Read Online Lead Me Home by Stacy Hawkins Adams - Free Book Online

she could rise early for work. There wasn’t much left to do to get the band room ready for school next week, but she still had to be there by nine a.m. At this point, it was inevitable that she’d have to down more than one cup of coffee in the morning to stay alert.
    When Randy and Vic appeared in the doorway of the waiting room about fifteen minutes later, she wanted to cheer. Randy motioned for Shiloh and Jade to join them.
    “Thank God,” Jade said. “I was about to curl up in this seat and call it a night, and you know that would have been a hot mess for my hair and mascara.”
    Shiloh couldn’t help but chuckle. Somehow she had wound up with a sidekick who served as her personal version of Whitley Gilbert,the character from the TV sitcom
A Different World.
The Whitley on the show seemed bearable, compared to Jade, but maybe that was because one could watch for half an hour or change channels. Jade wasn’t planning to go anywhere, and in fact was becoming more entrenched in Shiloh’s world.
    Shiloh, Randy, and the boys had been in Milwaukee for nearly two years, yet Jade had become more interested in her family in the past two weeks than ever before. Randy thought nothing of it, but Shiloh believed in the wisdom Mama had always shared, to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Firsthand experience over the years had made this one of her personal truths.
    The two couples left the waiting room and paused in front of the information desk in the lobby.
    “See you at the church tomorrow, Rev,” Randy said to Vic. “That’s assuming that we don’t get any more calls from members tonight.”
    “Don’t speak that into existence, man!” Vic shook his head and draped his muscular arm around Jade’s shoulders, maneuvering her out of the sliding glass doors. “See you in the morn.”
    When Shiloh and Randy reached their car, Randy extended his hand for her keys. “I left mine at home. I don’t mind driving.”
    She handed them over and walked around to the passenger side.
    “What did you think about Vic showing up like that?” she asked on the ride home.
    “I don’t know, babe,” Randy said after a long pause. “Not sure what that was about. I’ve got my eyes open, though. I’m watching and listening.”
    Shiloh was glad to hear it. She hated for church to be about politics and competition, but she also knew this was Randy’s livelihood, as well as his life’s purpose. He needed to be both prayerful and alert.

thirteen
    Oprah was right: When you were passionate about something, doing what needed to be done didn’t feel like work. Shiloh was certain that was the only reason she didn’t give in to the temptation to stretch out in her bed this morning and repeatedly hit the snooze button.
    She and Randy had returned home after one a.m to find all four boys asleep, and while Shiloh had been eager to follow suit, her romantic hubby had other ideas. By the time she closed her eyes it was nearly three a.m. She wasn’t complaining then, but she wept when the alarm clock sounded less than three hours later.
    To his credit, Randy slid out of bed and made coffee while she dressed. He even nudged the boys to get moving on time, so she didn’t have to lose her cool or her religion yelling them down to breakfast and out to their summer camp carpool spots.
    “When are you going to let me start driving?” Lem asked between bites of cereal. “Basketball camp is just twenty minutes away.”
    “You haven’t had your license that long. Plus, what are you going to drive—my van?” Shiloh asked.
    Lem swiveled his head from Shiloh to Randy and back. “I thought you guys were planning to get me a used car next year, when I’m a senior.”
    Randy kept reading the sports section of the morning paper and took another bite of oatmeal. “If we do, you’ll earn that privilege by figuring out how to pay for gas,” he said.
    “Huh?” Lem frowned and left the table to place his bowl in thesink. He grabbed