Summer of Joy Read Online Free PDF

of the backseat and put her hands over his ears. “I think maybe Zella was right and we should have gone to her church.”
    “Why’s that?” Wes asked.
    “Your ears are purple.”
    “That’s what happens when a Jupiterian puts his head under ice water. Makes his true colors show through,” Wes said. “Just be careful you don’t break them off.”
    “I thought you said you’d been earthed,” Jocie said.
    “That don’t change what color a body’s ears turn when they get cold. Or how long it takes said ears to thaw out, but you can be sure my heart’s nice and warm and earthed,” Wes said. “You just send up a no-pneumonia prayer for me and your daddy, and we’ll be right as rain come Monday. I figure it’ll take us that long to warm up.”
    “I’ve already been praying that,” Jocie said. “And that your fingers and toes don’t fall off from frostbite. Can you believe Zella came?”
    “Zell’s been hard to figure lately,” Wes said as he looked over at David. “You got any idea what’s wrong with her, boss?”
    “Maybe she needs to start reading a new brand of romance novels,” David said.
    “No, I don’t think that’s it.” Wes gave his head a little shake. “Her matchmaking plans have been going good. Better than good. You and Leigh don’t hardly need her to do any conspiring to get you two together these days.”
    “Well then, maybe that’s what’s wrong. She’s ready to move on to a new challenge. Maybe she’s decided you need a woman in your life, Wes.” David smiled over at Wes.
    “Maybe she’s decided she’s that woman,” Jocie added.
    Wes put his hand over his heart. “You two are trying to do what that cold water didn’t do. Give me a heart attack. Could be you should forget about that no-pneumonia prayer for me, Jo, so I’ll have a reason to hide out in my apartment for a spell.”
    “I don’t think you have to worry about that,” David said with a laugh. “Zella may read about romance. She may plan romances for other people, but she’s not about to invite romance to her own breakfast table.”
    “I hope you’re right, because neither am I,” Wes said with an extra shiver. “I like chugging down my coffee with nothing but a bowl of cornflakes and a good book to keep me company.”
    David couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten breakfast alone. Not that he especially wanted to. He liked eating Aunt Love’s biscuits and listening to what Jocie had going on at the high school that day. Even Tabitha who couldn’t bear the sight of food that early in the morning was sometimes in the kitchen now, fixing Stephen Lee’s morning bottle. If David wanted peace and quiet in the morning, he took a prayer walk in Herman Crutcher’s cow pasture back behind the house as the sun was coming up.
    There certainly wasn’t any peace and quiet at the McDermotts’ dinner table when they finally gathered to eat. Dorothy McDermott seemed unfazed by the noise as she set up a card table in one end of her big kitchen for her kids and Jocie while everybody else gathered around the oak table at the other end. Dorothy made sure Leigh was sitting next to David.
    The Mt. Pleasant women had embraced the idea of Leigh and their pastor being a couple once they’d examined and discussed in detail how much older David was than Leigh. David had overheard some of the discussions and had been informed by those who thought he should know about some of the others. And he and Leigh had laughed about the many ways the ladies had come up with to try to find out her age without asking straight out. Through it all, Leigh had been graceful and kind and caring. Something Adrienne had never been in the years she’d been his wife. She’d searched for ways to insult his church members simply because it entertained her and upset him.
    David rarely ever thought about Adrienne anymore. For years he’d carried around the guilt of their failed marriage. He should have done this or he should have said