LITMIR.BIZ

      Chapter Three

      Jesse walked across the parking lot and watched as the woman in the passenger seat of his truck wiped at tears streaming down her cheeks. He didn’t know how to help her. He shook his head and shifted the paper bag to his other arm. The last thing she needed from him was a promise he couldn’t keep. He knew he couldn’t fix her life.

      He walked up to the passenger side of his truck and peeked in. Laura didn’t look up. In her hand she held a school photo of a little girl. He stepped away from the window and walked to the back of the truck to store the groceries in the metal toolbox in the bed of the truck. When he opened the door, Laura wiped the last of her tears. She smiled at him, a watery smile.

      “How do you feel?” He shifted into Reverse and then looked her way for a quick moment.

      “A little better.”

      “I bought cold medicine.” He didn’t know what else to say. “Who’s the little girl in the picture?”

      She closed her eyes and shrugged. When she looked at him, the pain in her gray eyes was tangible. He drew in a quick breath before he looked away, focusing on the road.

      “She’s my daughter.”

      The words hit him hard. He shook his head and kept driving.

      “Where is she?” None of his business, but he had to ask.

      “They took her. When I was in jail. Of course they took her.” She sniffed and when he looked, her face was buried in her hands, auburn hair falling forward. “She’s in a foster home.”

      “You’ll get her back?”

      She pushed her hair back with pale hands that trembled and nodded as she looked at him.

      “Yes. When I get a job and a permanent home. I didn’t think it would be this hard. Trying to get her back. Trying to find a normal life again.”

      “It isn’t easy.”

      “No, it isn’t. Someone else is taking her for pizza, praying with her, tucking her in. It should be me. If I hadn’t let my stepbrother...” She shook her head. “I have to stop blaming him. I let him move in. I knew it would be a mistake, but I felt sorry for him.”

      He nodded and kept driving.

      Laura continued to talk. “Which is why I don’t blame you for not wanting me in your grandmother’s house. You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve done, what is or isn’t true. People lie.”

      “Sometimes we have to trust people.” He cleared his throat and looked at her. “Sometimes we have to give them a chance to prove they can be trusted.”

      He pulled into the parking lot of a motel with a sign that said they rented by the day, week or month.

      “Sometimes,” she said in a soft voice that told him trust was hard for her.

      He parked, sighing because he couldn’t leave her here. She had a daughter she didn’t want to let go of. She had gray eyes that didn’t beg him to give her a chance but begged him to trust her. Believe her.

      “I could use someone to help me at my place,” he said as he stared at the little motel that had been around longer than either of them had been alive. He switched his attention to look at the woman sitting next to him.

      “I’m not looking for a handout. I need a job. I’m willing to work.”

      “It isn’t a handout.” He turned in his seat to face her. “I work odd hours and sometimes take shifts at a hospital in Tulsa. I’m also the doctor on call for the local residential care facility. On top of that I might be going out of the country.”

      “A vacation?”

      “No, I’m thinking about going to the mission field, to Honduras.”

      “For how long?”

      “A year.”

      She nodded. “And so the job would be?”

      “I have a small house on my place at the lake. You could have that home and a small salary. In return, I could use a housekeeper and if you aren’t afraid of horses, someone to feed my livestock when I’m not there.”

      “A job and a house.” Her voice tightened with emotion. “But do you really want me on your property? I’m a convicted felon.”

      “Tell me your side of the story and I’ll decide.”

      “I didn’t know that my stepbrother was a drug dealer. He used my apartment that last day to make meth while I was gone. The police had been watching him and they thought I was involved. Ryan jumped out of my car and they never caught him. I got busted with meth, some prescription drugs and the money. I was just naive when it came to Ryan. I saw him the way I saw myself—as a victim of our childhood.” She shrugged thin shoulders. “I wanted to fix him.”

      As she finished he nodded. “I believe you.”

      She nodded and looked away, her hand coming up to swipe at tears. “That’s good to know.”

      “This will be good for both of us. I need a housekeeper and you need a home.”

      “Why haven’t you hired someone? There would have to be any number of people who would want a position like the one you’re offering me.”

      “I interviewed a few people but most of them know my family. The older women feel as if they have to mother me and watch over me.” And the younger women wanted a husband.

      “I don’t know what to say.”

      “Will you take the job?”

      She nodded. “Yes.”

      The battle with her tears was lost. She swiped at her eyes but tears streamed down her cheeks. Jesse found a napkin in the console between the seats and handed it to her. The most impulsive decision he’d made in years was sitting next to him crying, and he couldn’t take back the offer. Not when a child was involved. Because Laura was a mom who wanted to keep her little girl.

      Jesse started his truck and pulled out of the parking lot of the motel. He told himself he’d done the right thing. He’d let her clean his house. He’d provide her a home. No strings, no attachments. Easy.

      * * *

      Laura wiped her eyes and tried to think through what had just happened. Too good to be true? In her life strings always seemed to be attached. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done anything for her that didn’t require something back.

      She closed her eyes tight and tried to think, which was hard to do in her present condition. First, she had to consider Abigail—not just getting her back, but keeping her safe. She had so much at stake. She couldn’t take chances, not with her future or her daughter’s.

      With a sigh she faced the man who had offered her the opportunity of a lifetime. “Why would you do this for me?”

      He shrugged and pulled out on the road. The truck eased through the traffic and he didn’t answer for a few minutes.

      “Because you deserve a second chance.” He paused to make a left-hand turn. “I want to help you out because your little girl deserves to have you.”

      “How do you know that?”

      He looked at her for a brief second, then refocused on the road. “I’ve seen a lot in my life, Laura. I’ve seen the best and worst of humanity. I think I know when someone is decent and really needs a second chance.”

      She

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