Her Texas Hero by Kat Brookes Page A

something about it.
    â€œMommy...”
    Audra turned to find her daughter standing in the doorway. “Sweetie, what are you doing out of bed?”
    Her daughter rubbed her sleep-filled eyes as she looked up at her. “I had a bad dream. Did you have one, too?”
    Audra knelt in front of her little girl. “No, honey. Mommy just has a lot on her mind and it’s making it hard for me to sleep.” Reaching out, she brushed her daughter’s fine, silky hair away from her tiny face. “Would you like to tell me about your bad dream?”
    Her daughter hesitated before lowering her gaze to the floor and shaking her head.
    â€œTalking about it might make you feel better,” she told her. “And sharing your fears with someone else can sometimes help to chase them far away.”
    Lily looked up at her once more, biting at her bottom lip as Audra sometimes did when she was troubled over something. “Can I sleep in your bed tonight?”
    She smiled down at her daughter. “If you promise not to take all the covers.”
    â€œI promise.”
    Audra stood and lifted Lily into her arms, carrying her over to the bed. Lowering her atop the turned-down sheets, she lovingly tucked her daughter in. Then, with a worried sigh, she settled down onto the edge of the mattress. “Did you have a bad dream about snakes?” she asked, having had one or two herself since their run-in with that huge rat snake in the backyard.
    Lily shook her head. “No. I dreamed that we moved away.”
    â€œTo another house?” she said, certain that her children would be thrilled to live anywhere but in the old, dilapidated house Audra had chosen for them. But if that were so, her daughter’s dream wouldn’t have been a bad one.
    â€œNo,” she said with a sleepy pout. “We moved far away from Braxton and our new house.”
    Lily’s reply took her by surprise. “You like living in this big old house?”
    Her daughter nodded.
    Thank You, Lord, for that small blessing. It would break her heart to know her children were so unhappy with their new home they were having nightmares about it. “I’m glad you’re happy here. And I promise to make our house a very warm, wonderful place to live in. It’s just going to take Mommy a little time to get everything done.”
    â€œSo we won’t have to move again?” Lily said almost anxiously.
    â€œI have no plans to,” she told her with a reassuring smile.
    â€œGood, ’cause I like playing with Katie,” she said sleepily. “And I like Carter.”
    â€œMr. Cooper,” Audra promptly amended.
    â€œMr. Cooper,” Lily mumbled softly. “Even if he doesn’t like us anymore.”
    â€œWhy would you think he doesn’t like us?” Audra asked, her brows knitting in concern.
    Lily yawned, her eyes closing. “Because he doesn’t come see us anymore...” Her daughter’s words drifted off as she settled into sleep, but they remained firm in Audra’s mind long into the night.
    * * *
    â€œHow are things coming along out at Ms. Marshall’s place?” Nathan asked as he stepped from the kitchen, placing the pot of chili he’d made for that night’s dinner onto the table. Katie followed behind with a basket of corn bread.
    â€œCouldn’t say,” Carter mumbled, feeling that ever-present tug of guilt he had when it came to Audra Marshall and her two children. Guilt he was forever trying to convince himself he shouldn’t be feeling. After all, he’d rescued her from her porch roof, helped move all her belongings into her new house, replaced her back door and trimmed all of her hedges. Surely, he’d fulfilled his Christian duty. Or so he kept trying to convince himself. If that were so, why then did it feel as though he’d abandoned her?
    â€œYou haven’t talked to her lately?” Logan said with a