Read Online Now and Always by Lori Copeland - Free Book Online Page A

and he’d no longer be obligated, knowing he’d done all he could do to help Paul’s grandaughter.
    A smile crooked the corners of his mouth. Oh, he’d make her a budget all right.
    And sit back and laugh when she fell flat on her face.

Seven
    Katie tipped the venti cup and finger tapped the bottom to drain the last delectable drop. Twenty-four hours would pass before the budget allowed for a second one. She and Warren had organized all her financial information, and he had laid out a strict budget for her to follow. Staying with Warren’s recommended financial course wasn’t easy, but for the sake of the shelter, she could do anything.
    She fished Tottie’s grocery list out of her jeans and skimmed the items. Parson’s Market was close, but pricey. While they had an adequate selection, they couldn’t begin to compare on price or variety with the larger wholesale houses. She could drive ten miles on the other side of town and shop at the Warehouse Blowout, where industrial-sized products lined every shelf. She didn’t usually shop there, preferring to buy in smaller amounts, but one of the suggestions Warren made was to buy in bulk.
    Thinking is first cousin to doing, and soon she was tooling down the highway congratulating herself on how proud Warren would be of her. She was taking his admonitions to heart. When he delivered the budget, she had sensed certain skepticism on his part about her ability to stick to a plan. Well, she’d show him that Katie Addison was a woman of her word.
    Ben honked and passed her on the highway. She waved back, noting the sign he carried in the front seat and now held up as he pulled even with the jeep: “Dinner Saturday night?”
    She reached for the sign on the passenger seat and slapped it on her window. “Have to wash my hair. Thanks.”
    She needed to change the refusal; she’d used the same one for two weeks. He’d think she either had bad, overly dirty, or overly clean hair.
    Another sign shot up. “Ice cream?”
    She reached for her standard refusal. “Lactose intolerant.”
    His sign bobbed. “Cheese fries?”
    Her sign. “Too many carbs.”
    â€œIce water?”
    â€œNot thirsty.”
    When she glanced over again, she stifled a giggle. The sign in the window was now one of a cross-eyed man with his tongue stuck out. The exchange was fun.
    But you’d think adults could find more productive ways to use their time.
    By the time Katie reached the warehouse checkout counter, she’d strained a muscle in her back unloading and loading the items onto the conveyer belt. The itemized amount totaled more than Tottie would spend in two weeks — more like two months. But there was a lot of food here. The bill would average out over a period of time; Katie couldn’t expect the savings to show right away. It could also take awhile to have anything tangible to convince Warren that her marketing in bulk had paid off, but she had made a start. She pushed the cart out to the jeep, glowing. Was she good or what?
    Katie loaded the bags in the jeep, packing it carefully. When she was through, there was room for more in the back seat. If she had any money left, she could have gone back for another load. Think what she could have saved. She closed the jeep door, leaving it unlocked while she pushed the cart back to the front of the store to be picked up. Lena Jackson from church hailed her, and Katie paused to talk for a few minutes. She thought she probably should have locked the jeep, but figured she could keep an eye on it. She managed to end the conversation at last and make a break for the jeep. She should have been home an hour ago. Tottie would be worried. But she had finally given in and told the trusted church friend about the strange phone call she had received the other day. Now she wished she’d kept quiet. There wasn’t anything definite that pointed to a safety issue, but