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

relative.”
    “I’m not sure that’s the answer. Johnny has told me he doesn’t want to live with relatives he doesn’t know. To him they’d be no different than foster parents.”
    The blare of Tess’s cell phone cut into the silence. Startled, she jumped. “I forgot I left it on.” She fumbled in her purse and pulled it out, flipping it open. “Tess here.”
    “Johnny’s been brought into the hospital. He’s down in the emergency room right now. I thought you’d want to know.”
    “We’ll be right there, Delise. Thanks for calling.” Tess clicked off and told Mac about Johnny.
    He made a U-turn in the middle of the road and headed for the hospital. “At least he’ll be warm tonight.”
    “And from now on, if I have anything to do with it,” Tess said, not sure how she was going to follow through with her vow.

     
    “He’s lucky he didn’t freeze to death.” Tess stared at Johnny asleep in the hospital bed, his face pale and thin, dark circles under his eyes. “How do I make him realize he’s not alone, Mac, that there are people who care about him?”
    “With the Lord’s help.” Mac came up behind her.
    She felt his presence down the length of her even though he didn’t touch her. She stiffened, resisting him, resisting his words. “I’m going to depend on my powers of persuasion. You can depend on God.”
    “I’ve asked you before what happened to make you turn away from the Lord.”
    “He let me down when I needed Him the most.”
    “Are you so sure of that?”
    Tess spun and took a step back to put some space between them. “Most definitely.” She kept her voice low, aware of the child in the bed behind her.
    “Do you say that because He didn’t do what you wanted? Sometimes, Tess, we have to put our faith in the knowledge that our Lord knows what is best, not us.”
    Her fingernails dug into her palms. “All I wanted was for a good man who served God to live to continue his ministry.”
    Suddenly the room seemed to stifle her. She fled into the hallway and leaned against the wall, drawing in shallow breaths. The click of the door closing brought her head up. She stabbed Mac with a narrowed look and hoped he got the hint. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore. The pain speared her heart, and she bled all over again as though the wound was fresh.
    “Tess—”
    She held up her hand. “Please, Mac. I didn’t say that so we could start a discussion.”
    “I stand by what I said. We don’t always know what the Lord wants of us or our loved ones.” He lifted his hand toward her. “Now, let me walk you to your car. You need to get some sleep.”
    Combing her fingers through her hair, she avoided his touch, knowing its enticing lure. Instead, she attempted a smile that she knew failed and asked, “Gee, do I look that bad?”
    “No, but you do look exhausted. Those double shifts are beginning to add up.”
    “I’m staying. I need to reassure myself that Johnny will be here tomorrow morning. That he won’t somehow get up in the middle of the night and escape before I can talk to him.”
    “You can’t be with him all the time. There comes a time when you have to put faith—”
    She pressed her fingers against his mouth and instantly regretted touching him. She dropped her hand and moved away, her back coming in contact with the door into Johnny’s room. “Don’t say it. I’m staying. Good night, Mac.”
    “Then I’ll stay with you and keep you company.”
    “You have a family at home.”
    “I have a live-in housekeeper who takes excellent care of Amy. She’ll be fine. You, on the other hand, I’m not so sure about.”
    “You aren’t my keeper.”
    “I know that. You’ve made it perfectly clear to me and everyone else that you want to stand on your own two feet.”
    Her chin came up a notch. “And what’s so bad about that?”
    “I hate to say a cliché, but I’m going to anyway. No man, or in this case woman, is an island. You aren’t alone, just