died from being struck during the accident, or from a fall she’d had earlier.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “According to Rose, Joseph found his wife unconscious and bleeding from a head wound, and he was taking her to the hospital when the accident occurred. There probably wouldn’t have been an investigation, except for the note Virginia had sent to her brother the day before her death. I don’t remember the exact words, but it was something like, ‘He’s got all of my money. I have nothing else to give him except my life. I’m afraid.’ George Perry jumped to the conclusion that she meant Joseph and he went to the police.”

      “I can’t imagine how I missed all of that,” Connie said.