Changing Her Heart Read Free Page A

going to move closer to it. Do you live near the mall?”
    â€œYes. I grew up not far away from here. It seemed natural to get a job in the neighborhood, too.” Morethan that, his friend Bob knew Tom, the store owner. Because of Bob’s reference, Tom offered Randy a job when no one else would consider him. He’d been there ever since, which was coming up on six years. And now he was the assistant manager.
    â€œI’ll never move. I live within two minutes of my friends, within five minutes of my church and ten minutes from my job.” He didn’t know why God blessed him like this, especially when he’d once blamed God for so much. But now his life was in order, and he didn’t intend to ever change a thing.
    Randy dunked one of his fries in the blob of ketchup, coating it just right. “Where do you go to church, then, if you live downtown?”
    Lacey smiled, and her eyes turned dreamy as she spoke. “Every Sunday morning I drive back to the west end where I grew up and go with my family, and we spend the day together.”
    Randy nodded. He spent a lot of time at church, but it was with his friends. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his family. Usually it didn’t bother him, but today, watching Lacey smile at her private thoughts, it reminded him of the big hole in his life. For the past few years he’d been so busy with his friends that he hadn’t really noticed, but now that Adrian and Celeste were married and Bob was getting married, Randy had more time on his hands. Still, God always found things for him to do, andRandy couldn’t complain. “Lately I’ve been going to both the morning and evening services because I’m on the worship team, so that keeps me pretty busy on Sundays. It’s sometimes a lot of work, but at the same time, it’s also fun. And speaking of fun, I should tell you a little about the sidewalk sale that’s coming up at work next week. Or rather, I should warn you.”
    Lacey’s fork froze halfway to her mouth. “Warn me?”
    â€œYou can see some really funny things with bargain hunters. There’s this one couple who always show up, and one of them always wears a disguise, as if we can’t recognize him. I hear everyone’s already making bets to see what he’s going to do this year. Last year, the guy pretended to be a rich Texan—big hat, the drawl, everything. He even pasted on a fake mustache. You could tell it was fake because it was a different color than his hair, and it was crooked. It was hilarious.” Randy grinned, remembering Carol’s reaction when the man called her “L’il lady.” He really thought Carol was going to kick him.
    Randy sobered. “Seriously, though, you’ve got to watch out for them. He tries to distract the staff person at one end of the table while his partner, who is dressed normally, tries to steal something from the other end.” He leaned forward over the table, and Lacey leaned forward in response.
    â€œShe always puts smaller items in her bra so no one will challenge her to put them back. But last year when I caught her and started calling the cops on my cell phone, she dug everything out real fast and ran.”
    Lacey gasped. “You’re kidding!”
    â€œI wish I was.” Randy straightened. “But most of the time, the sidewalk sale is a lot of fun.”
    Lacey glanced from side to side. “Have you noticed that we’re nearly the only ones here? I think we lost track of the time.”
    Randy looked around, confirming that she was indeed correct.
    â€œYeah. I guess we should go.”
    While he signaled the waiter for the bill, a strange sense of loss came over him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed himself so much. He was at an age where most of the women he knew were sizing him up for a husband, so those situations quickly became awkward. God had