Gift of Wonder by Lenora Worth

Author:Lenora Worth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2009-12-15T05:00:00+00:00

Now Alice was the one who was nervous. She had used her doubts and her bitterness like a sturdy shield, so she wasn’t quite acclimated to Jonah’s kindness. And yet, she thought as she watched him putting away dinner dishes, it had been right there all the time. He’d never been anything but kind to her, even when she was being such a brat toward him. She didn’t deserve his kindness, but it sure worked as a balm on her bruised heart.

Better watch out for that, she cautioned herself. Don’t get too comfortable. He might be kind and full of integrity but you can’t fall for him. Too risky and too soon.

“Okay, I’ve waited long enough. So, what did you find out about my mother?”

Jonah’s words in her ear caused Alice to glance up at him. “Let’s go up to my apartment and I’ll show you.”

He nodded, his brow furrowed. “I’m still not so sure I like you doing research on my personal life, but I’m willing to listen to what you found.”

Alice refrained from commenting, wondering why it should bother him that she’d decided to help him. Maybe he was still embarrassed by his past, or maybe he still had a few things he wanted to keep in the past. After giving Lorene a good-night hug and making sure she was comfortable, Alice told Jay they were leaving.

“Thanks for everything,” Jay said, his eyes on his wife. “It means a lot to her that y’all spent some time with us tonight.”

“You know I’ll be here every night,” Alice replied.

She and Jonah walked back up to her apartment. When she opened the door, she felt his hand on her arm.

“What?” she asked, turning to find his eyes on her.

“I envy that,” he said, his tone low. “What’s it like to have people around who love you?”

His question caught her off guard. “I’m not sure how to answer that. I’ve always been close to Lorene, even when we fought as teenagers about who’d get in the bathroom first. That’s just the way our parents raised us.”

He went to one of the big windows to stare out toward the bayou. “Before you tell me what you found out about my mother, I need to tell you something.”

Alice’s heartbeat hit full throttle. She didn’t like the defeated tone in his voice and she dreaded hearing another unexpected admission. How could she trust him if he wasn’t being completely honest with her? But she was willing to listen. “Okay.”

He didn’t turn around. “The first time I saw Rosette House was when I arrived at the children’s home upstate.” His shoulders slumped as he placed his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know who dropped me off there—I was so young and so scared—but I do remember the old suitcase that came with me. Inside that suitcase was everything I had—some clothes, a pair of shoes and…a sketch.”

Alice came to stand by him. “A sketch? You mean, some sort of picture?”

He nodded, swallowed. “Yes. It was a picture done in pen and ink—a sketch of Rosette House.

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