Read Online Family for Keeps & Sadie's Hero by Margaret Daley - Free Book Online

my body protests and creaks, I don’t feel young.”
    “How old are you? Thirty-two? Thirty-three?”
    “Thirty-four.”
    “Oh, what an old man you are,” she teased, enjoying the heightened color that crept into his cheeks.
    “Okay. Turnabout is fair play. How old are you?”
    “Didn’t your mother tell you never to ask a lady her age?”
    “Yes. How old are you, Tess?”
    The mischievous gleam in his eyes made her heart beat faster. “Twenty-eight. Much younger than you.”
    “I’m robbing the cradle.”
    She tensed, realizing how easy it would be to fall in love with Mac. She wouldn’t do that to herself again. “But we aren’t dating.”
    “This was supposed to be a date. Remember?”
    “Yes, but I canceled.”
    “I’m here. I didn’t let you cancel.”
    “Well—” She couldn’t think of anything to say to that declaration. She snapped her mouth closed and stared at him.
    “But you’re right—this really isn’t a proper date. So you owe me one. Let’s say next Saturday night, and don’t leave any messages on my answering machine begging off.”
    Tess rose, busying herself by taking her plate and cup to the sink. “I’m sorry. I am busy next Saturday night.”
    “Washing your hair?”
    “No.”
    “Cleaning your bathroom?”
    “No, I’m working. I’m pulling double shifts for the next few weeks. We’re shorthanded at the hospital.”
    She listened to the scrape of his chair across the linoleum, then his footsteps covering the distance between them. He placed his dishes in the sink next to hers, his arm brushing against hers. Tension whipped down her body as she turned on the water, her hands trembling.
    “Thanks for the sandwich. I’d better go. I’ll be seeing you.”
    Surprised—and somewhat disappointed—that he gave up so fast, Tess dried her hands and followed him from the kitchen. “I appreciate your understanding about this evening.” She opened the front door and leaned on it while he stepped over the threshold.
    Turning, he smiled. “Any time. Good night, Tess.”
    She watched him walk toward his car, perplexed at her reaction to him leaving so abruptly. Wasn’t that what she wanted? To be left alone? Then why did it bother her that he didn’t fight longer for a date with her?
    Mac sat in his car staring at the closed door to Tess’s apartment. Like her heart. Closed to the Lord. Closed to people who cared about her.
    Heavenly Father, give me the guidance and strength to help Tess through her hurt and pain. She needs You. Help me make her see that.
    As he started his sedan, he suddenly knew what he would do to help Tess. In the dark, he smiled.

Chapter Five

    T ess stared out the picture window that overlooked the hospital parking lot, the mountains in the background. “Where is Johnny?”
    “They’ll find him, Tess.” Delise laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Where would a ten-year-old boy go?”
    “I knew he was going to run away.”
    “And you told Mrs. Hocks your fears. That was all you could do.”
    “He’s been gone for two days. It still gets cold at night here.”
    Delise’s tightening clasp on Tess’s shoulder conveyed her support. “I know. About all we can do right now is pray.”
    Tess rejected that option. She had tried it once, and it hadn’t helped. She whirled. “I can do more than pray. I know that when my shift is over I’m hitting the streets again.”
    “You were out searching for Johnny the past two evenings. You don’t even know where to look. Let the police handle this.”
    “I can’t sit home and wait. I have to do something. Even if it’s driving around looking, it’s better than sitting home and waiting for the phone to ring.” Or worse, the phone not ringing. Tess ignored her friend’s worried look as she headed to the nurses’ station.
    Delise followed her. “I can’t go with you tonight. I’m working a double shift. I don’t like you going out looking by yourself. Some of the places we went last night