Read Online His Unexpected Family by Patricia Johns - Free Book Online

and slid it across the counter toward him.
    “I run five miles every morning,” he said. “On days off, I like to golf, read...box.”
    “Box?” She turned around, eyebrows raised. “Seriously?”
    He felt the heat rise in his face. “Is that completely Neanderthal?”
    “Yes.” She laughed softly. “When did that start?”
    “When I was about ten, I got picked on a lot. I took an interest in boxing to protect myself at first, but I ended up really loving the sport.”
    “So...” She eyed him curiously. “You end up with black eyes and stuff?”
    “No, no.” He laughed. “We use helmets and gloves. It’s a point system. I know how to hurt someone, but I don’t want to actually do any damage.”
    Emily dropped a spoon into her own bowl and leaned against the counter as she took her first bite.
    “What about you?” he asked. “What do you do for fun?”
    “Well, I don’t box.” She shot him a grin. “I actually enjoy stargazing.”
    “Stargazing?” He eyed her in equal curiosity. “I didn’t see that coming.”
    “My dad used to take me outside to look at stars when I was a kid. It started there. I like watching for meteor showers, or catching eclipses, just as a novice. I enjoy it. It reminds me how tiny I am.”
    He nodded thoughtfully. “I get that reminder a lot.”
    “Are you a Christian, Greg?”
    “I am. Are you?”
    She nodded. “So maybe you’ll get it, too. I like to try to understand what’s up there. It’s almost like you can see God still creating when you see a star nebula. It’s amazing. When you understand just how far apart stars really are, just how massive a tiny pinprick of light really is—it’s staggering.”
    Greg took a taste of the creamy dessert, watching her thoughtfully. Her dark eyes stayed focused on her bowl as she swirled the spoon around, collecting the perfect bite. Her creamy complexion was set off by her dark hair sweeping her cheeks, and for a moment, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. Emily Shaw was a deeper woman than he’d realized—and that intrigued him. A woman of intellect and faith...how often did one of those come around?
    “Do you mind if I ask you something?” she said, raising her dark gaze to meet his.
    “Sure.”
    “Why is it that you don’t ever want kids of your own?”
    There it was. This was the question that came up with pretty much every woman in his life, from his grandmother to women he was dating. They all wanted to know the same thing—why?
    “In my experience, this never goes well.” He eyed her cautiously. “I either sound heartless or stupid.”
    Emily’s eyes crinkled up into a smile, and she turned toward the kitchen. “I find that hard to believe.”
    He frowned and looked down, trying to decide how much to say.
    “I don’t mean to pry,” Emily said. “If you don’t feel comfortable talking about it, that’s okay. I was only curious.”
    “It’s okay. My dad was a police officer, and he died in the line of duty.”
    “Oh, that’s horrible. I think I remember that, but I was really young. What happened?”
    The images came back, fuzzy memories from that fateful night. He’d been in bed, unable to sleep. The phone rang downstairs and he remembered the sound of his mother answering it, but something was wrong. Her tone changed, and she sounded frightened. He got out of bed and came downstairs to find her standing in the kitchen, the phone still in her hand and her other hand covering her mouth. That image of his mother—stunned, horrified, afraid—stayed with him.
    “He was shot during an armed robbery. He stopped at a corner to pick something up and stumbled upon a robbery in process. The robber turned and shot him in the chest. The bullet entered just at the side of his bulletproof vest. He died at the scene.”
    Emily’s expression was filled with sympathy. “How old were you?”
    “Eight.”
    He’d been old enough to suspect that the reason his father stopped at that corner store was