RaeAnne Thayne - Light the Stars

Still, there was something about Wade Montgomery….

What had she gotten herself into? she wondered as she set the few dishes from lunch in a sink full of soapy water and went in search of the boys. Or more precisely, what had Quinn dragged her into?

Here she was falling back into old patterns, just hours after she’d sworn that self-destructive behavior was behind her.

She had vowed she was done trying to clean up after Quinn. The only thing she’d ever gotten for her troubles was more heartache. The worst had been those four months she’d spent in jail in Washington state after Quinn had embroiled her in one of his schemes.

Even though she’d had nothing to do with any of it, had known nothing about it until she’d been arrested, she had been the one to pay the price until she had been cleared of the charges.

Even then she couldn’t bring herself to sever all ties with her father. Ironic, that, since she frequently counseled her clients to let go of harmful, destructive relationships.

Quinn wasn’t really destructive, at least not on purpose. He loved her and had done his best to raise her alone after her mother had died when she was eight. But she was weak when it came to him and she felt like she had spent her entire life trailing behind him with a broom and dustpan.

This time was different, she told herself. This time, three innocent children had been affected by Quinn’s heedless behavior. His impulsive elopement with Marjorie had totally upset the balance and rhythm of life here at 11 Cold Creek.

She knew from her coaching sessions with Marjorie that the older woman had been the primary caregiver to her three grandchildren since Wade’s wife had died two years earlier.

Marjorie hadn’t minded that part of her life and had loved the children, but she’d been lonely here at the ranch and hungered to find meaning beyond her duties caring for her son’s children.

Though intellectually Caroline knew she wasn’t responsible for Marjorie’s loneliness, for Quinn’s apparent flirtation that had deepened and become serious, she still felt guilty.

If not for her connection to Marjorie, the two would never have met, and Marjorie would have been home right now caring for her grandchildren.

Caroline had no choice but to help Wade in his mother’s absence. It was the decent, responsible thing to do.

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