About That Man Read Online Free PDF Page A

Apparently King, who’d been among those on the committee to select a new pastor, was even sneakier than Daisy had imagined. He’d evidently sent Anna-Louise to do his dirty work for him. No doubt his backing of a woman for the job made him feel entitled to use Anna-Louise as his personal representative in what should have been a family matter.
    â€œHere on a mission?” she inquired tartly as she and Anna-Louise settled at the kitchen table with a pot of teaand a plate of the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies still warm from the oven.
    â€œWhy would you think that?” Anna-Louise asked, her expression suddenly as innocent as a lamb’s.
    â€œAm I wrong? Are you just here to pay a call on one of your flock?”
    â€œAbsolutely,” Anna-Louise said.
    â€œA preacher shouldn’t fib.”
    A grin spread across the other woman’s face. “Okay, I did get a call from your father a few days ago. He seemed to think you required counsel.”
    â€œI imagine what he said was that I needed to have my head examined.”
    Anna-Louise chuckled. “Words to that effect.”
    â€œAnd you agree with him?”
    â€œActually, I’m on your side on this one,” Anna-Louise said. “Which is why I didn’t rush right over. Naturally I neglected to mention my opinion to your father. No point in making his blood pressure shoot up any higher. Richard’s last editorial about the need for a riverfront development plan has already sent it into dangerous territory. King spent an hour after church last Sunday trying to convince me that I needed to look closer to home when it came to saving souls. He apparently feels Richard’s is in danger.”
    â€œYou’re right. He wouldn’t have appreciated your opinion a bit, if it disagreed with his own,” Daisy told her. “You can see that I had no choice, can’t you? Tommy needs to have someone in his life that he can count on.”
    â€œNo question about that.”
    â€œAnd I can give him a good home.”
    â€œOf course you can,” Anna-Louise agreed.
    Daisy’s gaze narrowed at all the ready agreement. Despite what she’d said, Anna-Louise wouldn’t be here now if Daisy’s actions had her full blessing. “But?”
    â€œWhat happens to you when he leaves?” Anna-Louise asked, her expression filled with genuine concern.
    â€œWho says he’s going to? His mother is dead. So is his father. None of the foster families worked out. Where would he go?”
    â€œFrances found his uncle today,” the minister said quietly.
    Daisy felt a cry of dismay sneaking up the back of her throat, but she managed to keep it from escaping. She forced a smile. “That’s wonderful! Is he coming here?”
    â€œNext Thursday.”
    â€œHas he agreed to take Tommy?”
    â€œNot exactly.”
    Relief flooded through her. She was willing to seize any reprieve, however temporary. “Well, then, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens, won’t we?”
    Anna-Louise put her hand on Daisy’s. “I know how much you love children. That was evident to me from the minute I got here. And you’ve told me about the doctor’s opinion that you’ll never have children of your own. You’re the best Sunday school teacher we have, as well as the best history teacher at the high school. The kids adore you. You’d be a terrific mother to Tommy, and you deserve this, Daisy, you really do, but it might not work out. I just want you to be prepared to let go.”
    â€œGod would not bring Tommy into my life and then snatch him away,” Daisy countered.
    â€œWe don’t always know or understand what He plans for us,” the minister reminded her. “We just have to accept that He has our best interests at heart.”
    How could losing Tommy be in her best interests? Daisy felt the sting of unshed tears at the back of her eyes.