thing. It put me in motion to open the diner.”
“Yeah. Sure. What seems like a disaster can often provide people with the push they need to take control of matters, to make bold moves, to better their lives.” He sounded as if he needed convincing.
Josie found this odd as he hadn’t been a part of the mess at his family’s factory.
“I had Nathan to support after all.”
“You must have been terrified.”
“Not really. I had my faith.”
“In yourself?”
“In God.”
“I can’t…that is, I wish…”
“Your mother was such a strong woman of faith. Your brother has a wonderful, growing ministry. Don’t you share their beliefs?” There. She asked it outright. She had to. The man was not just Nathan’s father, it seemed that he was a seeker.
“It’s not my mother, it’s that…well, God is portrayed as a loving father, isn’t He?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know how to relate to that.”
“Was your father really that bad?” Conner Burdett had always scared her. A powerful man, he tended to storm about not speaking, especially to an insignificant worker like her.
“Bad?” He cocked his head to the right and chewed slowly. “Wrong word.”
“What’s the right word?”
“Hard,” he said quietly.
“He was hard on you?”
“He was hard on everybody, including himself, I think.”
“Your mom balanced that out for him some.”
“Yes, she did.”
“But that didn’t make him any less hard, I suppose.”
“Hard?” He shook his head. “Maybe that’s not it, either. Because, as you say, my mother had some influence over that. And he wasn’t hard on any one person. There was a kind of fairness to it all. I think maybe the word I should have used is…unyielding.”
“That is different. Subtly, but…”
“Like your secret ingredient, it can change everything.”
She nodded. “I appreciate your being so honest with me.”
“Don’t kid yourself, Josie. Just because we’ve shared these few moments, you don’t really know me. You don’t really know what made me who I am.”
“Who are you?”
“Haven’t you heard? I’m the Stray Dawg.”
“But if you have a hundred sheep and you lose one, that’s the one that’s on your mind. That’s the one you worry about and go out and seek so that you can bring him home.”
“You had Sunday school with Miss Minerva, too?”
“No. I told you, I didn’t grow up here. I never had a home or a family or a regular church where I went to Sunday school each week. But I’ve always had a Bible. And last night I looked up Luke 15, the story of the prodigal son.”
Adam pushed his plate away, his mouth set in a grim line. “Maybe I made a mistake. Coming here, coming to you first before…”
“Before what?”
He did not look as if he felt any inclination to answer her, just took another bite of pie and stared at Nathan.
“Before what, Adam? What is it that you came to Mt. Knott to do?”
Even if he had decided to tell her, which Josie doubted very much, he did not get the chance.
A thunderous pounding on the front door made her jump. “Hello?”
She looked at Adam. Her heartbeat had gone completely awry. “Is that…”
“I guess we didn’t get out of the diner fast enough to outrun the speculation.”
“What are we going to do?”
Adam pushed away from the table, stood and reached for Nathan. “I am going to keep my son out of sight and you are going to go and get rid of my father.”
Chapter Six
A dam stood behind the door of the bathroom, holding Nathan in his arms. In the split second he’d had to duck out of sight, it just seemed more prudent to do this rather than head to the door at the end of the hall. Josie’s bedroom.
Yeah, Nathan’s crib waited in that room, but so did every private thing about Josie. Her clothes. The pillow where she rested her head at night. The picture of her and Ophelia.
Adam had enough problems dealing with her without confronting those kinds of things right now.
“Yeah. Sure. What seems like a disaster can often provide people with the push they need to take control of matters, to make bold moves, to better their lives.” He sounded as if he needed convincing.
Josie found this odd as he hadn’t been a part of the mess at his family’s factory.
“I had Nathan to support after all.”
“You must have been terrified.”
“Not really. I had my faith.”
“In yourself?”
“In God.”
“I can’t…that is, I wish…”
“Your mother was such a strong woman of faith. Your brother has a wonderful, growing ministry. Don’t you share their beliefs?” There. She asked it outright. She had to. The man was not just Nathan’s father, it seemed that he was a seeker.
“It’s not my mother, it’s that…well, God is portrayed as a loving father, isn’t He?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know how to relate to that.”
“Was your father really that bad?” Conner Burdett had always scared her. A powerful man, he tended to storm about not speaking, especially to an insignificant worker like her.
“Bad?” He cocked his head to the right and chewed slowly. “Wrong word.”
“What’s the right word?”
“Hard,” he said quietly.
“He was hard on you?”
“He was hard on everybody, including himself, I think.”
“Your mom balanced that out for him some.”
“Yes, she did.”
“But that didn’t make him any less hard, I suppose.”
“Hard?” He shook his head. “Maybe that’s not it, either. Because, as you say, my mother had some influence over that. And he wasn’t hard on any one person. There was a kind of fairness to it all. I think maybe the word I should have used is…unyielding.”
“That is different. Subtly, but…”
“Like your secret ingredient, it can change everything.”
She nodded. “I appreciate your being so honest with me.”
“Don’t kid yourself, Josie. Just because we’ve shared these few moments, you don’t really know me. You don’t really know what made me who I am.”
“Who are you?”
“Haven’t you heard? I’m the Stray Dawg.”
“But if you have a hundred sheep and you lose one, that’s the one that’s on your mind. That’s the one you worry about and go out and seek so that you can bring him home.”
“You had Sunday school with Miss Minerva, too?”
“No. I told you, I didn’t grow up here. I never had a home or a family or a regular church where I went to Sunday school each week. But I’ve always had a Bible. And last night I looked up Luke 15, the story of the prodigal son.”
Adam pushed his plate away, his mouth set in a grim line. “Maybe I made a mistake. Coming here, coming to you first before…”
“Before what?”
He did not look as if he felt any inclination to answer her, just took another bite of pie and stared at Nathan.
“Before what, Adam? What is it that you came to Mt. Knott to do?”
Even if he had decided to tell her, which Josie doubted very much, he did not get the chance.
A thunderous pounding on the front door made her jump. “Hello?”
She looked at Adam. Her heartbeat had gone completely awry. “Is that…”
“I guess we didn’t get out of the diner fast enough to outrun the speculation.”
“What are we going to do?”
Adam pushed away from the table, stood and reached for Nathan. “I am going to keep my son out of sight and you are going to go and get rid of my father.”
Chapter Six
A dam stood behind the door of the bathroom, holding Nathan in his arms. In the split second he’d had to duck out of sight, it just seemed more prudent to do this rather than head to the door at the end of the hall. Josie’s bedroom.
Yeah, Nathan’s crib waited in that room, but so did every private thing about Josie. Her clothes. The pillow where she rested her head at night. The picture of her and Ophelia.
Adam had enough problems dealing with her without confronting those kinds of things right now.
Similar Books
