A Forever Thing: A Contemporary Christian Romance NOVELLA Read Online Free PDF Page A

slipped over to Tate. She hiked a shoulder, sorry how dinner had taken a sad turn. Kelly read his lips as he mouthed. “It’s okay.”
    She nodded.
    “Mom, may I be excused?”
    Kelly glanced at her daughter’s plate. “Excused? You’ve barely touched your food.”
    “I’m not hungry.” The sadness in her voice broke Kelly’s heart. How she longed to comfort her. To make everything right again.
    Kelly nodded. “I guess it’s okay. But just this once, alright?”
    Angie gave her a short nod and stood. With one glance at Tate, she whispered, “Thank you for talking about my daddy.” Her sad eyes turned to Kelly. “Mom never wants to.” With those words she turned and fled to her room.
    Kelly scraped her chair back, but Tate stopped her with a warm, soft hand on her wrist. “I’m praying.”
    With a knowing nod, Kelly felt her heart soften. She remembered this well. Any time there was a situation, Tate had always prayed. She and Brad used to make fun of him for it, until years later. Shortly after they had Angie, they started going to church… for Angie’s sake. Eventually they both had accepted Christ as their Savior. And they both came to know why Tate prayed all the time. “Thank you.” She hurried to Angie’s room.
    Angie sat on the floor at the foot of her bed with the framed photo she had of her dad clutched to her chest.
    Wordlessly, Kelly went over and sat down next her.
    After a few moments, Angie looked up at her, her eyes moist and red.
    How could she explain what she herself had never wanted to acknowledge? Kelly didn’t know, but she had to try. “Angie, the reason I stopped talking about your dad was because every time I did talk about him, it either hurt you or made you angry. So I stopped because I thought that’s what you wanted.”
    Angie weaved her head, her ponytail swished back and forth as she did. “I guess I did. But hearing Officer Baker talk about him, it, well,” She ran her finger over the picture of her dad that now rested in her lap face down. “It felt like he was here again, you know?”
    “Yes, I know.” All too well. She’d felt it too.
    “Mom.” The young girl sniffed and Kelly wanted to pull her into her arms, but Kelly knew in her gut not to.
    “Yes, baby?”
    “I’m sorry I wanted an iPad. Daddy would still be alive if it weren’t for me.” Her saturated eyes came up to Kelly’s. “I’m sorry, Mom.” Tears spilled over her eyelids and ran down her cheeks, landing on top of her dad’s photo. “And I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting and treating you. When Officer Baker was going to take you away and put me in a foster home, I didn’t want to lose you too.”
    Somehow in that instant, Kelly knew the time was finally right. She slid her arms around Angie’s shoulders and drew her daughter close. “You aren’t going to lose me.”
    Angie’s tiny shoulder’s shook. Kelly tucked Angie’s head close to her. After a few minutes, keeping her voice soft, she asked, “Did you know a truck driver was going to hit your father?”
    The little head shook back and forth slowly.
    “If you did, would you have mentioned the iPad?”
    This time, she vehemently shook her head. “No.”
    “So you’re saying that you wouldn’t have mentioned it, knowing your daddy would get it for you if you knew he would be killed, right?”
    “Right.”
    “Well, you didn’t. So how can you say his death is your fault?”
    She pulled her head back and gazed up at Kelly. The raw pain in Angie’s eyes, ripped her heart into pieces. “Because I knew he would get it for me if I said something. I should’ve never said anything.” More tears fell.
    That hadn’t worked quite the way she’d wanted it to “Okay, then let me put it another way. If you tell me you’re hungry and that we’re out of groceries and I go to the store and get hit by a careless driver on the way, is that your fault?”
    “No.”
    “Why?”
    Angie shrugged. “It’s the other driver’s