A Season for Family Read Free

can’t have it both ways. Everything’s black and white with Amos.”
    Heath looked to Olivia, who nodded agreement.
    He hung his head. How he wished for a beard and horn-rimmed glasses to hide his naked face. There was comfort beneath camouflage. Being out in the world like this made him feel exposed.
    Judged.
    The real Heath Stone wasn’t exactly a guy people took to right away. And who could blame them?
    Most days Heath didn’t even like himself.
    â€œOh, don’t worry too much about it,” Olivia said, cutting him a break. “It may take a while, but Amos will warm up to you once he gets to know you.”
    â€œHow long you plan to stay?” Bruce asked. A smirk twisted one corner of his mouth. “I’ve been here three months and he’s still calling me Bryan.”
    â€œWell, Bryan, ” Olivia picked up the joke, “things are under control in here so how about checking with Velma to see if she needs help? With these freezing temps I expect a full-capacity night.”
    Bruce nodded, scrapped his pile of chopped vegetables into a container and stored it in an oversized fridge. He hung his apron over a peg on the way out of the kitchen.
    â€œSorry I got off to a bad start,” Heath felt he should apologize, though he wasn’t sure he’d done anything so awful.
    â€œMost people have the same experience with Amos.” Olivia tore big sheets of tin foil from a roll mounted on the wall and tucked them over the giant bowl of mashed potatoes.
    â€œIncluding you?” Heath grabbed paper towels and began to clean up the mess he’d made.
    When she didn’t respond right away, he glanced up. He was captivated for the second time that hour by the fair skin that rose above the neck of her sweater and the short crop of jet-black hair framing her face. Something quickened inside Heath’s chest at the thought of this woman being guilty of trafficking drugs, especially if it was to support her thieving father who’d fled the countrya decade earlier to avoid prosecution for tax evasion. The Feds had never given up on finding Dalton Wyatt and they wondered if he might somehow be behind the recent influx of meth and ecstasy that seemed to be passing through this shelter.
    Heath watched tiny lines crinkle the corners of Olivia’s indigo eyes, where she squinted as if the answer to his question was a pleasant memory.
    Â 
    â€œGod’s touch was all over my first encounter with Amos.” The event was a sweet memory for Olivia. “We hit it off right away. He needed a place to live and I needed someone I could depend on.”
    â€œWhat about your family?” Heath dipped his chin and turned his attention to wiping down the countertop.
    â€œI’ve been on my own since high school, so help from family hasn’t been an option for years.”
    She wondered how his life compared to hers. Wondered if he could possibly understand what it was like to be alone in the world, not knowing whether you’d have food to eat or a roof over your head from one day to the next. Heath Stone spent his life sitting at a computer while she went door-to-door asking for donations to feed the hungry. They probably didn’t have much in common at all.
    Still, she’d been asked by Detective Biddle to let Heath repay his debt to the community through service at her mission. Maybe the time he spent at Table of Hope would have a life-changing impact. Maybe he’d find even more than anyone expected.

Chapter Two
    O livia watched Heath throughout the meal. He was obviously uncomfortable having his dinner in a shelter. He avoided eye contact, ate with his head down. He kept his elbows pulled close to his body, careful not to brush against his neighbors as if that would keep their cooties away.
    The guy was definitely out of place among the homeless but after the strained introductions in the kitchen she suspected he might never find his personal