Read Online The Heart's Voice by Arlene James - Free Book Online Page A

you have to remember to look Mr. Dan in the face when you speak around him.”
    “How come?” Jemmy wanted to know, not for the first time. Becca had always told her that it was the polite thing to do, but this time Dan went down on his haunches next to Jemmy and told her the truth.
    “I have to read the words on your lips because I can’t hear.”
    She checked briefly to be sure his ears were where they should be and repeated her question. “How come?”
    “A big boom damaged the nerves in my ears. It was so loud it knocked me out of the room, which was underground, and put me to sleep for a long time.”
    “How long?”
    “Two days.”
    Jemmy’s eyebrows went up. “How come you were under the ground in a room? Was it a storm?Sometimes we might go to the cellar if a bad storm comes.”
    “I was looking for bombs.” He glanced up at Becca and added dryly, “Found some.”
    She bit her lip to keep from laughing, because it really wasn’t funny.
    “Why were you doing that? ” Jemmy wanted to know.
    “It was my job,” he said simply. “I was in the military.”
    “What’s miltry?”
    “A soldier,” Becca explained.
    Eyes rounding, Jemmy blurted to Dan, “You’re a soldier?”
    “I was,” Dan answered. Then he looked up at Becca and said, “Now I’m a carpenter.”
    “Like Jesus!” Jemmy announced importantly.
    Knowing he’d missed that, Becca waved his attention back to her daughter.
    “What?”
    Jemmy said, “Jesus was a carpenter. He made chairs and crosses and stuff.”
    Dan smiled. “That’s right.”
    Abby suddenly shoved a paper towel full of pieces of cabbage at Becca, saying thickly, “Ya’ll go on and tend that turtle while I get my bread in.”
    Knowing that she was anxious to have a good cry in private on Dan’s behalf, Becca nodded and turned Jemmy toward the porch. Dan rose and followed.
    Like the rest of the house, the porch-become-bedroom was cramped and faded, much as it had been when Cody had slept here on the full bed as a boy. Dan took that all in before turning to pay indulgent attention to Jemmy who babbled about her turtle while Becca wrestled shoes onto her feet.
    Those shoes would have to be replaced soon, as Jemmy was outgrowing them, but Becca couldn’t worry about that now. It was a beautiful spring Sunday in Oklahoma, and the world felt bright and glorious, especially as Jemmy blossomed and preened for Dan.
    It struck Becca then how much her little girl missed her father. John Odem did his best to fill in, but it wasn’t the same as having a daddy to poke twigs at your turtle and smile as you tried to impress him with what a responsible pet owner you were. Becca had been too busy to notice how hungry her children were for male attention, but as always, God had seen the need. And sent Dan Holden.

Chapter Five
    C rouched over a patch of sand with Jemmy, Dan enjoyed the sunshine as he watched the little girl feed bits of cabbage to her turtle. He felt lighter somehow, breathed easier, as if a weight had been lifted from his chest.
    Apparently a previous owner had written the turtle’s name, Buddy, on its back with a black marker, and Jemmy had suffered through weeks of worrying that the writer would return to claim the animal. During that time the Kinders had posted a sign in their store window, much as people often did for stray cats and dogs. Dan had smiled when he’d seen it.
     
    Found—Turtle
    Doesn’t answer to the name Buddy.
     
    Jemmy petted the hard shell, watching with satisfaction as her silent companion munched at the pale green hunks of cabbage. Turtles had always struck Dan as stoic creatures, but every time Jemmy brushed her fingertips over the turtle’s back little Buddy closed his eyes, looking for all the world like a turtle that had found a piece of turtle heaven. Maybe he himself had been a little bit the way he’d imagined turtles to be: slow, unemotional, silently enduring a lonely existence. Now, for some reason, he felt a kinship