Eternity's Mark Read Online Free Page B

while. Perhaps he’d do more than just ask for Millie. After all, a man must eat. Glancing around the restaurant, he opted to sit at the counter for now, at least until he’d talked to this Millie.
    â€œWhat’ll you have?” A perky blonde asked as she poured a glass of ice water and slid it in front of him.
    â€œWould ye happen to be Millie?” Taggart asked, lacing his fingers around the cold, slick glass and rubbing his thumbs across the rim. He didn’t miss her sharp intake of breath or the way she narrowed her pale blue eyes.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI need to reach Hannah MacPherson. It’s quite urgent and the sign at her clinic said to ask for Millie.” Taggart suppressed a smile. He read this transparent lass as easily as he would a child’s picture book. She stiffened even more, her hand curled into a fist on the edge of the counter when Taggart mentioned Hannah MacPherson’s name. What did she hide? Better yet, why was she so protective of his precious guardian?
    Millie turned away, snatched a coffeepot from the warming plate, and held it aloft as she edged her way out from behind the counter. “I’m Millie, but today’s a very full day on Dr. MacPherson’s calendar. I’m not going to interrupt her unless you tell me what you want. Like the sign said, it’s got to be an absolute emergency. Do you have an injured animal or something?”
    Taggart swirled the sweating glass of water in front him, smiling as he stared down at the rings of condensation swimming on the well-scrubbed counter. Millie guarded Hannah MacPherson as though she were the lass’s mother. Good. But he wasn’t the one Millie had to fear. He’d come prepared for just such a situation. Pulling a manila-bound packet from the inside pocket of his jacket, Taggart tossed it down the counter toward Millie. “Read this and I’m sure ye’ll understand why it’s of the utmost importance that I contact Ms. MacPherson right away. I’ve been trying to contact her for quite some time and as ye can see, the news is quite good.”
    Millie sat down the coffee urn, opened the packet, and withdrew the sheaf of papers from within. “Is this for real?” she asked with a glance over the top of the papers.
    â€œI wouldna be here if it were not.”
    Â 
    She had loaded down the rack of the ATV with sticky bundles of the fragrant honeysuckle flowers. The hillside rising behind her house crawled with the glossy, green flowering vines.
    Hannah leaned to the side as the ATV lumbered up the winding trail of the mountain. The growling machine wound between the gnarled trunks of towering oaks. The chunky wheels grabbed hold of rocks and roots blocking the path, grumbling over any obstacle Hannah ploughed through. Her heart grew heavier with every curve in the path. She could drive it with her eyes shut. She’d walked it more times then she’d driven it the first year Jake had been gone. The branches overhead blocked the sunlight, creating a green tunnel up the mountainside.
    Hannah loved this mountain with a passionate ache. She and Jake had planned on filling it with generations of MacPhersons when he’d returned from the war. Jake had promised her lots of babies. Jake had been the last one in his family and all of Hannah’s family was gone as well. Now Hannah lived all alone on their mountain, just her and all the animals.
    Hannah swiped her hand across her eyes. She’d promised herself she’d keep the tears to a minimum. She’d just end up with an aching head, a snotty nose, and a case of the hiccups until she puked. Everything happened for a reason in this world. Wasn’t that what Grandma had always told her? At least, she’d had several wonderful years with Jake. She could just hear Granny preach at her to quit whining about her worries now. Granny didn’t believe in dwelling on the negative. The stubborn old woman had