Read Online Love Inspired November 2013 #2 by Emma Miller, Virginia Carmichael, Renee Andrews - Free Book Online Page B

with her Noah’s ark, remember? Sometimes friends say unkind things to each other, but it doesn’t mean that you stop liking each other.”
    Amelia sniffed. “I wasn’t going to take her book home. I just wanted to look at the pictures.”
    â€œShe should have shared with you.” Rebecca gave Amelia another hug. “Let me wash your face.”
    â€œMy tummy hurts.”
    â€œI know, but you’ll feel better with a clean face.” Rebecca stood up, ran cool water on a clean washcloth and wiped the tears and sweat from Amelia’s face. “You know, Mae’s first mother, the one whose tummy she grew in, died, too. She’s in heaven with your mam. My sister Anna is Mae’s new mother. So, for a long time, Mae was just like you.”
    Amelia’s eyes widened. “She was? Did her mam die in a fire?”
    Rebecca flinched. She hadn’t known that Amelia was aware of the details of her mother’s passing. Compassion made Rebecca’s eyes blur with unshed tears. “ Ne, sweet. Mae’s mam was very sick and she couldn’t get better.”
    â€œWill my dat get sick like that?”
    Rebecca shook her head. “He is a big, strong man, Amelia. Nothing bad will happen to him.” She wondered if it was wrong to say such a thing to an innocent child. Especially when her own father had been taken far too young. But she didn’t have the heart to say otherwise. “You must trust in God, Amelia. Say your prayers and try to do what is right. And you mustn’t hit or push or get angry with your friends.”
    â€œShe was mean.” Amelia pushed out her lower lip stubbornly. “She wouldn’t let me share her book.”
    â€œThat was wrong,” Rebecca agreed, “but hitting and pushing were two wrongs. You’ll have to think about that.”
    â€œAnd say I’m sorry?”
    â€œOnly if you really are,” Rebecca pronounced. “Not if you don’t want to.”
    Amelia chewed at the protruding lip. “Will I get a new mother, too?”
    â€œMaybe,” Rebecca said. “ Ya, I think maybe you will.”
    â€œWhen?”
    Rebecca shook her head. “Only God and your father know. And maybe your dat doesn’t know, either. But someday, I’m sure you will.”
    â€œWill she be nice?”
    â€œAbsolutely. As nice as Anna is to Mae. And she will love you and take care of you.”
    â€œLike Mae?”
    â€œ Ya, just like Mae.”
    A sharp rapping on the bathroom door made the two of them jump.
    â€œAmelia? Rebecca?” Caleb’s voice.
    â€œYes?” Rebecca swallowed to dissolve the lump in her throat. Caleb sounded cross. Had he seen what happened with the children? “I was just—”
    â€œOpen the door.”
    Rebecca did as he asked. “Amelia’s fine. She and Mae just had a little fuss and—”
    â€œAmelia? Did Rebecca spank you?”
    The little girl looked at her father and burst into tears.
    Rebecca blanched. “Spank her? Ne, I just—”
    â€œI thought you said she was fine,” Caleb said. “Look at her.” Amelia flung herself into her father’s embrace and started sobbing again.
    â€œShe was fine until you...” Rebecca tried to maintain her composure. “It was just a children’s spat.”
    â€œIf there was a problem, you should have called me. I’m her father. It isn’t your place to discipline my child.”
    Amelia’s wails became a shriek.
    â€œI didn’t discipline her.” Against her will, Rebecca’s eyes teared up. Caleb wasn’t listening to her. He was judging her without hearing her side. “I was just trying to—”
    â€œYour aunt told me what you were doing.” He glared at her, his face contorted with anger.
    â€œI don’t care what anyone said. I would never—”
    â€œWhen I need your help, I’ll ask for it,” Caleb