Restless Heart by Emma Lang Page B

before he went to sleep at night. Perhaps then he wouldn’t have bad dreams.
    The coffee was finally ready and he could hardly wait to pour a cup. It wasn’t dawn yet, so the dark, hot brew was much needed. He closed his eyes and sipped it slowly. Theheat slid down his throat like nectar. He might be a terrible cook but, damn, he made good coffee.
    A knock at the door made the coffee splash on his hand.
    “Shit.” He set the cup down on the counter and shook his hand against the pain.
    With a frown, he went to the front door. He didn’t know who would be at the newspaper office at five in the morning, but the knock didn’t bode well. Sam walked as fast as his stiff leg could carry him and by the time he made it to the door, whoever was on the other side was pounding like a hammer on it.
    “I’m coming, I’m coming.” Sam had the awful notion something had happened to Angeline. His heart froze at the thought.
    He yanked open the door to find Jessup on the front stoop. The old man’s nose was red as a beet and crusty with mucus. He stared hard at Sam, his expression as serious as the blackness of the night behind him.
    “Jessup, what are you doing here?”
    “I seen your pa.” Jessup wiped his nose on an equally dirty sleeve. “He was out yonder by the lake in just his union suit. I tried to run him down but that man is fast as a greased pig.”
    Sam’s fear about Angeline turned to ice-cold terror at the thought his father was out in the cold morning alone. “Where is he now?”
    “Dunno. It’s dark and I lost sight of him. I ran right over here to get you.” Jessup looked genuinely concerned.
    “Let me get my trousers on.” Ignoring the pain in his leg, Sam sprinted up the stairs to his room and yanked on his clothes. Guilt washed over him, filling him with remorse for not making sure his father was safe. Sam knew his pa was suffering, that his brain was losing bits and pieces of itself.
    Now he was out in nearly freezing temperatures with noclothes and maybe even no shoes. Sam tried to tamp down his panic, but it bubbled through him as if he’d eaten poison.
    Sam’s leg was screaming by the time he made it back downstairs. The front door was wide open and Jessup was gone. Sam cursed and yanked on his boots so hard, he lost his balance and fell backward into the wall.
    Stars exploded behind his eyes as he gasped at the pain. Tears stung his eyes as he finished pulling on his boots a bit more slowly.
    “Sam?”
    Angeline’s voice cut through his fog of self-pity and fear. He glanced up to find her in the doorway, her eyes wide with concern. She wore her blue dress with the buttons done up wrong, a shawl around her shoulders, and her blond hair in a cloud as if she’d just risen from bed.
    Sam thought she’d never looked more beautiful.
    “Jessup came and got me. He said you were in trouble.” She stepped into the house and held out her hand to him. “Let’s go find your father.”
    Without asking any questions, she simply accepted that he needed help and came to his side. If he needed proof their connection was strong, it was right there in front of him.
    He got to his feet and took her hand. “My father is down by the lake. We’ll need light.”
    “Jessup has a lantern. He’s waiting for us.”
    He couldn’t begin to express enough gratitude to his friends for their help. God only knew what he’d done right to deserve it, but he was not about to question it.
    As they walked out the door together, the wind immediately cut into his face. He held his hat down with one hand and walked toward the light at the end of the street. It had to be Jessup, the crazy old man who had suddenly become his guardian angel. It was frigid, cold enough to make his hands numb by the time they’d walked the half mile to the edge of the lake.
    Jessup was nearly dancing in place. “‘Bout time you got here. I’m freezing my balls off.”
    Angeline made a choking sound.
    “Jessup, just tell me where you saw