Read Online Wrecked (Stories of Serendipity #8): #8 by Anne Conley - Free Book Online

aggressive tendencies. He seemed thrilled with the idea that Jason paid him cash and didn’t ask for his social security number when he’d hired him to watch over his dad during the days.
    “Hey man. How’s he been today?”
    Mark shrugged. “About the same as every other day, I guess. He thinks I’m trying to poison his colas, strips when I’m not watching, accuses me of stealing his food or beating him.”
    “Well, you can go home. I got this tonight. You’ll take him to church on Sunday?” Mark shrugged again.
    “Sure.”
    “Cool. I’ll be by in the afternoon, then. See ya.”
    Mark practically ran to his own car, and Jason mused about a young kid like him sitting with the elderly. He didn’t seem to particularly enjoy his job, but in this economy a job was a job. At least he was willing to do something for money instead of taking handouts. He had to give him some credit.
    He went back inside to get his dad ready for bed and call Jodie with an update so he could go back to the shop.
    “Hey man, how’s Dad today?”
    “The same. He hates his caretaker, and thinks terrorists live above him,” Jason answered wearily. He looked over at his dad, who had hobbled back to his recliner and was watching “Wheel of Fortune.” “I’m about to get him into pajamas then go back to the shop.”
    “Does he do anything besides watch TV?”
    “Not really. He goes to church on Sunday, but I can’t stand that shit. Mark’s been taking him.” Jason hated church. All the little old ladies, eagerly grabbing him telling him all about their potluck dinners, preachers eyeballing him during the sermon, and whoever his dad had been trying to fix him up with was there. He just didn’t feel up to dealing with all that right now. He knew church probably wasn’t Mark’s bag either, but he was getting paid his hourly rate to take Joe to church and so far hadn’t complained about it.
    “Is there something else around there he’d like to do? I’d say take him out to the shop, but he’d probably scream at all the changes you’ve made.”
    Jason could just picture it. “Yeah, I’m not ready for him to see the shop yet. Let me get a month or two under my belt so I can show him the changes are profitable, then I’ll take him there.” He ran his hand through his hair in thought. “I can probably figure someplace to take him. There’s gobs of small-town touristy type shit around here that’s right up his alley. It’ll be good to see how he acts in the general population. Or if he’s just crazy for me.”

Chapter 11

    R enae listened to the preacher speak about Proverbs 14: A wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands, the foolish one tears hers down. Of course, the preacher was giving examples of the wise woman versus the foolish woman, and Renae tried to concentrate on the words, but her own thoughts were running away with her.
    Which was she?
    She knew her diminutive mother in the pew next to her would consider herself a wise woman. A cattle-rancher’s wife, she had raised two children and kept her husband happy on an income of next to nothing. Mary Colt had never worked a day in her life, staying home to take care of the house, the children, and at times, the cattle. She did it all alongside her husband until he died. After his death she had seen both her children ensconced safely back in Serendipity’s arms before moving into a retirement center.
    Neither of her children had made the choices she would have chosen for them, but Renae and Dalton had both made it to adulthood. Dalton had two step-children with Alyssa and a newborn son. Renae had Kelly. Mary had always wanted Renae to find a man to take care of her, but Renae’s first choice in that department had been so poor that she had decided to forego the hunt and hunkered down to raise her daughter alone.
    She thought she’d done a pretty good job with it. She’d gotten a job at a bank as a teller and had decent working hours if not stellar pay.