Wandering Heart by Rita Hestand Page B

forgotten to duck."
    "Hey, she's got
a real shiner there. I think we better get her in the house and
take care of that right away." Cooper picked Angela up off the
ground and carried her into the house.
    "I can walk,
really I can," she protested, then touched her head with a slight
groan.
    "No problem.
You're light as a feather," he said smiling down at her.

CHAPTER
SIX
     
    An hour later
she basked in a warm tub of fragrant bath oils, squinting to see,
and trying to ignore the headache that seemed to make her whole
face and head throb.
    The day had
worried her. She fussed with Greg more than she cared to admit. And
worse until, she no longer responded to him the way she used to.
There was no fire in their relationship. Lately, he had been too
busy to give her much attention, and their relationship seemed on
hold due to his campaign. Until, a woman without a man in her life
for ten years needed fire. Perhaps working with him had taken
something away from the intimacy. That made sense.
    Her eyes closed
and before she realized it, fell fast asleep.
    It was a
restless sleep where dreams become reality. The same dream that had
haunted her for months came alive. And for once, she relaxed and
let it take over. She wasn't up to fighting it after being hit with
a baseball.
    He was with
her; her dream lover. This man filled her with his love, not quite
physically, yet spiritually. It felt so complete, so right. Just
being near him seemed to fill her with a calm she rarely felt. A
love so pure, so very right. If only she could see the man's face,
put a name to him. Why did this lovely dream haunt her so? He was
her knight in shining armour, always saving her from near
disaster.
    She could have
lost herself even deeper but the back door slamming had her head
coming off the back of the claw foot tub and reaching for a towel.
She dried quickly and slipped into the comfort of her soft, blue
terry robe, so she could go to her room and dress. She silently
scolded herself for taking a bath in the guest room, but she loved
the old tub.
    As she pattered
quickly, and quietly, toward her bedroom, a soft sultry voice
startled her into awareness. She whirled about to see Cooper
standing in the hallway staring after her, a crooked smile playing
on his rugged face. She suddenly noticed he had cut his hair. Dear
God, could it be that he was even more handsome now?
    "Hard day,
huh?"
    "Y…yes, as a
matter of fact it was."
    "Thought so.
You don't usually take a bath in the guest room. How's the
eye?"
    "Better. When
did you cut your hair?" she blurted out without thinking.
    "Yesterday
afternoon. I'm getting too old for that long hair stuff,
anyway."
    "It looks
nice," she barely uttered. "It's the first time you've had short
hair since I've known you."
    "Well, it looks
like my rowdy days are over. I guess I've quit bucking the
system."
    "Ah, what a
shame, I kinda liked the rebel in you," she said with a chuckle as
she continued to her bedroom.
    He laughed too.
"Want lemonade?" he called after her.
    "Sounds great.
Did you make it?"
    "No, actually
Josh made it."
    "Oh, where is
Josh?"
    "Over at Tim's
right now. Remember it's another one of those teacher days. We
finally broke that baler down and put it back together again. The
boys had a blast. They looked like two greased pigs before we were
through. Tim went home an hour or so before you got home. Josh said
Tim had a lot of chores to do this evening and Josh felt he should
help him since he helped us. So anyway, I let him go. He promised
to be home around seven thirty.
    "Did he ride
his bike over?"
    "As a matter of
fact they both did."
    "Good. I don't
like him walking after dark."
    "I can go get
him if it gets too dark."
    "That's okay.
I'm sure he'll be home on time. He's very reliable."
    "He's a good
kid."
    As Angela slid
into a pair of soft worn jeans and a favorite T-shirt she smiled,
enjoying the extreme change of clothes. "Hey, I've got a stew in
the crock-pot. How 'bout I make a pan of corn bread to