Read Online While Love Stirs by Lorna Seilstad - Free Book Online

she sensed what he was thinking, she gave him an I’ll-do-what-I-please chuckle. Well, he could do as he pleased too.
    He turned to Mrs. Phillips. “I’d be honored to join you.”
    “Perfect.” She propelled him through French doors into the dining room. “And I want to hear all about how things are going at the hospital. How’s Arthur doing? And is the new ambulance proving advantageous, as you thought it would?”
    When her aunt wasn’t looking, Charlotte glared at him. Apparently she’d wanted him to decline. Dining with him must not be on her list of favorite things. Oh well. It was too late to refuse now. Mrs. Phillips was much too powerful in the community to risk offending.
    Charlotte took a seat across from him, and a few seconds later, the youngest Gregory sister bounded into the room. “I’m sorry. Iwas practicing my Puck—” She stopped short when she spotted Joel. “Oh. ‘How now, spirit! Whither wander you?’”
    “Tessa!” Charlotte hissed.
    Tessa rolled her eyes and slid into her place. “Hello, Dr. Brooks.” Her voice took on a hollow, grown-up sound. “I apologize. I wasn’t aware you were joining us for dinner or I would have made an additional effort to arrive on time.”
    Mrs. Phillips smiled at the young woman, then patted Joel’s arm. “Dr. Brooks, would you please say grace?”
    “Certainly.” Maybe it would give him a chance to show Charlotte he wasn’t the ogre she’d made him out to be.
    The prayer came easily to him. After he visited the orphanage, prayer always did. He asked God to help them be truly thankful for each and every blessing, for every morsel of food. “And Father, help us to be content in every situation.”
    As soon as he’d said amen, he looked at Charlotte. Something was brewing in those hazel eyes. He took a piece of roast beef from the platter and a generous helping of mashed potatoes. What had he said to upset her?
    “Content?” The word almost burst from her lips. “Why should we be content in every situation? Some situations need to be changed. Children should not be working in factories. Men should be paid a decent wage for a day’s work. Women should have the right to vote, and—”
    “Charlotte.” Mrs. Phillips spoke her name with firmness. “Shall we discuss this after dinner?”
    “But—”
    Mrs. Phillips hiked her eyebrows and Charlotte fell silent.
    Tessa giggled.
    “I didn’t mean to upset you.” Joel cleared his throat, then took a sip from his water glass. “I meant content in every situation as Paul commands us to be. Content with knowing God is in control. Personally, it’s something I’ve always struggled with, Miss Gregory.”
    “Oh, call her Charlotte.” Tessa speared a carrot. “Otherwise you might get the two of us confused. Right, Charlotte?”
    She didn’t answer, but if she felt familiar enough to argue with him over a prayer, he might as well call her by her given name. “Then all of you must call me Joel.”
    “Joel.” Mrs. Phillips smiled. “It means ‘Jehovah is the Lord,’ doesn’t it?”
    “Yes, ma’am. Something my mother always said I was prone to forget.”
    Mrs. Phillips looked at Charlotte. “Something I think we all are prone to forget.”

    How could Joel sit there eating her apple charlotte with nary a care in the world? If she’d known he would be eating it, she’d have slipped him some of Garfield’s laxative tea to go with it. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would sure have made him uncomfortable.
    Good grief. What was wrong with her? After her outburst—over a prayer of all things—he probably thought she was given to such explosions all the time. Why did he bring out the worst in her? One thing was for sure—if she wanted the policy at the hospital to change, she’d better start treating Dr. Joel Brooks with a little kindness.
    “This is amazing, Charlotte.” He slid the last bite into his mouth. “I don’t know when I’ve had a dessert this good.”
    “Thank you.”