Her Texas Hero Read Online Free

smart-as-a-whip little boy made his heart ache for them.
    Life was too precious. He’d learned that a little over a year before, when the F4 twister took the lives of his parents and his sister-in-law. It was a day that would never be erased from his mind. He and Nathan had been the ones to find their parents. They’d pulled their momma’s lifeless body from the rubble that had once been their family home and then found their daddy, broken and bloodied, close by. By then rescuers had arrived and a desperate search went on for Isabel and Katie. Carter had been the one to find Isabel, who’d looked like a broken doll. Her last words had been “Keep them safe and happy for me, Carter.” Words he would honor. Words he had kept to himself, not wanting Nathan to know his beloved wife had suffered even in the slightest before passing. It was better that way.
    Katie, who the rescuers had found cut and bleeding, her leg severely broken, in what had once been his parents’ hall closet, had been the only survivor. Their daddy, who had been severely injured, was called home to the Lord just a day after losing his beloved wife of thirty-two years. His brother had done his best to fill the void Isabel’s death had left in their young daughter’s life, but it had taken a toll on Nathan emotionally. On all of them, truth be told. The tragedy of that day had changed all of their lives forever. And unlike houses, which could be repaired, hearts were a whole different story. His brothers were living proof of that.
    â€œYou’re really tall,” Lily said, drawing Carter back from his troubled thoughts. She looked up at him from her perch atop the porch swing, where she sat beside her mother. The same light brown eyes flecked with gold as her mother’s. The same honey-brown hair.
    â€œReckon I am,” he replied with a grin.
    â€œBet you could reach the spiderweb curtains on my windows.”
    â€œLily,” Audra gasped, “Mr. Cooper is not cleaning the cobwebs from your windows.”
    â€œI happen to be real good at removing cobwebs from high places,” he said. “I’d be happy to—”
    â€œWe’ve held Mr. Cooper up long enough,” she said, not giving him the chance to offer any more assistance than he already had. Easing her young daughter upright in the swing, Audra Marshall pushed to her feet. “I’ll show you to the back door so you can take a quick look at it and then you can get on your way.”
    As he followed her into the house, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was anxious to get rid of him because he’d overstayed his welcome, or if she really felt like she’d imposed on his time.
    â€œI’d ask you to forgive the mess,” she called back over her shoulder as she made her way toward the back of the house, “but I assume you understand.”
    â€œCompletely,” he replied. He did a mental sweep around him. The outside was in need of major repairs, but the inside was far worse. A major undertaking for even a professional like himself. “So you’re gonna be hiring someone to do the necessary repairs to the house?”
    â€œI hadn’t planned on it,” she replied as she led him down a wide hallway.
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œI came here with the intention of doing most of it myself,” she explained without slowing her steps.
    â€œMommy can fix anything,” Lily said as she scurried to walk beside him. “She fixed my dolly’s broken arm.”
    He chuckled, slowing his step to allow her to keep up. His gaze dropped down to her adorable little face. “Did she now?”
    â€œA little glue goes a long way,” Audra said, her determined strides taking her into the kitchen.
    Maybe when it came to small fix-its. But glue wasn’t going to make this house habitable. “You really should reconsider hiring someone on to help with the repairs.”
    â€œThere