A Season for Family by Mae Nunn

Author:Mae Nunn
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2010-11-22T23:00:00+00:00

Heath watched emotions cross Olivia’s face as she spoke of the residents, people who were like family to her. She seemed clueless that somebody was passing drugs through her operation. How could she be blind to this after all she’d been through or naive in spite of what she’d accomplished?

His cop’s voice of reason struggled for power. Maybe her innocence is by design, you lovesick idiot. Women have been deceiving men since the Garden of Eden, right?

Olivia smiled as she spoke, her dark eyes flashing when she shared some anecdote he couldn’t hear for the thoughts churning in his head. Heath was convinced of what he’d said to Biddle. The lady was straight up, completely devoted to God and meeting the needs of others. No way would she knowingly give shelter to anyone living contrary to her mission.

In fact, Heath was pretty sure that if she realized he’d been lying from the get-go, she’d show him the toe of her boot right now. He doubted she’d even give him the chance to admit that his motives had shifted after the first twenty-four hours. His mission was no longer focused on indicting a stranger—it was about clearing the name of the woman he’d come to care for deeply.

“This timing couldn’t be worse,” Olivia was saying. “One more day of rounding up donations and some food club shopping would have covered us through the end of the month. With more freezing weather on the way, getting through the holiday is going to be dicey.”

“Where, specifically, do you need to go?” Maybe she’d repeat the important parts he’d tuned out. “Can you cover everything in one day if you have my help?”

She heaved a sigh in response. “I’m not comfortable leaving my guys by themselves when they’re still pretty weak.”

“What about finding some more volunteers?”

“Between getting My Brother’s Keeper to take all our clients, asking Grace Chapel to look after Velma and Erica, folks all over town hunkering down for bad weather and with the holidays coming, we’ve tapped out our emergency resources.”

“Leave that to me.”

“Who do you know in this town who’s willing to give us a day of their time with no notice to care for people with the flu?”

“How about the man who convinced you to let me work off my community service?”

“Detective Biddle?” She smiled, warming to the idea. “Now that you mention it, he did say if I needed anything to holler.”

“Maybe he’ll send over that traffic cop who was eyeing you like a buzzard looks at a baby bunny.”

“Oh, please.” She lowered her face but couldn’t hide the flush that kissed her collarbone and crept upward.

“You can deny it till the cows come home, but a man knows how to spot these things,” he insisted.

“You’re making too much out of an old friend’s kindness.”

Heath huffed at the insistence. “Let me put it this way—if I’d been Officer Weatherford, I’d have exchanged that kindness for your phone number.”

She glanced up, her eyes round and surprised, her lips pressed together with uncertainty.

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