Read Online Her Unlikely Family by Missy Tippens - Free Book Online Page B

looked exactly like the church Josie had grown up in? No, thanks. “No. It’s much smaller. A little less threatening to me.”
    â€œHow can a church be threatening?”
    â€œI don’t do huge crowds, okay?”
    â€œOkay. So, left or right at the end of your street?”
    Lisa leaned forward, placing her black-clad arms over the seat between them. “If we don’t go soon, I’m getting out. I have lunch plans with Brian this afternoon.”
    â€œGo left,” Josie said as Mike backed away from the house.
    With a tug on his suit coat, Mike turned and put the car in Drive. “How about we spend the day together since neither of you is scheduled to work?”
    â€œHow about…no. I said I have a date.”
    Tension radiated off Mike’s stiff shoulders. Broad shoulders that filled out the eight or nine hundred dollar suit coat to perfection. “What do you know about him, Lisa? Is he a Christian?”
    â€œLike I’m going to ask that on the first date.”
    â€œYou need to know that about all potential boyfriends.”
    â€œLook, he goes to church with his family every time the doors open. Does that satisfy you?”
    â€œJosie, what do you think about this Brian guy?”
    â€œHe’s always been responsible delivering the bread. On time. Professional. Polite.”
    Mike stopped at an intersection, and she directed him to turn. As he rested his arm on the back of the seat to look around at his niece, the exotic, masculine smell of his aftershave lotion wafted her way. Josie sniffed the scent of spice and man deep into her lungs and somehow managed not to nuzzle against his large, hair-dusted hand. What was wrong with her?
    â€œI guess if Josie thinks he’s okay, you can go out with him,” Mike said to Lisa.
    Josie couldn’t believe her ears. He actually trusted her judgment?
    â€œBut don’t think you’re going to use him as an excuse every time we plan an activity,” he added.
    â€œYou’re not going to plan every minute of every day, Uncle Michael. I have a life, you know.”
    â€œYou have a life at school. This is more like a vacation, and you should be thankful I’m allowing you to stay.”
    Once the car was moving again, Lisa started muttering in the backseat. Josie wasn’t sure Michael could hear, but she heard loud and clear as Lisa griped about him being bossy.
    As they pulled into the lot of the stone church near the diner, she noticed Michael’s tanned knuckles had turned white as his fingers gripped the steering wheel.
    Apparently, he had heard after all.
    â€œWe’re here,” he said.
    This was her church, her sanctuary when she had come to town, hurting, disillusioned, alone. She’d met a kind, older woman who owned the Comfy Inn. Susan had taken Josie under her wing and eventually invited her to visit a service. Josie hadn’t missed a Sunday since.
    A couple of teenagers walked through the parking lot. And a family with a baby.
    â€œSee, Lisa, two kids your age,” Mike pointed out.
    A smart-alecky huffing sound was her only response.
    Josie wondered if it was due to the fact that the teens, a boy and a girl, were dressed very conservatively or the fact that they were actually a couple, holding hands.
    Maybe Regina would be there. Lisa could relate to another runaway.
    The instant they came to a complete stop in a parking space, Lisa climbed out and slammed the door. Josie reached for Mike and peeled first one finger, then the next out of the death grip. “Relax,” she said near his ear. “Don’t let her goad you. You play right into her hands.”
    He straightened his fingers, wiggled them a second, then turned the car off and removed the keys. As he leaned to his side and dropped them into his pocket, he looked her in the eye. “Thank you.”
    Unable to resist touching him, she took his hand and squeezed. She was a compassionate person,