Read Online A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman - Free Book Online Page A

along with the tease in her tone. She drew in a deep breath, avoiding Faith’s eyes as she idly traced the dimple of Miss Kewpie’s knee. “You don’t understand, Faith, he was . . . well, really hurtful to me.” A sudden malaise settled and she buffed her arms out of nervous habit, fingers trailing down to the tip of her elbows where the lesions had once been. She swallowed hard, remembering with perfect clarity the hurt she had felt that day – the day Cluny McGee had stabbed her through the heart. Seconds passed before she was able to even utter the words, and when she did, she expelled them in a weak and wounded whisper. “He called me a leper, a freak of nature,” she said, shocked that the very sound of those words still held the power to bring tears to her eyes.
    Faith’s smile sobered into soft concern. She reached to place a gentle hand on her sister’s arm. “I’m sorry, Katie. That was a cruel thing for him to say, I know, especially after all the taunting you experienced in school. But he was just a boy at the time, and it was a long time ago. I’m sure he’s changed.”
    Katie reflected on his harsh grip last night at the diner and suspected he hadn’t. Nice girls don’t run with riffraff. A chill skittered through her, and she quickly finished off the last of her lemonade. She thumped the glass on the table and faced her sister square on. “No, Faith, someone as ugly as he was to me doesn’t change deep down. Other kids didn’t know how much they hurt me with their barbs because I never showed them. But him – I actually opened up to him and told him how much it had hurt. For pity’s sake, he was the one who talked me into taking off the sweaters and knee socks, telling me it didn’t matter what others thought. I swear I never liked him from the get-go because he was a dead ringer for all those bullies who taunted me in school – always picking, pushing, doing everything in his power to try and control me. And then one day I finally let my guard down and confide in the little weasel, and what does he do? He turns around and wounds me with the most hateful words he can.” Katie rose to take her glass to the sink, shaking her head. “Nope, I’m sorry, Faith – Cluny McGee is one bad memory I will never forget or forgive.”
    Faith’s voice was quiet. “You need to, you know . . . or the hurt will never leave.”
    Katie peered over her shoulder at the sister whose faith in God was second to none, and wondered if she would ever experience the same calm and peace she saw in her. She returned to the task of washing her glass, then dried it and put it away. “Can we change the subject, please? Something is souring my stomach, and I don’t think it’s the lemonade.”
    “Okay . . .” her sister said slowly. “Then . . . what about Father – are you still mad at him too?”
    Katie plopped into her chair with a huff, slapping through the pages of her Vogue without a clue of what she was looking for. “Of course – wouldn’t you be? I mean, sweet saints, Faith, the man rules this house like a tyrant, always dictating what Steven and I can and cannot do.” She glanced up, brows lifted in indignation. “And now he wants to rob me of my summer with Jack so I can bow and scrape to the one person I despise most in my life?” She shivered and continued rifling through her magazine. “I’m sorry, but in my book, that puts Father at the top of my mud list . . . right after Luke McGee.”
    Her sister didn’t respond, and Katie heaved the magazine closed with a scowl. “Come on, Faith, even someone as Godfearing as you doesn’t like to be pushed around. Have you forgotten how angry you were every time Collin tried to get you to quit your job at the Herald before you got pregnant with the girls?”
    Faith sighed and propped her elbows on the table, hands clasped except for two tented fingers against her lips as she pondered Katie’s question. “No . . . no, I haven’t. I was furious