Mountain Sanctuary Read Online Free PDF Page B

be a kid again, before it’s too late.”
    Adam looked over at her then, taking in the deep shimmer of her hair, the defiant tilt of her chin. He wondered about her hurts, her scars and her own lost childhood. “And what about for your sake?”
    She turned her head to look at him, her eyes wide with bewilderment. “I guess I’m hoping some of their luster will rub off on me. You know, faith by association. I don’t always practice what my daddy tries to preach, but it does sink in. And it sure couldn’t hurt Kyle, right?”
    He laughed. “Right. Couldn’t hurt.” Then he turned serious. “If you feel uncomfortable about me being here—”
    “It’s not that. It’s just…I’ve never known a man other than my daddy who was as good as his word. Certainly not my dearly departed husband. And certainly not any of the many men my mother knew—according to rumors I’d hear from her staff now and then, at least. I guess it’s not easy for me to take you at your word. And I can’t take God at His word, either. I have to see something to believe it.”
    Adam could understand that notion. But he wanted her to understand him, to understand that he didn’t know how to operate, except by the principles and standards he’d learned as a child. “My word is all I’ve got right now. And you have to believe me when I say that being here right now is the best thing for me. It’s like therapy, only way less expensive.”
    “After New Orleans?”
    “Yes, after New Orleans.”
    She gave him one of those long, big-eyed stares again, but didn’t press him for the details. “We do tend to take things in stride here. We’re a lot more relaxed than the big city. We’re as laid back as New Orleans, but in a different way.”
    “I like that.” And he liked the way her vanilla-scented shampoo smelled, too, he reasoned even as he tried to resist it.
    “So you won’t push too hard on getting things in order around here? You’ll let me settle into this arrangement?”
    “Yes, ma’am. But only if you’re willing to let me help you get things up to speed—whatever that speed might be.”
    She got up, brushed off the back of her skirt. “Okay then. Since I’m the boss, I say it’s lunchtime. C’mon in and let me feed you for your troubles.”
    “That sounds good, except…who cooked lunch?”
    She slapped him on the shoulder. “It’s just sandwiches and chips. Even I can’t mess that up.”
    “That’s good to know.”
    “Now about dinner—”
    “Maybe we can grab a bite down at the festival.”
    “Good idea, since I don’t have to provide dinner for our guests.” She turned at the door, smiling down at him. “Hurry up. Your sandwich might get stale.”
    Adam started gathering his tools. “I reckon I am hungry, at that.” Putting everything in a neat pile by the back door, he said, “Hey, tomorrow I thought I could cook a roast for Sunday dinner. You know, after church.”
    Stella whirled just inside the open kitchen door. “Who said anything about church?”
    Holding a hammer in his hand, Adam replied, “Well, I just thought…I mean…I plan on finding a church nearby.”
    “Good for you.”
    “You won’t come with me, and bring the boy?”
    She looked down at her turquoise sandals. “I told you, I only get sprinklings of faith from my daddy, and right now that has to be enough. I don’t have time for church.”
    “Oh, I see. Then can Kyle come with me?”
    She shook her head. “You’re rushing things again, Adam. I don’t want him expecting too much, too soon, from someone who’s just here for a little while.”
    With that, she was gone, leaving the scent of something sultry and sweet in her wake. And leaving very little doubt in Adam’s mind that he didn’t want to get on Stella’s bad side. But he sure wouldn’t mind getting on her good side. And soon. And it might help both of them if they learned to lean on their own faith, instead of grasping at grains of it from other