Saving You, Saving Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

he let out a loud sigh. “One of these days she’s going to drink herself to death.”
                “I’m sorry,” I said, sounding scared. I was worried for Mom, and I was instantly fearful of hearing Dad’s strong disapproving voice.
                “I tried calling her cell, but she’s not picking up,” he said.
                “Shall we call the police?” I asked.
                “No, she’s not a missing person,” Dad said. “Plus I don’t want to answer to the police why Pastor Sullivan’s wife was out drunk.”
                “Dad, I’m worried about her.”
                “Me, too, Sam, but she’s a grown woman. She should know better.” He paused before he asked in a voice laced with anger. “Is Nydia with her?”
                “I couldn’t find Nydia at home,” I said.
                “Holy…that woman! Doesn’t even have the sense to know not to drink and drive. Now she’s endangering your little sister’s life, too.”
                “Dad, we have to find her.  Where are you?” I calmly asked.
                “I’m stuck in a conference in San Francisco that I’m speaking at. I can’t get home until this evening.” There was a pause. “I can’t tell them I’m canceling just so I can go home to find my drunken wife. Maybe I can let Michael know, and he can help you track down your mother before she gets herself and Nydia killed.”
                “No, Dad, I can find Mom. No need to let Michael know. No one from church.”
                “Just in case, here’s Michael’s number.  Do you have a pen?”
                I grabbed one from the kitchen counter. Then I looked for a piece of paper that I could jot down the number on.  The state I was in, I couldn’t memorize the number if my life depended on it, although that was usually what I did – memorize phone numbers easily. I fumbled with my pockets and found the card Collins McGregor had given me.
                I turned it on its back and wrote down the number for Michael, the junior pastor at Dad’s church.
                After I hung up the phone, I looked at Michael’s number and thought about calling him.  He was nice enough, with his brown overgrown hair and brown eyes. Even keeled, attractive in an academic nerdy way, and young for a Pastor at twenty-three, the teen girls and young women at church always giggled when he was around. Throughout the years, he and I had worked together on the youth program at church, and while we’ve been friends, I always sensed he liked me, despite his being older. It was something I wanted neither to pursue nor encourage.
    I didn’t know if I could let him know about Mom, though. Not that he seemed like the gossipy kind, but having been burned at our previous church after the Billy Incident, I couldn’t trust anyone knowing about any of our family problems. Part of the reason why Mom drank so heavily was because of it.
                No, I couldn’t let anyone who knew Mom or Dad to know.  I turned Collins McGregor’s card over and was looking at his handwritten cell phone number. He had said to call him, if I cared to know why he was asking me about whether or not I had a boyfriend. What a way to get a girl to call you, right, Mr. Hot Bod and Getting Under My Skin.
                So I called him.
               

 
     
Chapter 5
     
     
                “H ello?” Collins McGregor asked.
                “Mr. McGregor,” I said, nervously. “It’s me, Sam Sullivan.”
                “I know,” Collins McGregor’s voice said, smooth as velvet and a little shy. “I didn’t think you would call me.”
                “Well, I’m curious about where you were going with all those questions back at school, but I have another reason to call,