A Wish and a Prayer by Beverly Jenkins

Author:Beverly Jenkins
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2012-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Mal dropped Bernadine at her house so she could retrieve her truck and then followed her over to the Power Plant parking lot. Only after he watched her go inside did he pull off and drive away.

Just as Lily said, there were no reporters either outside or in, so Bernadine entered her office, glad to be free of them. She gave herself a few quiet minutes to sit and think about how blessed she was to have Mal in her life, then prepared to start turning the world.

Apparently, Gary Clark had stopped in earlier; she found a note from him on her desk. Attached to the note was a sample of the grocery survey he would be handing out to everyone at the Friday-night movies. She was scanning through it when the landline rang. The memory of last night sprang to life, and she tensed and waited for it to go to voice mail. To her relief the caller was Greer Parker from CNN. Surprised to hear from him, she picked up before he could finish his message. “Hello, Mr. Parker. How’ve you been?”

They chatted for a moment while she prayed he wasn’t calling about the threat she’d received. “So what can I do for you?” she asked, hoping her voice was light.

“All the news outlets were given a call a little while ago from Heather Quinn.”

“Why’s that name familiar?’

“Quinn’s the president of Folks United for Animals.”

“Those silly animal rights people?” She was confused. “What’s this have to do with me?”

“She’s in Henry Adams.”

“Really? Why?”

And what he shared made her almost fall off her chair. “FUFA’s representing Cletus!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Lord have mercy,” she whispered.

“I’m wondering if you have a place that my camera crew and I can lease for our stay?”

“Stay?”

“Yep. We’re coming in to cover the hearing.”

“Oh, my goodness.” All manner of insane scenarios began filling her head, rendering her speechless for a moment.

“Ms. Brown? You still there?”

“I’m sorry, yes.” She told him about the empty trailer on Tamar’s land. Parker had been very instrumental in her purchase of Henry Adams and the subsequent search for foster parents for her kids. Offering him and his people a place to stay was the least she could do to reward him for his many kindnesses—but FUFA and Riley, together, Holy Ghost help us!

She and Parker finished pulling together the arrangements for his arrival, and with a thank-you, she hung up. Immediately afterward she dialed Lily, who was out at the church construction site. And when she came on the line, Bernadine said, “Girl, you are not going to believe this.”

For the rest of the afternoon, she fielded calls from the press, both local and national, about the upcoming hearing. So many came through that she finally sent them all to voice mail, so she could get some work done. She’d play them back in the morning, but the entire time, all she could think about was the circus that would be coming to town, with Riley as the ringleader.

After school Jack drove down to Fort Hays University to meet with the chair of the physics department.

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