Red, White, and Blue by Laura Hayden

Author:Laura Hayden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Christian / General, FICTION / Political
ISBN: 9781496415349
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2016-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

DOZIER’S GRASP TIGHTENED ON HER FINGERS, growing almost painful. “I can trust you, Kate. I know you want the best for her. And you . . . you . . .” He coughed again, his whole body shaking with the effort as he tried to sit up.

“Calm down, Dozier. Everything’s all right.” Kate could do little else but extricate her hand and help brace him so he could cough more easily. He was far too fragile to slap on the back to help with the coughing. After the painful barrage of explosive coughs, he slumped onto the bed again. She helped reposition his oxygen tube and other monitoring wires and leads, muttering words of assurance.

His eyes remained half-closed, as if the energy to open them was beyond him for the moment. “She’s never going to forgive me. I’ll have given her reason to hate me, just like I gave Jack.”

“Shh . . . Emily loves you unconditionally. If you’ve done something, just tell her and she’ll forgive you.”

“No, she won’t.” He squeezed his eyes shut and tears spilled down either temple. “I’m going to die . . . without a single member of my family at my side. I’ve either outlived them or run them off. All I’ll have is a couple of business acquaintances who have taken pity on an old man. I’ll die and then they’ll forget all about me.”

Before Kate could argue otherwise, he pushed on. “And what happens after that? I have no heavenly award waiting for me. Not an evil ol’ rascal like me. I’ve done too many bad things, hurt too many people.” He turned his tear-streaked face to Kate. “I don’t want to hurt Emily. Or disappoint her. But I never thought what I did would come out or matter in the long run. I guess I never expected my run to last this long. Getting old just means you’ve had more time to do stupid things to hurt people.”

As much as Kate didn’t want to learn what new scandal waited in the wings, she realized she needed to know—if not for Emily’s sake, then for Dozier’s pacification. She prayed that she could come up with a response that would ease his concern and help him stop suffering so much. That sort of mental turmoil couldn’t be good for the upcoming operation and the recovery afterward.

Later she’d worry about how it impacted Emily.

“What can I do to help, Dozier? If I can do anything to help, to fix things, I’ll certainly try.”

He released a ragged sigh. “Tell Emily I’m sorry. I should have said something when she brought that girl into the campaign.”

By that girl Kate somehow knew exactly whom he was talking about. Her pulse quickened and her breath caught in her throat. “You mean Maia?”

He nodded. “Like the apple that Eve used to tempt Adam. All shiny and pretty on the outside, but full of evil and temptation on the inside.”

His analogy was a bit strained, but Kate didn’t want to correct him.

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.