Love in Plain Sight by Kathleen Fuller

Author:Kathleen Fuller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2022-05-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Lester didn’t want to give Jordan any credit, but the man was right—he did feel better after some hot chicken soup and crackers, courtesy of the one decent restaurant in Dixonville that fortunately served plain home cooking. He’d managed to eat half the soup, and thankfully Jordan hadn’t forced him to finish off the rest. The detective also brought him some groceries, including an electrolyte drink the doctor had recommended. He had no clue how Jordan would have known about that. Even though he hadn’t scheduled a follow-up appointment with Dr. Chen, she had sent nutritional information to him in the mail. He’d glanced at the pamphlet before throwing it in the trash.

“How’s the soup?”

Lester took one last spoonful while Jordan polished off a meatloaf sandwich. Oh, Rhoda used to make a good meatloaf sandwich, and Lester hadn’t had one since he left Birch Creek. He doubted any cook could compare with her. “Soup’s decent.”

“Make sure you finish that drink.”

“Why?”

Jordan wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “Because you have cancer.”

“You found that out too?”

“No. My dad died from lung cancer. I took care of him during his last weeks. I know the signs.”

Sitting back in the chair, Lester said, “Pancreatic.”

“Ouch.” Sympathy entered Jordan’s eyes. He had taken off his ball cap and had turned on the lamp, so now Lester could get a good look at him. His graying hair and lined forehead revealed Jordan was older than he had realized.

“I’m sorry, Emmanuel,” Jordan said.

“Lester. My name’s Lester.” He paused, staring at his gnarled hands, the veins appearing to strain against his thinning skin. “Emmanuel’s dead.”

“When did he die?” Jordan asked, not skipping a beat.

“Nine years ago.”

“When you left Birch Creek.”

Lester nodded, memories washing over him again. That was the hardest part about dying, the irony of living with regrets. “Look, you did your good deed for the day. I’m tired and heading to bed.”

“It’s barely noon.”

“You think I don’t know what time it is?” He slumped in the chair, unable to remember the last time he kept decent hours. Long before he had seen Dr. Chen.

Jordan took a swig from a bottle of water. “You need to go back to Birch Creek.”

Too weary to snap at him, he asked, “Why?”

“Because you need to make things right with your family.”

Lester’s eyes narrowed. “What do you know about it?”

“Not much, I admit.” He got up from the edge of the bed and opened the nutrition drink for him, then picked up the half-empty soup bowl and spoon and carried them to the small trash can on the opposite side of the room. “I’ve been in this business a long time, Emmanuel.”

“Lester.”

“Fifteen years at the LAPD, ten as a detective. I’ve seen a lot.”

“Good for you.” Lester tried to get up from the chair, but he was too tired from the assault of memories and this man’s prattling.

“A lot of what I’ve seen is bad.” He paused. “Really bad. But I’ve also witnessed some good, usually involving families reuniting.” He put the trash in the plastic can, then sat back down.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.