Read Online Making His Way Home by Kathryn Springer - Free Book Online

come back to Mirror Lake was that God had provided an open door. One that would bring him that much closer to fulfilling his dream.
    That was the important thing now, not trying to sift through his emotions regarding a certain brown-eyed girl from his past.

Chapter Seven
    “T urn left by the library.”
    Grace pointed out the passenger-side window as Cole turned onto Main Street. “We’ll probably have to walk a little ways. It’s going to be hard to find a place to park.”
    She was right. Even though it was six-thirty in the morning, he had to drive around the block three times before he found an empty space.
    Cole turned the key in the ignition and hopped out of the car. Dew still beaded the grass, but the cloudless sky was the shade of blue that promised a perfect summer day.
    Above his head, a tiny glint of silver cut a path through the sky, the jet stream leaving behind a cryptic message in flowing white cursive that only another pilot could appreciate and understand.
    On a morning like this, he usually couldn’t wait to climb into the cockpit. Alone. Aim straight toward the clouds and watch everything below him shrink in size. Houses. Cars.
    His problems.
    Flying was his escape. And in a strange paradox, it was the one thing, other than his faith, that had kept him grounded over the years.
    Suddenly, Cole realized that a day like this would only be perfect if Grace were at his side.
    “Miss Grace!”
    Cole saw a blur as two small children hurtled toward them across the lawn.
    Grace immediately dropped to the ground and gathered the boy and girl into her arms. “Are you having fun?”
    The younger one, a pixie with wispy blond hair and enormous periwinkle blue eyes, nodded. “Aunt Jenna says we can have ice cream after we watch the fireworks tonight.”
    Fireworks?
    He glanced at Grace but she avoided his eyes.
    “Ice cream sounds like a great idea.” Rising to her feet, Grace settled the little girl on one slim hip.
    “Who are you?” The boy attached himself to Grace’s arm and stared up at Cole suspiciously.
    “I’m Cole. Grace’s teammate.” He put out his hand and it was taken in a surprisingly firm grip.
    “I’m Logan J. Gardner and this is my sister, Tori.”
    Cole tamped down a smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”
    “Aunt Jenna said she and Dev are going to win the contest today,” Logan informed them. “’Cuz Dev knows how to do all kinds of cool stuff.”
    “He’s a wildlife photographer,” Grace explained, “with survival skills.”
    “He can start a fire without matches, and he doesn’t burn the marshmallows,” Tori announced.
    Grace laughed and planted a kiss on the girl’s plump cheek. “I’m not sure how we can compete with that.”
    “Let’s go, Tori.” Logan grabbed his sister by the hand. “Maybe Aunt Jenna will let us play on the swings for a while.”
    “Cute kids,” Cole said as they scampered back to a couple standing underneath the branches of one of the oak trees that dotted the park. He recognized the striking, blue-eyed blonde as Jenna McGuire, one of the four women Grace had introduced him to after the box social. The dark-haired man standing next to her had the bronzed, rugged look of someone used to spending time outdoors. “Have you known them a long time?”
    Grace hesitated. “I was assigned to the Gardner family last summer, and I met Jenna when she moved to Mirror Lake to take care of the children. She’s their aunt, but she was granted full custody of Logan and Tori because their mother was no longer in a position to care for them. They’re doing great...”
    Now.
    Cole heard the unspoken word and read between the lines. There’d been a time when that hadn’t been true. Grace might have been Logan and Tori’s caseworker, but the affection he’d seen in her eyes, the way she’d wrapped her arms around them, said what she hadn’t. The children were more than names in a file.
    “Your job must be difficult,” he said slowly, trying to