Read Online Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers - Free Book Online Page B

locked the front door carefully. When Corban offered her his arm before they went down the front steps, she took it. Grudgingly. He could feel her trembling. A case of the nerves? Or just old age? Not that he cared. He drew the keys from his pocket and pressed the remote. “I’ll get the door for you.” He patted her hand and stepped away.
    She stared, jaw set. “I am not getting into that sports car!”
    She sounded as though he meant to enter her in the Indianapolis 500. “It’s not a sports car, ma’am. It’s just a—”
    “I don’t care what it is—I’m not getting into it. It’s only five blocks to the market. We’ll walk.”
    “Walk?” Five blocks through one of the worst neighborhoods he’d ever seen? Would his car even be here when they got back?
    “Of course. I’ve been walking to the market for more than sixty years.”
    “Five blocks down and five blocks back makes ten blocks, ma’am,” he said, trying to make a point of the distance.
    “Congratulations. You can add. It’s gratifying to know, since I’ve read that most students who graduate from high school these days can’t even read.”
    He steamed. Hadn’t she called for help because she couldn’t make it on her own? He tried to think of something, anything , to talk her out of it.
    She fixed him with a glare. “You look like a strapping young man, Mr. Solsek. I think you can make it ten blocks.”
    Corban muttered an expletive under his breath as she started off without him. He looked at his car, looked around the neighborhood, and felt a bubble of panic. “Would you give me a minute so I can park my car in your driveway?” He tried to soften his tone. “I wouldn’t want it in anyone’s way.”
    Leota stopped. She turned and looked at him. What a crock of horse manure! She knew exactly what was worrying him—and she acknowledged it was a reasonable concern. He would just have to learn the hard way there was nothing he could do about it. Maybe next time he’d have sense enough to borrow someone’s beat-up VW or come by bus.
    “Go right ahead. Be my guest.”
    She watched him practically leap over the back of his car, slip into the driver’s seat, remove whatever that red gadget was from the steering wheel, and start the engine. A nice, purring roar sounded. That car must have cost his folks a pretty penny. He backed it expertly into the middle of the street, swung around, and roared up her narrow driveway.
    Smiling slightly, Leota waited.
    One minute.
    Two.
    Three.
    She knew what was happening without even looking, though it was a great temptation to walk over and stand at the end of her driveway where she could watch the show. Instead, she stood there in the middle of the sidewalk, content to imagine.
    She heard his voice once. Rather loud, replete with frustration. One word only, but it certainly clarified his feelings. The shiny bumper appeared as he inched his car backward. He parked it on the driveway just above the sidewalk so that his front door opened toward her front steps. She watched his power window go up. She pursed her lips. It wouldn’t do to laugh at someone so proud. He reinstalled that red thingamajiggy and got out. She heard the click as he locked the doors with his little magic twanger. Pocketing his keys, he walked across her poor, miserable, weed-infested lawn. By the time he reached her, he appeared to have regained his composure. “I couldn’t open either door,” he said with a bleak smile. “Your driveway’s too narrow.”
    “Your car is too wide.” She smiled up at him innocently. “If it was six inches smaller, you could’ve made it out your window.”
    Corban felt the heat climb up his neck and fill his face to his hairline. “You could’ve warned me.”
    “I’ve learned experience is a far better teacher.” She lifted one hand. “Your arm, if you please. I’m old, as you’ve noticed. I need support in my dotage.”
    It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her he’d buy her a