Read Online Bold Beauty by Dandi Daley Mackall - Free Book Online Page A

make first-timers raise their hands! I felt so uncomfortable for Dad.
    Dad raised his hand.
    I looked around. One woman, about a hundred years old, raised her hand, too. I thought I’d seen her in church before.
    â€œWell, welcome!” Ralph grinned at Dad. “I’m just filling in as pastor. Some of you may have met me down at the animal shelter. I admit I’m not much of a speaker. But that’s all right, I guess. This way if I say anything that makes sense, we can be pretty sure it comes from the good Lord.”
    People chuckled. I glanced at Dad but couldn’t tell if he was smiling or gritting his teeth.
    Ralph prayed with his eyes open. “God, thanks for this pretty day! I couldn’t have thought up all these colors if you gave me all eternity to do it!” Then he went on, thanking God for stuff, including “the new people.”
    Finally, he got to his sermon. “I like the name Jesus. But I also love the name we hear around Christmas— Immanuel. It means ‘God with us.’ Isn’t that a great thing! I know. We’re still in September. But Immanuel isn’t just for Christmas. He’s for every day of the year. After all, it’s only when I forget that God’s always ‘with us’ that I end up in a mess of trouble. But when I remember Jesus is with me, things work out.”
    Ralph read the story about the disciples getting caught in a fishing boat during a raging storm. “Can’t you just see those big, brave fishermen scared silly? And Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat, calm as you please? I bet those fishermen tried every skill they had until one of ’em remembered Jesus was on board! Immanuel. And that’s all it took to get them out of that mess.”
    When church ended, I wanted to hurry out to the van before Pat spotted me. No such luck.
    â€œWhoa! Winnie!” Pat blocked the aisle. “Any-who, how’s it going?”
    Could she have missed my black eye? “Fine. Thanks.”
    â€œSwell!” Pat greeted my dad, then turned back to me. “I can give you a lift to the pet store if you want to answer those horse e-mails now.”
    I glanced at Dad. “I probably should catch up on the Pet Help Line.”
    â€œGood idea,” Dad said.
    I followed Pat to her car. She swept up her red-and-white checked dress to get in and then flung her straw church hat into the backseat.
    We were out of the church lot when she asked, “So, Winnie, how did you get your shiner?”
    A setup! Winnie Willis, you should have seen it coming! I stared out the window, imagining a getaway on Nickers. “I fell.”
    â€œUh-huh,” Pat mumbled.
    I faked a laugh. “Clumsy as an ox—no offense!”
    She didn’t laugh at my imitation of her “no offense” line. Pat was tougher than Lizzy and Dad put together. “What did you do after I left yesterday?”
    â€œHung out with Catman.” I willed her to drive faster.
    â€œDidn’t jump that hunter, did you?” she asked.
    â€œBeauty’s going to make an ace jumper, Pat!” I was doing word gymnastics to keep from out-and-out lying. “And thanks to your help, she’s not scared of cars anymore.”
    â€œMmm-hmm.”
    I could have walked faster than Pat drove.
    â€œSo everything went fine with Beauty?”
    â€œSure.” Okay, not fine exactly. It was getting tougher to dance around the truth.
    â€œAnything else you want to tell me, Winnie?”
    â€œJust that I’m sorry about being too chicken to debate abortion.”
    When Pat didn’t jump in with her “no offense” line, I cleared my throat. “Did you get anybody else yet?”
    â€œHuh-uh.”
    Finally we pulled up in front of Pat’s Pets, a brick building off Main Street. Pat unlocked the door. When she turned on the lights, dogs barked and birds fluttered against their