âI have just one condition for accepting your job offer,â Susannah said.
David wheeled around, frustrated by the way she challenged him. âWhich is?â
âWhen you disagree with my suggestions for your sister, and you will disagree,â she said, her smile kicking up the corners of her pretty lips, âwill you at least try to understand that Iâm making my suggestions for Darlaâs benefit?â
What did she thinkâthat he was some angry powermonger who had to lord it over everyone? âIâll listen,â David agreed. âAs long as you donât take any undue chances.â
âWith the baby?â Her face tightened. âI wonât take any chances,â she said firmly. âI want my baby to be healthy. I wonât risk anything for that. Thatâs the one decision I donât intend to mess up.â
âThen we have a deal.â David walked away, but his brain puzzled over her last comment. What did she mean?
He found no satisfactory answers to stop his thoughts about Darlaâs newest caregiverâat least, that was how he should be thinking of the beautiful Susannah Wells.
Easier said than done.
likes variety. From her time in human resources management to entrepreneurship, life has held plenty of surprises. She says, âHaving given up on fairy tales, I was happily involved in building a restaurant when a handsome prince walked into my life and upset all my career plans with a wedding ring. Motherhood quickly followed. I guess the seeds of my storytelling took root because of two small boys who kept demanding, âThen what, Mom?ââ The miracle of Godâs love for His children, the blessing of true love, the joy of sharing Him with othersâthat is a story that can be told a thousand ways and yet still be brand-new. Lois Richer intends to go right on telling it.
Evenings in Tucson were a lot cooler than the Los Angelesâ dusk Susannah Wells was used to.
Remember, Suze, we foster kids never know about tomorrow. Save whatever you can so youâll be prepared.
Susannah squeezed her hand in her pocket, fingering the last bits of change leftover from her meager savings. Connieâs advice about money had been right on, like so much other guidance sheâd given in those long-ago days when theyâd shared a room in their North Dakota foster home.
What advice would Connie have for her this timeâor would she even want to be bothered with her former foster sister?
Susannah hugged her thinly clad arms around her waist and breathed in the heady scent of hot pink oleanders. Deliberately she forced one foot in front of the other. Moving quickly wasnât an option when the world occasionally tilted too far to the right. Beads of moisture on her forehead chilled her hot skin, making her shiver.
The bus driver had said two blocksâsurely sheâd come at least that far?
Suddenly off balance, Susannah stopped to steady herself. She focused her blurry eyes on the paper in her hand, peering to confirm that the numbers on the page were the same as those on the house. Her sluggish brain responded as if obscured by fog. She squinted for a second look.
This was it.
Susannahâs heart sank a little lower. Such a grand home. How could she possibly walk into that perfectly manicured courtyard, knock on that elegant glass and wrought-iron door and ask Connie for help?
Youâre not worth helping, but you donât have a choice.
Nothing harder to stomach than the truth. Susannah knew that too well. She gritted her teeth, pushed open the gate and moved forward. Droplets of perspiration ran into her eyes, blurring her vision. She swiped them away with a quick brush of her hand, afraid to release the branches of the hedge for more than a second, lest she flop to the ground. She was cold, and yet she was so hot.
What was wrong with her?
Finally she stood at the entrance. Music floated out from the brightly lit house. Or maybe the melody was just stuck in her head.
Susannah lifted a hand and tapped gingerly, inhaling as the world spun faster.
The door opened, light and laughter flooding out.
âYes?â A manâs voice, rich and smooth, like butterscotch candy, flowed over her. It was hard to see his face, but light brown eyes gleamed through the dusk. âCan I help you?â
âConnie,â Susannah whispered.
Then everything went black.