A Match Made in Texas- By Arlene James Page 0,52

with her foot. “I—I can’t imagine such a thing.”

He shot a wry look over one shoulder. “We’re a pair, huh? Your father doesn’t want to let go of you. Mine doesn’t give me the time of day.”

“H-how do you know that? About my father, I mean.”

Stephen shrugged, not looking at her. “Little things you’ve said. A phone conversation I overheard. The fact that you still live at home.”

“Not still,” she said, knowing that she sounded defensive. She walked around to stoop and adjust the foot and leg rests so he could stand.

“Right. Again,” Stephen acknowledged dryly. “You’re living at home again. And your father likes it that way.”

“Is there anything wrong with that?” she asked, straightening and backing away.

“I don’t know,” Stephen said, putting his good foot on the floor. “Is there?” Pushing up with his good arm, he levered his weight onto his foot. Kaylie moved into position to assist him, using the need to do so to forestall answering his question. He didn’t press it. Nevertheless, she felt compelled to answer him. He motioned toward the bathroom, and she helped him take two hopping steps in that direction. Grasping the door frame with his good hand, he prepared to move inside on his own, and Kaylie suddenly found herself blurting the truth.

“He thinks I shouldn’t marry, just stay home and take care of him.”

Stephen leaned against the door frame, twisting so that he could face her, one eyebrow cocked.

“Some are called to remain single,” she defended, lifting her chin. “Just look at my aunts. None of them have ever married—though I’ve heard that Auntie Od and Mr. Copelinger down at the pharmacy might have if…” She shook her head over the irrelevancy of that. “It even says it in the Bible.”

“You’re kidding. I thought the Bible was all for marriage.”

“Well, yes, except for certain circumstances, then it’s better not to marry.”

Stephen studied her for several seconds. Abruptly, he turned away, hopping through the door.

“Sweetheart,” he said, shaking his head, “if ever I’ve met a woman meant to be a wife, it’s you.”

He hopped around to catch the edge of the door and push it closed, but her hand came up, seemingly of its own volition, and blocked it. Cocking an eyebrow, he waited.

“Wh-what makes you say that?” Somehow, she just had to know.

Stephen tilted his head and leaned down, bringing them nose to nose. She saw that he was trembling and feared that his strength had played out, but she waited breathlessly for his reply anyway.

“Because,” he said, the very lightness of his voice heavy with meaning, “you’re the first woman I’ve met that I would even consider marrying.”

Chapter Ten

Because you’re the first woman I’ve met that I would even consider marrying.

The words echoed inside Kaylie’s head. Stephen would consider marrying her. She was the first woman whom he would consider marrying. Consider. Marrying.

Suddenly she found herself reliving that kiss. She felt the connection again, the surprising excitement and rightness of it, the unfamiliar warmth and yearning. It was the last that had frightened her so, causing her to jerk back. Blinking, she was astonished to find that Stephen had pushed the door closed in her face.

She comprehended two facts simultaneously. One, several moments had passed. Two, she was in grave danger of losing her heart.

The hopelessness of the situation swamped her.

Her father was already convinced that she had been called to remain single, but even were he not, he would certainly never approve of her marrying a man like Stephen Gallow. Should she do so, she might well find herself more at odds with her father than her brother Chandler was, even estranged from him. Hub disapproved of Chandler’s lifestyle, finding the sometimes hard-drinking, hard-partying, often brutally dangerous atmosphere of the pro rodeo circuit unsupportive of a Christian lifestyle, despite the Cowboy Church “phenomenon,” as he called it. Would Hub think any better of hockey?

She couldn’t imagine that he would, and she had always strived to honor her parents with her choices and decisions. How could she abandon that now, and was that not what a romantic involvement with Stephen would require? Suddenly she wanted to run for the hills again, to get as far away from this temptation as she could. Blindly, she started for the door, only to stumble into Stephen’s wheelchair—and the realization that she could not leave him.

The man could barely get around with assistance; on his own, he was trapped. She was bound by duty, both as a nurse and a Christian,