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

his swim trunks from the back of the chair he’d been sitting in, and slung them over his lanky shoulder. Shiloh chuckled to herself. He might forget some things, but not those swim trunks. Breaks at basketball camp offered opportunities to swim at the gym’s indoor pool, and he never missed. “I don’t have any money. Or a job.”
    “Not yet,” Randy said. “We’ll talk.”
    “Lia doesn’t have to do any of that,” he muttered on his way out of the door. “Her grandparents gave her a car over the summer, and they put gas in it, too.”
    Lem must have recognized the warning in both of his parents’ eyes. He waved and disappeared to join his carpool before they could respond.
    Shiloh rested her elbows on the kitchen island. “He’s still talking about this Lia girl in Alabama. He can’t find a girlfriend at his school, or at least in the Milwaukee metro area?”
    Randy shrugged. “Virtual dating is in. I’m sure he’s got something up his sleeve. He told me yesterday it would be great to spend Thanksgiving in Atchity, and he definitely wants to return to Atchity for the science camp next summer. Apparently Lia lives about an hour away, just outside of Birmingham, and they’re cooking up a way to see each other more often.”
    Shiloh shook her head. “They think we’ve forgotten what it’s like to be young and in love. But what about the Davis girl at church? I thought she had a crush on Lem and was trying to convince him to hang out with her.”
    Randy grinned. “She hasn’t given up. She just doesn’t know she’s competing with a girl eight hundred miles away. Omari, on the other hand, has four or five different girls in the congregation swarming him every Sunday, and he stays on that cell phone.”
    Shiloh grabbed her tote bag and strolled over to Randy to give him a kiss. “What are we going to do with these teenagers?” she said.“Don’t forget to keep checking their Twitter and Instagram pages. I’ve had to slack off since I’ve been preparing for the school year.”
    Randy’s raised eyebrows told her he had forgotten already.
    She feigned frustration and pinched his arm. “Do it today, Reverend Daddy. We’ve got to stay on top of what they’re up to.”
    He lightly pinched her back and kissed her again. “Don’t be late. Have a good day.”
    “Sounds like you’re trying to get rid of me so you can go back to bed. No fair.”
    Randy gave her a sly smile. “If you weren’t going off to school,
we
just might do that. But that’s not my plan. I’m heading back to the hospital this morning to check on Sister Wray. I’ll go to the church from there, for the quarterly trustee meeting.”
    Shiloh waved goodbye again and stepped into the garage, where she settled in the van. It was a sticky-hot morning, and by the time cold air was flowing full throttle from the vents, she was already sweaty. She cranked up the radio and sang along to the songs in rotation this morning on Tom Joyner’s syndicated radio show.
    Her ringing cell phone interrupted the private music fest. Dayna’s number surfaced on caller ID, and she slid her Bluetooth device in her ear while at a stop sign.
    “Good morning; to what do I owe this call?”
    Dayna chuckled. “Do I touch base that infrequently?”
    They both knew the answer was yes, but neither commented. Normally Shiloh wouldn’t take a call while she was driving, but hearing from the ever-busy Dayna was unusual, so she’d give her a few minutes.
    “I’ll have to do better,” Dayna acknowledged. “I wanted to let you know it looks like we’re on track to have the house finished by late October. We’d love to have the family join us for Thanksgiving, and I’ve even convinced Mama and Daddy to come. Of course, they’regoing to want to be home by Saturday morning, so Daddy can preach that Sunday, but they’re willing to come.”
    “Shut the front door.” Getting Daddy, and as a result Mama, to change their plans and leave Atchity during a