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.I can just hear it now.First Pastor Miller s oldest girl has ababy out of wedlock.Now what happens? You go and take up withsome white tattoo artist.I refuse to believe there was no one at yourworkplace you couldn t date. You don t get it, Charity said, hoping her next words wouldopen her mother s eyes. I don t want anyone from my job.I have theperson I want to be with.Rhonda went still, staring her down. What does that mean,Charity? Exactly what I said. So you re telling me you re in love with this Jake person?Pastor Miller and I don t even know what he looks like. Her eyessuddenly flew open.She gave Charity a concerned look. Please tellme he doesn t look like one of those tattooed skinheads I saw ontelevision last night.Right there, Charity s patience snapped and careened off thekitchen walls. Can you please stop calling dad  Pastor Miller ? Itdoesn t make your relationship sound any more important thananyone else s.No, he doesn t look like a skinhead.You just have thewrong idea about him, she said in a calmer tone. I know what I mabout to say isn t going to help the matter, but I m only doing so toshow you how serious I am about this guy.This will be out in theopen.No need for anyone to act surprised and shocked later on.Jakeis twenty-nine, works hard, treats me right, and unfortunately he madea terrible mistake and was incarcerated. Oh dear God. Rhonda covered her mouth with her hand thendug her palms on to the edge of the kitchen counter.Her eyes becameas wide as saucers. You mean prison?Charity nodded, hurt yet sympathetic to the pain on hermother s face. Don t look like that, Mama.Jake is a wonderfulperson.He s not & bad. Who s not bad?Charity reacted to the sound of her father s voice.Pushing theglasses up on his nose, he entered the kitchen, and for the first timeCharity worried if he would take her side. Your daughter has just admitted to dating a criminal.He looked as if he had misheard. What s this all about,Charity?She shot her mother a fleeting glare. This is was about meletting you all in on my personal life, telling you all about someone Icare deeply care about. Why don t we go in the living room, and you can tell me allabout it.Charity shrugged.She was no longer in the mood to turn herrelationship with Jake into a spectacle. There s nothing much left tosay. Am I supposed to ignore what your mother said? her fatherasked, giving her a hard stare. No.I only mentioned it to her so it wouldn t be of importancewhen I decided to introduce Jake to the family, but I guess that s outof the question now. You re not answering his question, her mother piped in,though certainly not as high strung as before.Her father nodded. I need to know the truth before I can thinkabout letting this young man into my home.You know sometimesyour sister visits and bring your nephew along.He s only four yearsold.There are some crimes I m on the fence about, if a person can berehabilitated or not.I know I speak the Lord s word, but I can tchange my feeling on that.Is your mother speaking the truth? Yes.But Jake is no pervert.His expression became impassive. How about you tell uswhat exactly he was convicted of?Charity swallowed a deep breath and gazed at their expectantfaces.Straightening her shoulders, she told them. Attemptedmurder.**** I m surprised you told your little mouse the truth.Jake did a double take at the voice coming from behind him.Brielle.He stalled at the entrance of the abandoned trailer home.Shelaughed at the surprise on his face then tossed a few strands of hairover her shoulder.Something inside of him stirred at the subtle motion, causinghim to lash out. What the fuck s so funny? You.Couldn t stay away from our old love nest, could you?She crossed to where he d parked his motorcycle, hopped on andstretched out her legs across the seat.He shifted his head. I d torch this shithole if I didn t alreadyknow what the inside of a cell looked like. And of course, you wouldn t want to be away from your littlemouse. Straightening, she looked around. Where is she anyway? None of your business.You re a stalker, Brielle.Why would Ilet you know where my girlfriend is?Unruffled, her lips spread into a smile. Stalker? Ouch.Thathurts.For the sake of us, I m gonna pretend you never said that. Sheslid off the motorcycle and sauntered up to him.Jake stiffened, yet forsome reason he didn t back away, not even when he was able to feelthe cool whisper of her breath against his ear. I m gonna pretend younever said that, because unlike your little mouse, I know you.I knewyou d come back here, and I know you haven t stopped thinkingabout me.Jake shrugged off her hand. Go try that shit on all the othermen you ve been with. Hmm, she murmured, ignoring him. When was the lasttime you came out here, Jake? Don t tell me you ve been bringing herout here to screw over by the gate, or inside your daddy s trailer likewe used to do.His jaw tautened at the memory. What do you want fromme?Her lips spread into a smile like the proverbial cat that caughtthe canary. You [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]