LITMIR.BIZ

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for whatever brought him to this extreme.” He held up a hand then. “But I do appreciate your efforts on Jason’s behalf, and in light of this new situation, I just wanted to remind you where your priorities should be.”

      “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand,” Ben said, getting up to follow Erickson out of the office. “What are you trying to tell me, Mr. Erickson?”

      Richard Erickson stopped at the door, then turned to face Ben, the look in his eyes devoid of any compassion or understanding. “Taking in a stray baby, an orphan? Come on, Reverend, we both know that you have no business trying to take care of an infant. You should be concentrating on taking care of your congregation. I still get complaints about you, you know. And this latest development hasn’t helped matters, not one bit.”

      Shocked and angry beyond words, Ben gripped the edge of Emma’s desk in order to regain his composure. “You don’t need to worry about Tyler, Mr. Erickson. I know what I’m doing and I don’t intend to let taking care of this baby interfere with my work here. Rest assured, I know what my responsibilities are.”

      “Do you?” Erickson pointed a finger in the air. “If you had concentrated on preaching instead of sports, my son might be here today. But you had to form that basketball team, just to glorify yourself. You had to prove that you were the best in college, so you got these local boys all worked up about basketball and winning. Jason didn’t have any complaints in life until you came along. Then all he could think about was practice. He was neglecting his studies, getting behind in school. He changed right before our eyes. And now you’re planning on raising a baby?”

      Ben couldn’t believe the things coming out of Richard Erickson’s mouth. The man had a skewered idea of what had brought his son to such desperate measures.

      Hoping to set him straight, Ben said, “Jason had problems long before I came into the picture, sir. If you’d only listen—”

      “I’m done listening to you, Reverend. And I have a good mind to call the authorities and tell them what I know about you. You are not fit to raise that baby, and by trying to prove yourself once again, you will fail. And this church will suffer even more for it. Maybe you should have thought about that, before you took on this new challenge.”

      Ben looked up to see Sara Conroy standing in the hallway that led to the small narthex of the church. She must have come in from the other side, and from the frozen expression on her face, she’d obviously heard most of their conversation.

      Feeling defeated, but refusing to give in to Richard Erickson’s rigid attitude, Ben sighed, then asked God for guidance. The very thought of this man trying to have Tyler taken from him only reinforced Ben’s close bond with the baby. “I can take care of that baby. I have plenty of people more than willing to help me through this.”

      “I can change all of that easily enough,” Erickson stated, the threatening tone in his words leaving no doubt that he would do just that.

      “But you won’t,” Ben said, his own stance just as rigid. “You wouldn’t do that to an innocent child, would you?” When the man didn’t answer, he added, “Sir, you can do what you want to me, you can blame me for Jason’s problems, too, if that makes you feel better. But don’t do anything to jeopardize Tyler. He’s very young and very alone right now, and if you interfere, he’ll just be snatched away again. Do you really want that on your conscience?”

      His words seemed to calm the older man. Richard Erickson looked up then and realized they weren’t alone anymore. The manners set in immediately. As he lifted a hand to Sara in greeting, his whole expression softened.

      “I’ve got too much to deal with as it is,” he said at last, his voice low now. “But I’m warning you, you’d better watch your step. And you’d better hope I find my son soon.”

      “I’ll pray for that day and night, just as I’ve been doing,” Ben told him, meaning it. “If you need anything—”

      “I don’t.” With that, Erickson nodded to Sara, then turned and headed out the door to his luxury sedan.

      Sara took one look at Ben and headed straight to him. “You should sit down.”

      He didn’t argue with her. Instead, he fell down into Emma’s softly padded desk chair, sighed long and hard, then ran a hand through his hair with a groan of frustration. “Sorry you had to witness that.”

      Hoping to lighten the somber mood, Sara said, “Do you always win over your members in such a sure way?”

      “Every last one of them,” he told her, some of the tension leaving his face. Then he looked up at her. “Mr. Erickson doesn’t like me very much right now. His youngest child, and only son, Jason, ran away from home earlier this year, and he blames me for it.”

      “You?” Shocked, Sara leaned against the corner of the desk, near him, her long khaki skirt rustling as she crossed her legs. “I thought your job was to save souls, not alienate them.”

      “Yeah, me, too, but it doesn’t always go that way.”

      “Want to talk about it?”

      He looked up at her again, taking in those glorious red curls and her mysterious green eyes. She had a few freckles scattered across her pert nose, but the rest of her skin was porcelain white and looked creamy soft. She wore a short, green-and-brown striped heavy cotton sweater that only brought out the red of her hair and the green of her eyes. And brought out the warmth in his heart.

      “That’s supposed to be my line,” he told her by way of an answer.

      “Which means you probably don’t ever have a chance to vent your own frustrations, right?”

      “I have plenty of chances,” he replied, his hands resting on the arms of the chair as he leaned back to admire her. “I can talk to God anytime.”

      “Yeah, right.”

      “Did you just snort? Are you scoffing at me?”

      “I’m not snorting or scoffing at all,” she said, then smiled. “Okay, maybe I’m a little cynical right now. I know, I know—God is always there. But you look like you could use a real friend right now, a human friend.”

      “And you’re offering to be that friend?”

      “Yes, I guess I am.” She pushed away from the desk, leaving a trail of flower-and-spice perfume in her wake. “You know, Emma told me that you wanted me to join you for a slice of her famous pumpkin bread—insisted I come right on over here.” She headed into the kitchenette. “But I can’t leave the babies with an aide for long. Now, do you want to talk to me about this or not. Time is precious.”

      Ben shook his head, laughing as he managed to finally get up out of the chair. “It will take a long time to explain what you just heard and saw.”

      “Well, sorry. Gotta go.” She had her slice of bread and was already headed out the side door. “I guess you’ll just have to bring Tyler out to the lake, for dinner at my place tonight. Say around six-thirty?”

      Ben almost fell back into the chair again. This woman was different, that was for sure. And full of intriguing surprises. “Miss Conroy, are you asking me for a date?”

      “No, Reverend Hunter, I’m just telling you I’ll fix you dinner.”

      He tipped his head to one side, his smile changing into a grin. “That Emma—look what she’s done now.”

      “Oh, you didn’t really invite me for breakfast?”

      “No, but I’m glad you came by.”

      “So, does that mean you’ll come for dinner?”

      “I didn’t know nurses could cook.”

      “We’re pretty handy with a microwave and a few written instructions,” she said, giving him an impish smile.

      “I’ll be there,” he told her as

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